Her eyes widen. “I just mean—”
I wave my hand in front of her. “It doesn’t matter what you meant because that shit is not happening. You and your daughter will sleep in here tonight.”
“Charlie,” she whispers.
“What?”
She looks down at her daughter. “Her name is Charlie.”
I admire the fair skin of her daughter and the way her nose scrunches when she is thinking seriously in her sleep. “That is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”
“Thank you.”
I step out of the way and let her walk past me. “I’ll grab your bags,” I say before limping back out into the living room.
I’m just about back to the room when my knee completely gives out on me, and I tumble to the floor. The bags hit the ground with a loud bang, and Blake rushes out of the room to investigate. When she sees me on the floor, her eyes widen, and she lets out a small gasp. “Are you okay?”
I let out a breath. “I’m fine. This stupid fucking knee is being a pussy today.” I push myself up from the ground and grab her bags. “Here.” I hold them out to her. I notice her child is no longer in her arms, and I raise my brow. “Where is the kid?”
She tilts her head. “I laid her in the bed to rest.” She grabs her bags from me and sits them on the floor just inside the room. “Since she is sleeping right now, let me help you with your knee.”
I shake my head. “There’s no need. I just need to rest for a while, and I’ll be fine.”
She walks past me and into the kitchen, making herself at home. When she finds the ice tray in the freezer, she searches for something to put them in. I point toward the top cabinet, where I know the bags are. “Top left is what you are looking for.”
She blushes and gets to work, making me an ice pack. When she turns to me, ready to go, she smiles.
“Are you a nurse or something?”
She laughs. “In another life.” She points toward the couch, and I follow her lead in my own damn house.
I sit down and pull my leg onto the couch. She immediately sinks to both knees beside me and lays the ice pack on my knee. She is basically kneeling between my legs right now, and I’m trying to look anywhere but at her cleavage that is staring me in the fucking face.
“So.” I clear my throat and shift my position. “How long have you been married?”
She looks up from my knee with a sad expression. “Nine years.”
My mouth falls open. “Nine? You don’t look a day over twenty.”
“I am twenty-five, actually. I’ve been with my husband since I was sixteen years old.”
“Why so young?”
She looks away, and this time, I know she doesn’t want to talk about it, so I don’t try to pry it out of her. “Listen, you can go be with your daughter. I can hold an ice pack on my knee.”
Her cheeks blush. “Oh, right. Sorry.”
She stumbles backward, awkwardly missing the end of the couch by a few centimeters, before walking down the hall toward my room. Just before she walks through the door, she turns around to me and says, “Will you tell me your name now?”
I chuckle and nod. “It’s Hunter.”
She smiles at me.
“I will let you know when dinner gets here. I am going to order pizza. If that is okay?” I raise my brow.
She nods and turns toward my room.
Chapter 11
