Page 12 of Divine Sense

When I saw her on the street last night, slumped over and sitting on the ledge of a wall, I felt my heart stop for a moment. When she stumbled over and I caught her before she fell, I felt it stop again. I didn’t know what else I was supposed to do when she couldn’t tell me how to get her home, so I did the thing that made the most sense in the moment and brought her back to my place. I knew I made a mistake as I watched her fall asleep and couldn’t bring myself to leave her side.

It took some time to get her in and upstairs because she kept trying to do everything on her own. The girl might be small, but what she lacked in size she made up for in hard headedness. There were more than a few failed punches sent my way as I unbuckled her from the car and helped her out. After trying to let her go in on her own, I found it was just easier to pick herup and carry her upstairs. Part of me hopes that when she wakes up, she doesn’t remember how she threw up in my front yard before I brought her inside. I hadn’t seen someone as far gone as she was in a long time. Not since the boys and I got Hank drunk before he went off to bootcamp. She fought with me as I tried to clean up the cut on her leg from when she fell and then it took me ten minutes to convince her topleasewear the clean shirt I was giving her because what she was wearing reeked of alcohol and puke.

Eventually though, I got her into bed and once her head hit the pillow, it didn’t take her long to finally knock out for the night. I’d almost wished I hadn’t picked up the phone at all last night but that was before I watched her sleeping. I had given her my hand to help her into bed and fully intended to leave once she closed her eyes but as I went to walk away, she reached for my hand and asked me to stay.

“Will you sit with me?” she slurred as her eyes rolled shut. She looked so full of sadness and defeat that I couldn’t tell her no.

So that’s what I did.

I sat next to the bed and held her hand while she slept. I ran my thumb along the back of her hand because it was something I did to soothe myself and I hoped it would help her too. As she slept, I counted her breaths and watched her dark lashes flutter as she dreamt. Being so close to her, I could see the small, almost unnoticeable freckles that dotted her fair skin across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. It didn’t take her more than five minutes to fall asleep completely, but I couldn’t get myself to leave her side. Instead, I sat next to her for over an hour before I was finally able to pull myself away. But even after I left her to sleep and crawled into my own bed down the hall, I couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

My head was racing from the events of the night before. How she had calledmeto come and get her. The way her hand felt in mine as I helped her into the car and again as she fell asleep. And what she said to me when I picked her up.‘You smell nice. And you’re really strong. And I like when you call me 'flower.’ Has anyone told you how handsome you are?’I felt my lips pull up in the corner as I thought about it because I liked when she called me Jack. The names felt like inside jokes only we understood and there was so much about her that I wanted to learn.

I scrubbed my hands down my face and looked at the clock again. 7:15 a.m. blinked back at me. Normally by now I’d be flying down the quiet streets of Charleston on my skateboard. Saturday was my day to go and ride but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that today because of the sleeping girl down the hall. The last thing I needed was for her to wake up, think I kidnapped her, and call the police. Wouldn’t that headline be rich:Sinclair Heiress Captured by Local Security Firm Owner Hired to Keep The Family Safe. I blew out a breath and decided to get up and make some breakfast. Too afraid to sleep like I normally do, which was usually in shorts or my boxers only, in case she needed me, I was still in the clothes I wore when she called me in the middle of the night. I swapped my shirt for a fresh one and pulled on some joggers before heading downstairs to the kitchen. As I walked, I sent off a text and crossed my fingers that the person on the other end would be able to pull off the favor I’d asked of them.

Half an hour later, I was standing at the stove preparing the last of the scrambled eggs I decided to make when I heard soft footsteps padding down the hallway towards me. When I looked up, I had to remind myself how to breathe.

She stood just inside the doorframe, her long, dark hair messy and falling down her back, rubbing her eyes as sheworked to figure out where she was. I could see her whole image from the other side of the island and nearly choked when my eyes fell down her body and noticed the pale, exposed skin of her legs. Wearing just the shirt I had given her last night, it fit her more like a minidress, and with her hands on her face, the back was creeping a little higher than I could handle.

“Good morning,” I called from my side of the kitchen. My hips pressed into the cabinet to try and kill the growing erection under my joggers. When she heard my voice, it seemed to snap her out of the daze she was in and her eyes finally landed on me.

“Where am I?” her groggy morning voice questioned. I loved the raspiness of it until a voice in my head reminded me that, no, I do not. She blinked hard and looked around the spacious kitchen.

“How much of last night do you remember?” Scraping the eggs off the pan and onto a plate, I turned the stove off and looked at her. I could see the confusion swimming in her eyes as she took in my place for the first time.

“Uh…not much,” she confessed, shaking her head lightly and crossing her arms over her chest which I was grateful for because it was hard to ignore how obvious it was that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Well, you called me around one in the morning to come and pick you up, so I did. When you couldn’t remember how to get home, I brought you back to my place. I hope that’s okay.” I looked at her from across the kitchen and was grateful for the distance between us. “Do you remember calling me last night?”

“I….uh, yeah, a little. Thanks for coming to get me, I’m sorry for bothering you in the middle of the night. Holy shit, my head is killing me.” She dropped her head into her hands and her hair fell around her face. I wanted nothing more than to walk over to her and push it out of the way because I never wanted anything to block my view of her. Between the way her smallframe filled the space in the entryway to my kitchen and how my old T-shirt draped over her body as if it was always meant to be worn by her, I was pressing my hips so firmly into the island I could feel my hip bones beginning to bruise. With her head dropped, I watched as she realized what she was wearing. Or more specifically, what she wasn’t.

“Wait a minute, where the hell are my clothes?” She snapped her head back to me and her voice bordered on accusatory.

“They’re being dry cleaned. I sent them out about half an hour ago. When they’re ready, I’ll get your address and have them sent over.”

“Did you…”

“No.” I cut her off quickly before she could go where I knew she was going. “I gave you the shirt and left the room while you changed,” I assured her. We stared at one another awkwardly for a beat when there was a soft knock at the front door. “Those are probably your new clothes now.”

“New clothes?”

I moved from behind the stove and walked past her to answer the door. As I did, I had to force myself to not turn around and try and catch a glimpse of her small yet perky ass under the hem of the shirt. I opened the door, exchanged a few words with the person on the other side, and closed it again. Carrying a large white bag in my hand, I walked back towards where I left her standing and handed her the bag.

“I hope they’re the right size. You’re a similar build to my sister, so I asked for her sizes and sent someone to pick you up something you can wear home.” She looked into the bag with a stunned expression before looking back at me.

“Thank you…” Her voice came out so small that if I wasn’t standing as close as I was, I wouldn’t have been able to hear it. For the first time, her outer shell of attitude and sass she liked to wear seemed to crack and expose a different side of her. Shehad to tilt her head back to where her chin was almost pointing to the sky in order to meet my gaze because I towered over her so much.

“You’re welcome,” I hummed, looking down at her. We were mere inches apart and if I wanted to, I could close the gap between us with half a step. I felt the muscles in my jaw flex as I clenched my teeth together before taking a step away from her.

“You need to go change now,” I demanded.

“Need to?” she sneered, giving me a skeptical look with her eyebrows pressed together in the center of her forehead, not appreciating being told what to do.Didn’t take long for the attitude to return, I see.

“Yes, flower,need to,”I nearly growled, using her nickname for the first time this morning. “Because you’re my client and I’m trying to act professional. But the way you’re dressed right now makes me want to do things to you that are anything but.”

So much for keeping things professional.The words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. All I knew is that I wouldn’t be able to sit across from her over breakfast when she was wearing nothing but my shirt and her underwear. Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink and her eyes grew round. Without saying anything, she turned on her heels and exited the kitchen, heading towards the stairs again.

By the time she came back down, she’d changed into the clothes I’d texted my secretary to go out and buy for her. When she asked me why I needed a woman’s workout set at seven thirty in the morning, I told her there was a bonus in it for her if she forgot about the errand once it was done. I gave her the sizes I thought Magnolia would need and told her to buy something that a girl would wear to workout. I’d remembered seeing her in one when we first met, and figured she could wear it again if it was the right fit and she liked it.

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