Page 20 of Provocation
I hear the bathroom door, and Daisy comes down the hall. I’m about to go ask her how she’s feeling and if I can take a look at her injuries, but Blake, that fucker, gets to her first. I didn’t even know he was awake! He doesn’t even ask, he just pulls her towel away and she squeals, looking outraged as he turns her around and inspects her ass.
He whispers something in her ear, and she shakes her head, though as I step closer, I see that she’s blushing.
‘Need to get to the lab,’ she says. ‘Let go.’
Blake puts his hands up and steps back, pretending he’s his usual carefree self, but I see how his eyes home in on those marks and I think that, regardless of what he said last night, Joe Banderville should watch his back.
‘They look a little better,’ I murmur.
He nods. ‘Arnica. Works wonders.’
He turns to go back to his room, but I stop him with a hand on his shoulder, barring his way.
He hides the darkness from me, but I know him too well.
‘There’s nothing we can do,’ I say quietly, conscious that Daisy’s door is open. ‘Not yet. You know what they say about revenge.’
He stares at me for a second and I think he’s going to lose his temper, but instead he glances at Daisy’s room and a wisp of a grin curls his lips.
‘I like a cold dish. I won’t do anything. Not until she tells me I can. She already made me promise.’
I’m thrown for a second. ‘She did?’
He nods and I notice something I’ve rarely seen in my friend’s eyes when it comes to women, at least the ones our age.
Respect.
‘It means something to her,’ I say. ‘A promise. You can’t break it.’
‘Wasn’t planning on it,’ he smirks. ‘Besides, I think she has it in hand.’
Before I can ask him what he means, he’s in his room and the door is closing.
It’s ten minutes before Daisy emerges. Mav appears in the corridor around the same time and Blake a few seconds later.
‘Guess we’re taking the truck.’
We go downstairs together. It’s still dark out and the breeze feels like ice on our cheeks as we leave the house and climb into the 4x4. Mav drives and I make Blake sit up next to him with Daisy and me in the back, mostly because he’s in a weird mood and I half expect him to try to fuck Daisy in the back seat if he’s the one sitting next to her.
I glance at her as she puts on her seatbelt, and I lean toward her. ‘Blake,’ I murmur and she looks at me with a questioning expression. ‘He’s…he hasn’t done anything that you haven’t wanted him to, has he?’
‘I don’t think so,’ she murmurs, turning her body toward me. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean stuff like this morning when he pulled your towel off in front of everyone.’
‘Oh, that.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘He’s just a bit heavy-handed.’
She turns to look out the window, clearly done talking.
‘So, uh. You’re okay with that stuff? He can be obsessive. You don’t mind? It doesn’t scare you?’
She looks back at me and I get the distinct impression she thinks I’m talking crazy.
‘He only pulled my towel off in front of you and Mav. You’ve already seen me naked. No big deal. I don’t think he’d do it in front of anyone else.’ She huffs. ‘Yesterday, my husband-to-be whipped me with a cane. That sort of put Blake in perspective for me. So, no, I’m not scared of him, Jack.’
She gives me a shrug. ‘And, after ten years with no one caring much about me at all, and all those weeks where everyone was so horrible to me here, I think I sort oflikethe obsessiveness to be honest. It’s…nice. A breath of fresh air.’
Unable to help myself, I lean closer, and I ask the question Blake wouldn’t answer last night. ‘What did he do after he put the arnica on you, Daisy?’
