Ruthless King (New Orleans Malones #4)

Chapter 23

23

I ’m going to look after you. No arguments.

Jilly woke up and looked around her bedroom.

Huh. That had been a strange dream. Regent had decided that he was going to take care of her while she was ill. And he’d also said he would give up smoking for her .

Lord. What an imagination she had.

She sat up and glanced down at herself. Why did she feel like she’d been run over by a truck? Her head was thumping and her throat was hot.

Oh no.

Was she really ill?

Shit. What day was it? What time was it?

She must have been asleep for a while because she had to pee so bad.

Obviously, she’d been wishing for someone to take care of her and that’s why she’d dreamed that Regent had been here when she got home. That he’d swept her into his arms and declared that he would look after her.

Huh.

As if that was going to happen. He’d only come to see her in the first place because her mother had asked him to.

Urgh.

She needed to call Mama before she roused her neighbors to come check on her.

Maybe she’d just have a shower first. She was all sweaty and gross. Her pajamas were clinging to her. Hopefully, that meant that the fever had broken.

Pushing back her covers, a cough rattled through her.

Shit.

Jilly was going to have to douse herself up on cold meds to get through her sets tonight. Wait, was it Saturday?

If she’d slept completely through to Sunday . . . well, Santé was going to be pissed.

She looked over at the pile of medication on her nightstand in confusion. Where had all of that come from? She didn’t have that much stuff, did she? Jilly was pretty sure she’d used most of her cold medicine the last time she’d been sick.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have the best immune system. Probably because she’d been stuck in this house most of her childhood and hadn’t been exposed to enough germs to build up her immunity.

Something else to blame on her father.

She pushed herself up so she was standing. Right as the door to her bedroom opened. Letting out a scream, she stumbled back and fell on her butt.

Ouchie!

“Jilly!” Regent rushed forward. To her shock, rather than just offering her a hand, he reached down and picked her up, cradling her against his chest.

Oh wow. This was nice. And he smelled sooo good. Like sandalwood and something a bit sweet . . . vanilla, maybe?

Whatever it was, it was delicious.

Her stomach actually rumbled slightly. Not that she wanted to eat anything when she felt like she had razorblades in her throat.

Then she realized that if she could smell him, he could no doubt smell her.

And she smelled terrible.

“Put me down,” she said.

Urgh. When was the last time she’d brushed her teeth?

Do not aim your breath at the gorgeous, sexy man holding you like you weigh nothing.

“If I put you down, you’ll fall over,” he told her.

“No, I won’t.”

“You just fell over,” he told her, carrying her back to bed and lying her down.

“That’s because you frightened me when you stormed into my bedroom. Why are you in my bedroom?”

And why was he putting the covers back over her when she’d just gotten up? She needed to pee. And shower. And brush her hair and teeth. At least she’d taken out the pins last night. But it was still in tight braids.

Why was she always such a mess in front of this man? Look at him . . . he was always so put together.

Although . . . he seemed a little bit less put together than usual. He wasn’t wearing a suit jacket. His white shirt was partially undone, allowing her a glimpse of that sexy chest.

His hair was messy; it looked like he had been running his fingers through it. And there were dark marks under his eyes.

“Didn’t you sleep?” she asked hoarsely.

“Not much, no.”

“Why not? And why are you here? What time is it?”

“It’s just after eight in the morning. I’m here because I took care of you last night. I slept in the armchair so I could be close to help you if you needed anything.”

Jilly gaped at him. Her mouth opened. It moved. No sound came out. “What?”

“I need to check the list.”

List? What list?

He picked up a piece of paper that she hadn’t noticed before and started reading through it.

“All right. I need to take your temperature and give you more medicine.”

“Wait!” she said, holding a hand up as he reached for the thermometer.

“What is it?”

“I . . . I . . . you’re taking care of me?”

Regent scowled. “Yes. Why?”

“That’s my question.”

“What?”

“Why? Why are you here taking care of me? Why aren’t you at your house, sleeping? Or out conquering the world and ordering lobster?”

“Conquering the world and ordering lobster?” he queried.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I assumed that was what you did when you weren’t sleeping.”

He shook his head as he picked up the thermometer and held it to her mouth. “Open. And you need to stop talking. You’re not doing very well at following doctor’s orders.”

Um. No.

She wasn’t doing what he ordered until she found out what the heck was going on.

Also, she still desperately needed to pee. And shower. And brush her teeth.

So she kept her lips pressed together.

“Jillian,” he said sternly. “While a bit of sass is cute, defying me when it comes to your health is not. Open your mouth.”

He thought she was cute sometimes?

Wait. Defying him? Uh, why did he seem to think that he got to order her about? Just because her mama called and asked him to check up on her didn’t make him her boss.

And she didn’t want him to think she was cute anymore.

Because he wasn’t interested in her. At all.

Jilly would have to keep reminding herself of that.

“You seem to think I have to do as you say.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t.”

“You’re on your own. There’s no one to take care of you except me.”

Ouch.

“I have friends.”

“Who you won’t call because you don’t want them to get infected.”

Wait . . . how did he know that?

“Maybe I don’t want you to get infected as well. Yeah, that’s it. You better leave. I’d feel terrible if you got ill because of me.”

“I rarely get ill,” he told her haughtily.

Huh. Yeah.

It figures that germs would be too scared to infiltrate his body.

“Still, you shouldn’t take the risk.” She coughed again. God, everything hurt. Her head was thumping.

The last thing she wanted was to sit here and argue with him.

Also, if she didn’t go to the toilet soon, then she’d likely wet the bed.

At least that would make him leave.

“I can make that decision for myself. And while your mother isn’t here, I am in charge of you.”

She didn’t know how he figured that one out. “Why? Because she asked you to check on me? I’m a grown woman.”

“Yes, because she asked me to check on you. But also because of our connection. You are practically family.”

Great. Just as she thought. He considered her a pesky younger sister. Not someone he wanted to bend over the nearest surface and rail.

Hmm . . . she could get behind some medical play, though. Imagine if he drew out an anal thermometer and ordered her to roll over onto her hands and knees and stick out her ass . . .

Stop it!

Lord, what was wrong with her?

A lot. The answer was a lot.

“Now, stop talking and open your mouth so I can put this stick in it.”

She wouldn’t mind if he was offering another stick . . . urgh! She had a sickness.

Jilly opened her mouth. It seemed that he wasn’t going to give up.

The guy was as stubborn as a goat.

Maybe she needed to go out and get laid. Perhaps that would stop all these thoughts rolling around in her head. It was foolish to keep lusting after a man who had no interest in her.

“101. Still high. But better than last night. Here, take this medicine.”

He gave her a couple of pills and a bottle of water. She swallowed them with a grimace, then handed the bottle back.

“You need to drink more.”

“Hurts,” she said with a pathetic-sounding whimper.

She felt awful. How was she going to go to work tonight? But she couldn’t afford not to go. She needed the money.

Fucking Lowell.

This was all his fault.

And yours for believing his lies. For falling for a snake.

Sadly, that was also true.

“Poor baby. The medicine will help you feel better. Gerald is making you some soup. He’ll deliver it soon. Is there anything else you want?”

“Ice cream.”

“I don’t think sugar is good for you when you’re ill.”

Who cared about what was good for her? She just wanted the feel of ice cream going down her throat, soothing the burn.

“Don’t make that face at me.”

“What face?”

“That face. The one that you think will get you whatever you want. It won’t.”

Hmm. She wasn’t so sure about that. She thought he was relenting.

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll get Gerald to pick up some ice cream.”

Jilly didn’t know who Gerald was, but to her, he was a god. She pushed at her covers. She had to pee.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “You need to stay in bed.”

“Need to get up,” she whispered.

“No. The doctor said you have to rest for at least forty-eight hours.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t get out of bed.”

“Actually, I think it’s exactly what that means.”

“Right. So how do you expect me to pee, then?” she asked.

“Oh. You need the bathroom?” he said stiffly.

“Yes, I need the bathroom. So, will you please let me get up? It’s getting rather urgent.” She pressed her thighs together.

To her shock, rather than giving her an uncomfortable look and moving away immediately, he stood and picked her up in his arms.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Carrying you to the bathroom.”

“I have the flu. I’m not an invalid. There’s nothing wrong with my legs.”

“You just fell over!”

“You scared me,” she stated right before she started coughing. By the time she stopped, tears were drifting down her cheeks and she could barely breathe.

Regent placed her on the counter and rubbed her back. “Breathe. Nice and slow.”

She shook her head. Breathing wasn’t important. Not when she was so close to wetting her pants.

“Toilet. Quick. Toilet.”

He lifted her down and placed her on the toilet. She groaned when she realized she was wearing pajama bottoms and he was still in the room.

“Leave!” She pointed at the door.

For a moment, he didn’t look like he was going.

“I’ll go. This time.”

If she wasn’t in such a bad way, she might have been alarmed by that. But all she wanted was him out.

Once he’d gone, she quickly took off her bottoms and sighed in relief as she peed.

“Do not get off that toilet without me,” he ordered through the door.

Sheesh.

He was taking this looking after her thing to the extreme. She didn’t need him to carry her around. She was fine. It was just a bit of a cough. Standing, she had to grab the counter as she swayed.

Shit.

All right.

Maybe she was a tiny bit ill. But that didn’t mean he needed to stay in the bathroom while she peed.

That was taking things too far.

Slowly, she drew up her pajama bottoms and moved to the sink to wash her hands. She glanced into the mirror and let out a small scream that she instantly regretted as her throat burned.

But. Oh. My. God.

She was hideous!

The door flung open. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“You need to go easier on my doors,” she muttered. “Or I won’t have any left.”

“That might be a good thing since then I could keep a closer eye on you.”

“Starting to think you might be stalking me.”

“You’d know if I was stalking you.” He moved in behind her, trapping her against the counter.

Lord, he was so good-looking. Even with his hair all messy and dark marks under his eyes.

How was that fair?

She was very pale with red splotches on her cheeks. Her hair was still pinned to her head, but wispy parts had come free and were flying around her head.

She felt sweaty and gross, and the last thing she wanted was him pressed against her.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he stated firmly.

She really didn’t understand what he was doing, but she also didn’t have the energy to fight him.

Jilly slumped against the counter. “I’m so tired.”

“I know you are, baby.” He stepped back and spun her around, lifting her onto the counter. Then he grabbed her toothbrush, putting some toothpaste on it.

“That’s why you need to let me take care of you.”

Did it matter why? He was here . . . offering to look after her. So why did she care why he wanted to do it?

“What about your work?”

“I can do most of it from here. Sometimes, I might have to go out, but I’ll make sure someone is here to take care of you if I do.”

“I’ll be fine if you have to go out.”

He eyed her. “You’ll do what you’re told. I’m not leaving you alone while you’re ill.”

“So bossy.”

“Yes, I am. Now, do you want to brush your teeth or do you want me to?”

“I get a choice?”

“Be careful, my sweet girl. I’ll forgive a lot while you’re not feeling well. But I won’t forget. And that sassy tongue might just cash a check that your butt isn’t willing to pay.”