And she’ll have me.
The proprietary beast that kept rearing its head when it came to Asha was back. Admittedly, Kade wasn’t sure it ever really went away. It seemed to always be there hiding just beneath the surface, and it was clawing its way out easier and easier every day if there was any threat or slight to Asha.
Kade shifted her slender weight, tucking her sleeping form back into the bed, questions forming one right after the other in his mind.
Why had she always been alone?
What kind of a life had she lived?
Hadn’t anyone ever been there to take care of her?
He knew way too little about her, and it rankled. He wanted to know everything about her. She fascinated him in a way that he was pretty sure wasn’t exactly sane, and that was perhaps actually a little bit obsessive.
Asha tossed restlessly in the bed, as though haunted by dreams. Kade shucked his jeans and shirt and slipped into the bed beside her. She reached for him immediately, crawling all over him to absorb his warmth. Smiling ruefully, he had to admit that he was getting used to this specific brand of torture. He’d be disappointed now if she didn’t seek him out in her sleep.
Stroking her hair and rubbing his hand comfortingly down her back, he whispered, “I’ll find out what your troubles are and take care of them. You’ll never be alone again.”
Asha Paritala deserved much more than the deal that fate had obviously handed her. And Kade was determined to change that destiny for her, whether she wanted his help or not.
While Asha slept, Kade started making plans, arrangements that he was determined to put in motion the very next day.
And so…he did.
Chapter 4
Two weeks later, Asha found herself standing in the middle of Kade’s enormous home, terrified to touch anything. The mansion was pristine but sterile: a house that felt nothing like a home. “You really want me to do your walls?” she asked distractedly, looking at the humungous living room and shaking her head. “What single guy has white walls and white carpet?” she added, realizing too late that maybe he wasn’t single. She had never asked, and the only thing he’d said about marriage was his joking comment about marrying a woman who liked his shirts. Even though she had spent the last few weeks with him recovering in Nashville, she knew very little about his personal life. Wanting to pay him back for everything he’d done for her, she had hesitantly agreed to his offer to decorate his walls. She owed him a debt greater than money, but she was determined to work off some of the hospital fees he’d paid for her.
Kade shrugged as he came up beside her. “I didn’t decorate it. It was done by a professional and I gave her permission to do whatever she wanted. I was on the road a lot.”
Asha desperately wanted to ask him why he hadn’t consulted his wife, girlfriend, or significant other, but she stayed mute. It was none of her business. She was here to work. Although, she really did hope he wasn’t married or involved. She’d started to have broken memories of the first few days of her recovery. And she was pretty sure she had woken up several times in the mornings, draped over Kade like he was her personal large pillow during the first few hazy days of her illness and several mornings after that. It was like she couldn’t stop herself or her subconscious mind when she was sleeping. She wanted to be near him, and she sought him out. He’d treated her kindly, but still, it was more intimacy than she would ever want to have with another woman’s man. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
Kade frowned. “I don’t really know. I haven’t spent much time here. I just know it needs some color or something.”
Asha rolled her eyes, wanting to laugh at Kade’s irritated look. She didn’t think he had a clue what he wanted. The house was beautiful, but it definitely didn’t reflect his personality. To her, Kade was light and color, a bright star in a dark night. He just didn’t realize it. He’d taken care of her for the last two weeks while she’d been recovering. He’d treated her like she was someone he cared about, which was a novelty for her, and he made her smile…a lot. After offering her—almost a complete stranger—work in his home, claiming he loved the photos of the walls she’d designed, he’d transported her in a private jet to Florida.
The trip to Florida had been her first time flying, an adventure she’d never forget. But it had also made her realize how large the gulf was between her and Kade, how different their circumstances. The house he lived in just made the distance even wider. Telling her that he was rich was one thing, but seeing it once they had left his hotel was completely overwhelming.
“Can you show me the other rooms?” she requested.
Kade dragged her from room to room, giving her a workout just from traipsing through his huge home. The rest of the house was pretty much the same, black and white, with no color and nothing that personally reflected the Kade she was beginning to like more and more. She couldn’t say she really understood him. He was quirky and smart, and handsome as sin, but he rarely talked much about himself. Really, he didn’t talk about much except his football career. Asha was beginning to believe Kade really did think that the only thing he could do was play football. And it had been his entire life. But he was so much stronger, so much more special than he thought. She admired the strength it had taken for him to stop escaping into pain drugs and face reality. Many men in his place wouldn’t have had the strength or inclination to do it.
They stopped when they finally reached the kitchen. Kade reached into the refrigerator and handed her a bottled water and grabbed a beer for himself. He did it casually, as though it was nothing that he remembered her drink of preference when he hardly knew her. Kade did that a lot, and it always astonished her. He remembered those little things about her.
“Well, what do you think?” he asked, his voice a little uncertain.
Asha watched as he tipped his head back slightly and swallowed a swig of the beer, watching the corded muscles in his neck flex as he swallowed.
I think a man should never look as sexy and hot as you do when you’re just standing there drinking a beer.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what you think,” she answered with a slight cough, opening her bottle of water and gulping it to try to cool herself down. Kade Harrison made her edgy in a way that was uncomfortable. And it wasn’t his fault. He was just too sinfully handsome and his consideration was so unusual for her that she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. He was kind when he really didn’t need to be and had nothing to gain from being nice. He asked her opinion a lot. And he talked to her instead of at her. Oh, he was bossy…but only when he was worried or concerned. Kade Harrison was so different from any man she’d ever known that she still was looking for his motivations. But it seemed as if he had none. He was just being…Kade.