Damaged and the Knight (Damaged #2)

Judd didn’t seem to care about anything as he followed me around. He grunted an order to get a new toothbrush and beauty crap. The only other time he showed interest was when I was picking out panties and he told me to get the other kind. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of plain white underwear. Following his suggestion, I picked the package full of polka dotted pink panties.

Before we finished shopping, I stopped for my second bathroom break. My stomach wanting to get rid of the food from earlier, I sat with my head between my legs and breathed slowly until the nausea passed. When I returned to where Judd waited, I couldn’t help grinning.

He looked so wrong sitting on the little bench next to an old lady. Judd and the woman were both messing with their phones. I nearly laughed at the sight of them, but felt too sick to let out a good chuckle.

“You look like shit,” he said, standing up. “Did you puke?”

“No.”

“Do you feel like you might?”

“Yes.”

“Cork it. I’m not interested in holding your hair. Let’s finish up.”

Nodding, I followed him as he shoved the cart towards the front of the store. Once in line, I tried to steady myself, but I felt so dizzy. Judd finally had me hold onto the cart while he dumped things onto the conveyer belt.

“Can I have bubble gum?” I mumbled, staring at the choices.

“Shit. Just grab something, so we can go.”

Without looking at him, I grabbed two packages and added them to the rest of the stuff. As soon as we were in the car, I opened one packet and popped a piece of gum into my mouth. Judd frowned at me then drove us to a nice hotel. It was so nice that a man brought our bags to the suite.

Judd dumped the bags of clothes on the bed before returning to the sitting room where the bigger TV was located. Turning on the flat screen, he glanced at me.

“Take a shower, put on new clothes, call your sister, go to sleep. Understand?”

I did as I was told because Judd wasn’t the kind of man to disobey. He was a million times scarier than Dad and my jaw still hurt from when my dad last felt I disobeyed him.

After scrubbing myself clean, I dressed in the two piece pajamas Judd bought. I returned to the sitting area to find him waiting.

“I’ll dial your sister, you’ll talk to her, say happy shit, then tell her we’ll fly in tomorrow. Do you understand?” he asked as his cold eyes dared me to push the flying issue.

“Yes.”

Judd handed me his phone then pressed a button. “I’ll wait on the balcony.”

Still dizzy, I sat down and watched Judd walk outside. He looked underdressed for the fancy room we were in, yet I suspected he didn’t give a shit. Judd had a way of seeming like he never gave a shit.

Once the phone clicked and I heard Farah’s voice, I breathed easier. Even with so much distance between us and my fatigue, I felt like she was just an arm’s reach away.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes. I feel a little sick from not eating and I haven’t slept well, but I’m safe.”

“Did you have any issues? Cooper made it sound like those guys were around, but he didn’t really tell me much.”

“They tried to grab me, but Judd handled them.”

“So he’s taking care of you.”

Studying Judd out on the balcony, I said nothing and the silence was long and loud.

“He isn’t hurting you, is he?” Farah whispered.

“No,” I said quickly. “He’s just a jerk. Rough, I guess. He saved me and got me new clothes and fed me. He’s taking care of me, but not in a nice way. I know it’s not his job to be nice.”

“You don’t want to fly, do you?”

“Judd says we have to, but I’m scared and he makes me nervous.”

“Then, you can drive. It’ll only be a few days. Barely that.”

“He said we have to fly.”

Farah heard my meaning and sighed. “I’ll pull rank.”

Grinning, I imagined hugging Farah and being safe. “Cooper loves you.”

“Hell yeah, he does.”

We laughed. “Is he mad that I’m coming?”

“Of course not. He’s even got your rooms ready. Well, kinda ready. You can fix them up when you get here.”

The whole rooms plural thing made no sense to me, but I grunted an affirmation. “I miss you.”

“You’ll be safe here and we’ll be together.”

“What about Cooper?”

“It’s going to be okay, Tawny. When it comes to me, Cooper understands everything. He knows I need you.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t be scared of that guy. He’s doing a job. Maybe he’s scary, but Cooper didn’t send him because he was the nicest guy he could find. He sent him to make sure no one interfered. Coop promised me you would get here safe and he keeps his promises.”

“Because he loves you.”

“Yes,” Farah said and I heard the emotion in her voice. “It’s so good here, but I need you to make it perfect.”

“Soon.”

“Soon,” she said.

Once we hung up, I walked to the balcony where Judd still stood. He glanced back at me and frowned.

“Chicks and tears. It’s like a given.”

“I miss my sister.”

Judd nodded and looked back at the view. “I know.”

“She says we’re not flying.”

Cocking an eyebrow, he smirked. “Did she?” Nodding, I stepped towards the edge and looked down. “You’re not scared of heights, are you?”