Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
But there was no reason to restrict herself anymore. Billy wasn’t there telling her what she could and couldn’t eat.
She needed to stop letting him win.
“Actually, yes, I do.” She accepted the fork and ate some beans. A noise that she didn’t think she’d ever made in her life escaped her as the taste hit her tongue.
Oh. God.
Delicious.
She quickly ate some more.
“Hey, Princess. Slow down, you don’t want to be sick,” Spencer said to her.
Oh God. What was she doing? She was making a complete fool of herself.
Suddenly, she couldn’t swallow her mouthful and she started to cough.
“Whoa, Indie! Spit it out!” Spencer held up his hand to her mouth.
Was he nuts?
Pain slashed up her side as she coughed and then inhaled, choking.
“Spit it out!” Spencer commanded.
She managed to spit the food out. She coughed, tears streaming down her face.
Both in reaction to nearly choking and because of the pain in her side and back.
However all of that faded in comparison to the embarrassment she felt.
What an idiot.
“S-sorry,” she said, lying back.
Her head, which had started feeling better, started thumping again with stress.
“Princess, what have I said about apologizing? You don’t have to say sorry to me,” he told her as he got rid of the food she’d spat up.
He grabbed the water and held it up for her to sip from. She wrapped a shaky hand around the glass but he didn’t let go.
Probably a smart idea.
She wasn’t feeling too steady right now.
“I just spat food into your hand. Pretty sure that requires an apology.”
“Well, it doesn’t. I’m happy to have you spit food on me any time.”
There were a few beats of silence before he broke out into a wide grin. “Well, that came out sounding weird, didn’t it?”
She surprised herself by giggling.
“Let me just clean myself up,” he told her.
Lying back, she grabbed the can of soda and took a few sips. Her stomach was still empty and she really wished she could have eaten some more before she started choking on it like a crazy person. Why had she tried stuffing it into her mouth like that?
Idiot.
“Right, let’s try this again, yeah?” Spencer said as he walked back into the room.
“I’m not hungry anymore.”
Her stomach chose that exact moment to grumble.
Typical.
Spencer waggled a finger at her. “You’re lucky I’m not one of the others or you’d likely be getting your butt spanked for lying.”
Did he really just say that?
Her butt spanked? She could feel herself growing red. “No one is spanking me.”
“Yeah? Good luck with that. Both Slade and Quaid are disciplinarians. Even Rock will spank you if he thinks you’re putting yourself in danger.”
She winced as a stab of jealousy hit her. Why was she jealous at the idea of them spanking someone else? That was ridiculous.
“Hey, are you all right? Are you in pain?” he asked. “I don’t know why that nurse can’t give you more meds. I’m going to see about moving you to a private hospital. I don’t like the level of care in this one.”
“Wait. What? I don’t need a private hospital,” she said. “Not only that but I can’t exactly afford a private hospital.”
He shot her a look. “You aren’t paying for it.”
“And I don’t need it,” she said firmly. “I think I’ll be released soon.”
Which meant making some decisions that she wasn’t quite ready for.
Should she go to Escana with Maggie? It would be safe. Reverse harem relationships were actually the norm rather than the exception. Maybe she’d find herself a few Escanaian men.
Her stomach rolled nauseously.
Or maybe she’d just stay away from men altogether.
What would she do for a job, though? She wouldn’t know anyone but Maggie and she didn’t want to be a burden to her friend.
“Hey, you look like you’re thinking too hard. All right, no private hospital unless you need to stay longer. Then we’ll discuss it.” His voice was almost stern.
“You’ve changed.”
His face turned guarded. “Is that a bad thing?”
“No. Of course not. Everyone changes.” She just wasn’t used to him being so serious. So dominant.
It was kind of sexy.
“Right. You need to eat. If you don’t want the burrito bowls, what would you like? I’ll order it.”
She blinked at him. “You don’t need to order me anything. The orderly will bring something soon.”
“Yeah, no. You’re not eating hospital crap. You need food that tastes like something and hasn’t been boiled to within an inch of its life. What would you like? Pasta? You love pasta.”
“I did.” She hadn’t had pasta in so long. “I’m fine with this, though.”
She’d force herself to eat a few bites.
A few slow, small bites so she didn’t make an idiot of herself again.
Once a night was enough, thank you very much.
“I don’t know. I don’t want you choking again.”
“I’ll be fine,” she told him. “I was just eating too fast. That’s all.”