The Scarred One(24)

“I wanted to make you dinner.” She stood holding the spoon as he glared at her. His bruising had almost disappeared. Lydia had looked in the mirror to see her bruise fading but not totally gone.

“You’re supposed to be resting, not hurting yourself. If you keep this up, you’re not going to get better but worse.” He dropped his keys onto the counter. Looking at the stove where her labor of love was bubbling up, Lydia felt tears fill her eyes.#p#分页标题#e#

“Okay, I’m sorry.” She placed the wooden spoon on the counter and was about to step away.

“Fuck, are you crying?”

“I’m not crying.” She was close to crying, but she wasn’t actually crying.

“Why are you crying?” She looked up as he rounded the kitchen to get to her. He reached out, cupping her cheek.

“I told you, I’m not crying.” She made to move away, but he tightened his hands around her chin, stopping her. Lydia didn’t want to move away from him.

“You’re crying. What did I say to upset you?”

“Why are you angry at me for making dinner for us both? It’s late, and you’ve been to work. I wanted you to look forward to something to come home to.” She pointed at the dinner bubbling away. It would be another half an hour before it was done, but it would have been so worth it. Chicken with marinara was one of her favorites. She didn’t know why she was so sad about the fact she didn’t get what she wanted.

Life sucks sometimes, but this wasn’t a problem with life. This was because Henry didn’t want her cooking in his kitchen. Great, the very thought of him not wanting her around just depressed her more. He allowed Donna to visit with Luke, but her friend rarely stayed too long.

“You made this for me?”

“Who else would I cook for? I wanted you to have something to look forward to, and yet you’re acting like I did something wrong. I just wanted to do something nice for you.” She stopped talking to suck in her lips. Her emotions were running away with her. “Forget about it. I won’t invade your kitchen again.”

He cursed. “I mess up all the time. I don’t care about you using my kitchen. What you’re cooking, it smells amazing. Your ribs are not better, and I don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

“I’m feeling better.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to go back a step. The reason you’re here is because of me.”

She frowned. “No, it’s not. I’m here because some asshole used me as a punching bag. It’s not your fault.” Over the last couple of days she’d come to realize that Henry wasn’t like how she thought he was. There was so much more to him than being a crude man who was gun happy.

He tilted her head back, stroking his thumb across the fading lines of her bruise. The pain in his eyes was so clear to see that he took her breath away. “Every time I look at you and I see these I’m reminded that those bastards are still out there.”

Lydia gripped his hand. “Don’t do that, Henry. You’ll get them when it’s time. You don’t need to rush to find them for me.”

“I promised you I’d kill them.”

She’d been surprised when she hadn’t developed nightmares the first night she was here. Any time she got scared she would wake and think about Henry and all of her problems would fade away.

“I believe you.”

“You’re not afraid?”

“Of you? No, I’m not afraid.” She licked her lips then glanced down to stare at his lips. What would it feel like for him to kiss her?

“You’ve changed since last time?”

“A lot more is going on now. I wasn’t afraid of you last time. I didn’t know you. I don’t know you now, but what I do know is you won’t hurt me.” She reached out to touch his scarred cheek. He didn’t pull away from her, and she traced the outline of the mark on his skin. “This tells me a story. It’s not a nice story or an easy one, but there’s more to you than meets the eye, Henry.”#p#分页标题#e#

“What are you doing to me?” he asked.

She released his cheek and covered his hand that held her face. “The exact same thing you’re doing to me.” Lydia dropped his hand down to her breast. Her heart was racing, and she couldn’t stop what she wanted. She wanted to have his hands all over her body, to feel what he was doing to her. He cupped her breast, and she released a breath. “This is what you do to me every time we’re together. I can’t stop thinking about you.” This was the first time she’d ever put herself out there with a man. She never allowed herself to get too close. Most of the men she’d been with had used her for sex and money. Darren had only used her because she’d been convenient as she had a place to stay. God, when was she going to stop falling for losers who only wanted her for what she could give them?