Lust Is the Thorn by Jen McLaughlin Read Free Book Online

present. And her
clothes
. “I’ll go get them right away.”
    “Thanks.” She released her lower lip. Small little white marks were visible for a second before her lip pinked up again. “And the bag?”
    I opened up some drawers, looking for any plastic bags that might be big enough to cover her bandages and splint, and came up empty. The best I could find was a sandwich-sized baggie. Closing the last drawer, I rested my hands on the counter. “Uh…”
    “It’s okay,” she said quickly, her tone light. “I just won’t wash my hair, and I’ll be careful not to get it wet.”
    It had been the one thing she was looking forward to, getting clean, so there was no way I was about to make her hold off till we could find something. She still had glitter in her long hair, and that man’s
touch,
on her. She needed to wash that away. All of it. “I’ll just help you wash your hair.”
    “Wait.” She blinked at me, her voice cracking. “What?”
    “You can leave a shirt on, maybe one of mine, since they’re bigger, and I’ll wash your hair and help you keep the splint dry.” I scratched my scalp. “Together, we can make this work.”
    “Are you sure?”
    No. Absolutely not. It’s a bad idea. Horrible.
“Of course. I’ve got two good hands, so why not use them? I’ll run out, grab our things, and we’ll get you started. It’ll be fun.”
    “Fun.”
She gawked at me as if I had lost my mind, and maybe I had. “Okay…”
    I brushed past her and headed outside, taking a deep breath the second I walked through the door and out into freedom. I opened my trunk, leaned on the car, and glowered at the suitcases.
    “Idiot,” I muttered to myself, glancing toward the house.
    She watched me from the doorway, worrying her bottom lip. I forced a smile and waved. She waved back. No matter what I was feeling, or how badly I wanted her even though I shouldn’t, I had to ignore all of that to help her. No matter how tempting her wet, tight body might be….I’d been faced with temptation before, and I’d walked away.
    I could do it again, with Rose.
    I
had
to.
    When I reentered the house, I found her exactly where I’d left her, looking less than certain about this whole thing. I plopped the bags down on the floor and opened mine. Digging through it, I found the biggest shirt I owned and held it out to her. The more skin she covered up, the better…for both our sakes. “Here. Put this on, and come into the bathroom when you’re ready.”
    She eyed the shirt. “You don’t have to do this. I can just not wash my hair and—”
    “Just get undressed and put it on,” I snapped. I was already on edge about this whole naked-Rose thing, and she wasn’t making it any easier on me. “You’re getting clean from head to toe, and that’s that. Stop wasting time with the useless arguing, and go get naked.”
    Frowning, she snatched the shirt out of my hand. “Fine.
God
. No need to get all surly with me simply because I’m worried about your virtue.”
    I cocked a brow. “I assure you, my virtue is completely safe around you.”
    “Wow.” Pressing her lips together, she glared at me. I focused on her lip ring as it moved. “Way to make a girl feel unattractive.”
    “You know you’re gorgeous,” I called after her as she walked away.
    “Whatever.” Stomping up the stairs, she entered the room to the left and slammed the door shut. Through the door, she called out: “Asshole.”
    “Stop yelling! You’re hurting your throat more!” I yelled up the stairs. When she remained silent in reply, I tugged on my tight khakis and imagined her stripping upstairs. My pants instantly got even tighter. She was affecting me in ways she shouldn’t have. Ways I shouldn’t
let
her. “Get yourself together, man,” I muttered under my breath, climbing the flight of stairs and finding the closest bathroom to the bedroom she picked. “It’s just hair.”
    I took everything out of my pockets in case I sprayed water on