All To Myself Read Free Page A

don’t like them.”
    “And you’re going into the family business? All hotels and resorts?”
    “Maybe. Maybe not. After four years of university, I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.”
    He unzipped the first aid kit and produced an alcohol swab.
    Rory scuttled back. “I don’t need that.”
    “The cut was filthy. You don’t want to get infected.”
    “It’s fine,” she said, and when he grabbed her ankle she pulled it back. “I don’t like pain.”
    “For fuck’s sake.”
    He regained his hold on her and tore into the package with his teeth. Rory braced herself as he propped his wrist above the cut. She could feel the sting even before he made contact.
    “Motherfucker! Ow! Ooowww! Cocksucker!”
    Noah burst out laughing. “You’ve got one hell of a mouth on you.”
    “I told you I don’t like pain!”
    “Stop being a little bitch and take it like a woman.”
    She gripped the edge of the sofa and bucked up as he cleaned the wound.
    God, was there any worse pain than this? Water torture and cigarette burns had nothing on the sizzling pain of alcohol meeting on wounded flesh.
    “It’s really not that bad,” he said, and she almost kicked him.
    “No, you’re wrong. It hurts.”
    “I mean the cut. You were bleeding like hell, but now that it’s stopped and I can see the cut, it’s not too bad. Your knee is pretty puffy, though.”
    “Can you please hurry up?”
    He laughed again, and then bowed his head and began to blow on the cut.
    The agony disappeared instantly. Without its bite to focus on, Rory was keenly aware of his proximity. His hand formed a fist midway up her thigh. The other gripped her calf. Her thoughts, scattered by the pain, came together in her mind as a buzzing mess.
    The cottage was so quiet, the only sound the slight whistle as he soothed her ache. He wore a concentrated frown, but when he looked up at her his expression changed.
    A smile teased the corners of his puckered mouth. His grip on her softened. He splayed his fingers across her calf and held onto her gaze while he pressed his lips to the wound.
    It wasn’t a simple peck. It was a kiss that lingered soft against her skin. The pleasure it gave paralyzed her. She was trapped in her own body as her heart thumped into her throat and her face filled with heat, and nowhere else was she more throbbing than between her legs.
    Noah lifted his head and grinned. “I always wanted to kiss and make it better.”
    “Uh huh.”
    As he went for a bandage, she wondered if he was oblivious to what he had just done to her or if he was being gentlemanly. She concluded that it was neither. He seemed to be quietly basking as he sorted through the bandages. After his bluntness in the car when he’d asked her if he’d ever fucked her, she suspected his chivalry didn’t extend to his dick.
    Still, his actions were G-rated as he stripped the paper from the bandage and pressed it to her knee, then looked up at her. “Ice?”
    She shook her head. “Not now. I’m really late. Francie is going to hand me my ass.”
    “You shouldn’t go to work.”
    “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
    He frowned. “I can make you take the night off.”
    “No, you can’t. I don’t take orders from an intern.”
    “Maybe not, but I can call my father.”
    She tilted her head and raised her brows. “Seriously? That’s the hand you’re playing? You’ll call Daddy to get me to do what you want?”
    “Are you stunned or something? You were hit by a car .”
    “You just bumped me. I’ve had worse slips on wet pavement.”
    Seconds ticked by as they glared at one another. Finally, he grunted in defeat. “Fine, but after I drop you off I’m having a word with Francie about getting you some help at the bar.”
    “And split my tips? No way.”
    As he stuffed the contents back into the kit, she tried bending her knee. It was like trying to squeeze an invisible volleyball.
    Then his words hit her. “Wait, what? Who said anything