“Belle?” Lorenzo said my name, and for the first time I noticed how the letters played over his tongue and full lips; the slight accent he’d picked up from his father was sexy and not something I’d ever really thought about before. Until now. His blue eyes were watching me with steady confidence.
Omg answer him!I begged my subconscious.
“I have a late tomorrow but then I’m free on Thursday?” I somehow managed to squeak out. “It’s my day off.” I gave a small shrug.
Lorenzo smiled again. “Thursday is perfect. I’ll book the night off and I’ll cook only for you.”
My cheeks felt hot and I had no doubt that the red was creeping down my chest and making me look all hot and bothered. Hell, Iwashot and bothered!
“Perfect.” I mirrored his words, and he winked and left our table.
I stared down at my lasagna trying to catch my breath before looking up and seeing Jenna and Gregory staring at me with grins on their faces.
“Stop that,” I laughed, embarrassed but happy.
Jenna picked up her wine glass and so did Gregory, so I felt obliged to do the same. They clinked glasses with me and I felt Lorenzo staring at me from across the room. When I looked up he looked away with a small laugh and I hid my own smile behind my hand.
“New beginnings,” Jenna said. “New job, new apartment on the horizon, and possibly a man in your life.” She looked between Gregory and me with a happy smile. “Seems things are looking up for the two of us.”
My smile dipped but I hid it by taking a sip of my margarita. “Yeah, they definitely are.”
“What’s this about a new apartment?” Gregory asked.
Jenna spoke for me, which was good because my mind was back on the letter in my purse. I’d brought it so I could speak to Jenna about it, but the evening was going so well and I didn’t want to ruin it. And talking about my mother would definitely ruin it.
“Well, Belle has taken a second job at the hospital working on a private patient, so she’s saving up for an apartment so she can get out of that trailer,” Jenna said proudly. I was glad she left out the part that the private patient was actually working for a criminal gang and the patient in question was one of the most awful and dangerous people I had ever met in my life.
The image of him on the bed tonight with that woman, his gaze so dark and intense, and his hands gripping her and thrusting her back and forth on him popped into my head and I felt my blush deepen. It wasn’t like they were having sex or making love. He looked angry, furious, and that poor woman must have been petrified of him. God, she was pretty though, I couldn’t help but remember. Tiny waist, pert ass, and huge boobs. And despite the fact that she was on top of her boyfriend and was likely embarrassed when I came in, she had been super friendly and waved at me… omg, I realized, she wasn’t his girlfriend.
I stood up sharply, bumping the table and almost knocking our drinks over. Jenna and Gregory looked at me in surprise.
“So sorry, I need to go to the bathroom,” I said before darting off to the ladies’ room.
Once inside I stared at myself in the mirror, feeling even more embarrassed that I’d walked in on them. It was bad when I’d thought she was his girlfriend, but realizing he’d brought a prostitute into the hospital was even worse. I mean, I was guessing that’s what she was, and I held no judgment over her for it, but it was somehow still worse than walking in on them if she’d been his girlfriend. I dragged a hand down my face, feeling embarrassed and stupid at the same time. I knew so little about men and the world. Jenna had shielded me from it all, and I was so grateful, but it also left me wide open when it came to certain situations. Like walking in on your patient with a prostitute or going on a date on Thursday night with a handsome, successful man when you were nothing but a lowly nurse living in a crappy trailer and working for a criminal.
My stomach turned as I realized something else… I had never been on a proper date before. Sure, I’d been out with guys, but this was my first real, grown-up date where someone was going to cook for me.
I felt nauseous at the thought of being alone with Lorenzo. He was a seriously great guy, but I didn’t know how to interact with a man like him. I lived in a trailer, for God’s sake, and he had his own house and business!
I was getting more and more distressed at the thought of seeing Beast the next day, because I had no idea how to deal with the situation—and after how I’d been earlier in the morning and our argument...
And then there was still the matter of my mom’s letter to deal with. At some point I was going to have to deal with it. The ten missed phone calls from her attorney proved that. She was getting out and she wanted to stay with me. Her only daughter that she had abandoned seventeen years ago…
Since when had my life gotten so complicated?
All I had done for the past few years was work and study, and I’d loved my little bubble. But now I was in the real world, dealing with real-world problems, and it was all going horribly wrong.
Chapter Twelve
~ Beast ~
Belle spoon-fed me the pudding quietly; her thoughts were clearly elsewhere again today, which pissed me off. I was paying for her time and her attention, so I expected her goddamn time and attention to be on me 100% while she was here. She’d been exactly the same this morning, but I was about done with it now. It was the end of another long and boring day, I was aching, my skin itched, and I really needed out of this room.
She scooped some more pudding onto the spoon and directed it toward my mouth like I was a fucking child. Which, normally, I didn’t really care. If anything, it was nice how attentive she was. She knew I could feed myself but that it hurt to move my arms too much, so did it for me and she seemed to enjoy making me feel better, so it was a win-win. But not today. Today her forehead was creased, her eyebrows pulled down like she was working on a fucking math problem or some shit. And she hadn’t even mentioned the broken window.
When she almost missed my mouth for the second time, I snatched the spoon from her hand, making her startle and me hiss in pain.
“All right, get the fuck out of here, Belle,” I growled, ignoring the pain in my shoulders from moving too fast and the sting across my knuckles from my skin stretching as I curled my hand around the spoon handle. Everything was healing—my body putting itself back together piece by piece. Skin healing, bruises fading, muscles building. I’d never be the same again, of course—not even close. Beneath the bandage wrapped around my head I only had one damn eye, and my skin was permanently scarred from the fire that had melted it, but I’d come to terms with that—mostly, at least. Women would never look at me the same; I wasn’t the big alpha sex god anymore; I was literally beast by name and by looks now. But again, I’d come to terms with that. Mostly I was getting irritable as all hell because it was happening way too slowly.
