I’ll bandage the scrapes. I don’t think you need stitches in any of the cuts but I’ll apply antibiotic ointment so they don’t get infected. While you’re in the shower, I’ll fix us some dinner.”
He didn’t wait for her agreement. That was pretty laughable since he hadn’t asked her for her opinion once. He leaned in, turned on the shower and then came back to where she was standing without a stitch of clothing on. And to think she hadn’t thought her day could get any more bizarre.
He slid one hand up her bare arm to her shoulder, squeezed reassuringly and then left the bathroom. She sagged against the counter and then turned to survey her reflection in the mirror. She looked like death warmed over. Tired. Haggard. Worried. Scared.
There were a million words that swirled in her mind.
She closed her eyes and swayed precariously until she gripped the edge of the counter to steady herself. For tonight, at least, she was safe. Even if she had no idea what had possessed Jace, she was fiercely relieved that he’d brought her here. Where no one could possibly find her. Where even Jack wouldn’t know where she was.
A reprieve. However short it was, she welcomed it.
Knowing she was wasting hot water, she stepped into the shower and groaned as the heat cascaded over her aching body. It was sheer bliss. The most wonderful thing she’d ever felt.
She tossed her head upward, letting the spray wash over her face and down her neck. Her scrapes stung as the hot water abraded them, but she was careful to clean all the cuts in her skin.
She remained in the shower until her body grew heavy and sluggish from being exposed to the intense heat for so long. After rinsing her hair one last time, she reluctantly turned off the water and stepped out.
Warm air washed over her, surprising her. She glanced upward to see that Jace had evidently turned on the bathroom heater and it was nice and cozy after her half-hour shower. He had decadent towels. Huge and fluffy, so soft that she felt surrounded by a cloud. She could almost wrap it twice around her body.
It was sinfully wasteful, but she used two towels, one for her body and the other to wrap in her hair. It was a frivolous luxury that gave her a giddy thrill to indulge in.
She blinked in surprise when she realized that there was a change of clothes lying on the counter that hadn’t been there before. And a thick robe hanging on the back of the door. There was also a pair of slippers. The man had thought of everything.
Her gaze tracked to the clothes again and she frowned. Like he kept women’s clothing just lying around his apartment?
She picked up the pair of jeans and the T-shirt and quickly saw that both were too big. Not by much, and truthfully, a year or so ago they would have fit. She hadn’t been as thin then. Not as lean. More fleshed out. She’d had more of an actual shape.
Now she was reduced to boobs and not much else. No hips. Not much of an ass. Angular features due to weight loss. Life on the streets was hard. It aged a person before their time.
After taking the time to dry herself completely, she pulled on the pair of panties stuck between the jeans and the T-shirt, embarrassed that she was borrowing some other woman’s underwear. There wasn’t a bra, and she supposed it didn’t really matter anyway. She only had two and both were almost falling apart. The one she’d taken off—or rather Jace had taken off—was dirty and torn. It wasn’t salvageable.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t already gotten up close and personal with her boobs. Seeing her without a bra wouldn’t be a shock.
She tugged the T-shirt over her head and it hung loosely over her hips. It didn’t even stretch tight over her breasts, which meant whoever the shirt belonged to was more endowed than she was.
After pulling on the jeans, she took the towel off her head and dragged her fingers through her hair in an attempt to rectify the bedraggled wet-cat look. She was only moderately successful and she wasn’t about to rummage through Jace’s drawers to borrow a brush.
She blew out a deep breath, squared her shoulders and then turned to the door. She hesitated, her hand gripping the knob. Total chicken. The idea of facing Jace terrified her. Not because