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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 shedidn’tseek 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.
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 hewasn’tsingle. 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 reallydidthink that the only thing he could do was play football. And ithadbeen 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 talkedtoher instead ofather. 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.
“You’re still sick. You’re coughing again,” he answered huskily, his large hand reaching out to touch her face.
“I’m fine,” she argued, knowing her feverishness had nothing to do with her previous illness and everything to do withhim.
“I’m pushing you. I’m sorry. We can talk about the house later,” he said contritely.
Asha backed away, his touch disconcerting. While she was sick, she’d savored every contact. But it was different now that she was well and healthy, and when he touched her, it made her yearn for much more than a comforting contact. Now that she was well, she knew how very dangerous those longings could be. “I want to get to work. I have to find a place to stay and we should work out exactly how long this will take, how many walls you’d like done,” she answered in what she hoped was a professional voice, trying to control her rioting emotions.
“All of them,” Kade answered, setting his beer on the kitchen table and folding his arms in front of him. “It will be a long project, and you’re staying here with me. God knows I have plenty of room.”
“No one else lives here?” she asked casually, although her heart was pounding and she held her breath while she waited for his answer.
“No. Just me. It’s always just been me.” He pulled out a chair and motioned her to sit. “You need to take it easy. Sit and tell me what your thoughts are on what I should do with the house if you’re that determined to discuss it. I want your opinion.”
Asha sat, staring up at Kade as he towered over her. He wanted her opinion? Why? She’d expected him to just tell her what to do and she’d do it. “The house needs to be a reflection of you. Whatever makes you feel at home.”
Heaving a masculine sigh, Kade sat in the chair across from her. “I don’t really know. I’ve spent most of my life wrapped up in my football career. I traveled, stayed in a lot of hotel rooms. I don’t know shit about what makes a home. I lived and breathed football.”
She released her pent-up breath before asking, “And what do you live for now that your football career is over?” With Asha knowing next to nothing about football, Kade had needed to explain exactly how the game was played while she was recovering, and what his role had been as a quarterback for the Florida Cougars. Obviously, he was a well-known athlete, and probably most people would have recognized him. But she wasn’t most people, and she’d lived in a very small world up until two years ago. She could feel his sense of loss, the longing in his voice whenever he talked about his team. It made her have the crazy compulsion to hug him close and tell him that he was so much more than just a game.