She fell into bed after a quick shower.As tired as she was, she was surprised it took her a long time to fall asleep.Her mind wouldn’t shut down.The words Cole threw at her kept moving through her mind, keeping her from getting the rest her body badly needed.
She knew what Cole had said about her not being strong enough was partly right.She’d been here three weeks, and in that time, she’d lost six pounds she really didn’t need to and had gotten a limited amount of sleep.She knew she needed to eat better.Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches probably weren’t healthy for every meal.Every morning, she tried to eat a bowl of cereal, but usually just started with coffee because she wasn't hungry.She knew she’d need to make herself eat more, but right now she was too tired.
Unfortunately, Cole’s face was the last thing on her mind as sleep claimed her.But instead of the anger she should feel toward him, she only felt the need.When he was around, even when they were fighting, her desire for him soared, and she was absolutely powerless to change the way he made her feel.
She never felt like this around a man before and didn’t know how to handle it.The fact that he didn’t like her should have cooled her feelings, but it didn’t.Victoria guessed there would be more confrontations between them, and she was terrified she was going to come out the loser in this situation, in more ways than one.
Chapter Three
Victoria stood, wipedthe sweat running down her face with a rag she kept in her front pocket, and leaned on the shovel she was using to clean out the chicken coop.It had to be one hundred degrees out today, and to make it worse, the heat was making the already disgusting job miserable, but she wasn’t about to give up.
“What the hell are you doing?”
A scream tore out of her mouth as she spun, almost falling into the vile pile of chicken poop.
“Why do you continue to want to scare me?”A shiver of unease raced down her spine at the anger and something else in his face.
He wrapped his hand around her upper arm.He pulled her out of the coop, leaned the shovel against it, and latched it before dragging her toward the house.
“Hey!What are you doing?”She noticed his hand went all the way around her upper arm, making her mad.It was another example of what he’s been saying about size.
He didn’t say anything until they were in the cool confines of her kitchen.He sat her in one of the chairs at the table in her kitchen and turned toward the sink, grabbed a glass, and filled it with water.
“Sit down,” he said when he saw her start to stand out of the corner of his eye.
She sat, too tired and hot to fight him right then.She knew she was probably red from the heat.
He set the glass in front of her before sitting down across from her.
“Drink,” he said as he nudged the glass closer to her.He scowled.“I’m concerned how red you were from the heat.”
She took the glass and sighed when the cold water hit her parched tongue.Her body felt like the sun and humidity had baked her.The coolness of the water slid down her throat.She almost moaned when it hit her stomach, making the coolness spread through her.When she had emptied the glass, he stood and refilled it before setting it in front of her again.She gripped the glass in front of her and raised her eyes.
“What are you doing here, and why are you so mad?”
****
