“I need to go take a shower.” He pulled away from her touch and walked off.
“Let me have a look at you.” Mae held me out at arm’s length so she could look me over. She slowly turned me around, taking inventory of all my wounds. “We better get you cleaned up before Jack sees this, or he’s going to kill your brother.”
“It wasn’t Milo’s fault,” I said through my tears.
“No, I know that, love.” She wiped the tears from my face. “You’ll feel better when you get cleaned up.”
I nodded in agreement, since I was crying too hard to talk. She filled her Jacuzzi tub with lilac bubble bath, and I soaked inside for so long I almost fell asleep.
She stayed in with me for awhile and explained that Ezra had called her and told her everything. He and Jack should be back in a couple hours, but until then, I was perfectly safe and I should take the time to recuperate.
When I got out of the tub, I took a moment to admire the scratches I had sustained. Several nasty claw marks were on my back and my ankles. I had a large purplish bruise forming from when Milo grabbed my arm, but I couldn’t fault him for that. My whole body ached, though.
I pulled on clean panties and a plush robe. I dried my hair until it was damp, and I left the warmth of the bathroom for the cold of the rest of the house.
Mae was in the kitchen making me hot soup and tea, which she claimed could cure anything. She eventually confided in me that Milo had made the soup, but he retreated upstairs because he was too embarrassed to see me.
I sat at the kitchen island, dutifully eating the soup and drinking the tea. She watched me with a disturbing level of fascination, but I ignored it. Even though I wasn’t hungry, the heat of the food warmed me. The night felt agonizingly long and I looked forward to curling up and falling asleep.
I stood up to do that when Jack burst through the door. His hair was messy and not in a purposeful way. He wore brown drawstring sweats, a tan tee shirt, and a pin-striped blazer, an outfit that I didn’t entirely understand.
Just seeing him, the fear and relief in his soft blue eyes and the wonderful warmth that came off him, stopped everything else around me. He reached me within seconds, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me off the ground.
“Thank god you’re okay,” he murmured into my damp hair.
Almost reluctantly, he set me back on the ground. Holding my face in his hands, he searched my eyes, looking for any signs of trauma, and then looked me over as best as the robe would allow. He saw the cuts on my legs and the scrape on my knee, and his eyes hardened briefly, but he looked softly back at me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pushing a wet strand of hair from my forehead.
“Yes,” I nodded. “I am. I’m just really glad you’re home.”
“That damn plane couldn’t fly fast enough,” Jack smiled and ran a hand through his hair.
“I thought he was going to overtake the pilot and fly himself,” Ezra added, trying to lighten the mood. When I looked over at him, he smiled at me and I could see the relief in his eyes too. “I’m glad to see you’re alright, Alice.”
“Thank you.”
“I should go check on Milo, though. Where is he?” Ezra looked to Mae for help.
“He’s been in his room since they got home.” She exchanged a look with Ezra, letting him know that Milo hadn’t taken the night so well either.
Jack didn’t take his eyes off me. It was as if he expected me to disappear if he did. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ezra walk out of the room, and Mae busied herself with cleaning up the dishes so she wasn’t staring at us.
“Why are you wearing sweatpants with a blazer?” I asked when it seemed that Jack would go on staring at me forever. I touched the pocket of his blazer, and he laughed.
“Um, we were sleeping when you texted me,” he said with a cautious grin. “We had early meetings today, and then I got your text message. We were calling and canceling things and rearranging flights, and I just never changed out of the pajamas. I put on the blazer because it was cold and raining. It’s my business suit. Do you like it?”
“Yeah.” I rubbed one of his platinum buttons, and there was something dashing about it. “I was wondering what you wore to work.”
“This is it. Well, with matching pants.” His eyes were lightening, and he was settling into the fact that I really was okay. “You look tired.”
“So do you,” I said. It was after eight in the morning, and it was too early for either of us to be up.
“Wanna go to bed?” He took my hand in his, preparing to lead me out of the kitchen.
“Jack.” Mae stood at the kitchen sink, and she gave him a hard look.
“If you think that I’m letting her out of my sight, then you’re crazy,” Jack said evenly.