“Incredible,” Kade said as he flipped through the photos. “You do art on walls?”
Asha shrugged. “I can do designs on anything, but I mostly do walls.”
“So you travel around the country, painting walls? How do people find you?”
“I have a website. Designs by Asha. They usually contact me from there. I get a lot of repeat clients and referrals.”
Kade finished looking at the pictures and handed them back to her. “I’m not surprised. You do incredible work.” He plucked the number from her fingers and pulled out his cell phone.
Asha watched in horror as he called her client and promptly canceled, telling the expectant mother on the other end of the line that Asha was sick and wouldn’t be able to paint her nursery wall anytime soon. He hung up without getting another date or appointment.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” she told him with as much anger as she could muster, which wasn’t much. She was too damn weak, and anger took more energy than she had at the moment. She settled for glaring at him, giving him what she hoped was an angry stare. Drowsy, she lay back on the pillow and crossed her arms in front of her.
“You’re sick. You aren’t doing anything except resting your gorgeous ass in my bed for a while,” he informed her gruffly. “And you aren’t paying me back, so quit stressing about money.”
Asha opened her mouth to reply, but promptly closed it again, his personal comment about her butt rendering her speechless. No one had ever told her she had a gorgeous anything, and it flummoxed her into silence.
Looking up at Kade, her heart skipped a beat as she looked at his stubborn expression. His beautiful blue eyes were kind, but his look told her that he wasn’t budging, and Asha had a feeling he had a stubborn streak a mile wide. She’d already discovered that he was bossy. Her eyes roamed his incredibly toned, buff body, his biceps bulging from beneath another colorful short-sleeved shirt as he crossed his arms and stared back at her, making her totally incapable of looking away. He was so handsome that it was almost painful to look at him. His eyes were as turbulent as the ocean during a storm; his hair was several different shades of blond, making him appear just a little bit wild and dangerous. He might be wearing a shirt that should have made him seem harmless, but it didn’t diminish his masculinity even a tiny little bit. Well over six feet tall, Kade Harrison was solid muscle, and all male, testosterone emanating from him in gigantic waves. Asha knew his size and bulk should probably scare her. After all, she didn’t even know him. Strangely, she wasn’t afraid of him at all. He fascinated her. His only flaw seemed to be his limp, but having that tiny imperfection made him even more captivating, making her wonder what had happened to him. Somehow, it made him seem more human.
“I can’t afford to be out of the job,” Asha admitted reluctantly, feeling like a complete loser next to this man who obviously had his shit together financially. He’d paid what was probably a hefty hospital bill without thought, and the hotel he was staying in was one that didn’t have average, middle-class clientele. It catered to people with money.
Kade didn’t answer immediately. He held her gaze as he stretched out on the bed next to her before finally saying, “I have a proposition for you. But I don’t want to talk about it right now. I just want you to work on getting well again. I won’t let anything happen to you, Asha. I promise.”
His low, reassuring baritone flowed over her like silk, making her want to sink into him and happily drown. No one had ever offered to protect her before. How strange and wonderful it seemed to have a complete stranger taking care of her like she was someone of value. “You must know that I’m not related to those two people in the picture. It’s a lovely thought, but it’s not possible. And even if it was, it isn’t a priority for me. I need to survive right now.”
Survive. Survive. Survive.
Kade put a finger to her lips and shook his head. “Not now. You’ll survive just fine. You’re safe and I’ll keep you safe. Trust me.”
Trust me.
Kade didn’t understand her background, or how difficult it was to put her future into anyone’s hands, no matter how tempting the idea was to her right now because she was sick and her defenses were down. She was fighting to survive, to be independent. But whether she liked it or not, she was completely at his mercy for the moment. She shook her head and closed her eyes. “I can’t. I need to take care of things myself.”
“You can trust me. I’m a trustworthy kind of guy,” Kade countered stubbornly, stroking the hair away from her face. “Sleep now. The doctor said that rest was the fastest way to shake off the pneumonia.”