Love Me Long (Love Me Book 4)

Chapter 11

The news had spread that she was her father's daughter. Everywhere Chloe went within the hospital, she was treated with kid gloves and kept from doing any real work, and she hated every minute of it. It was as if no one believed she was capable of doing the job. She had even complained to her father one night at dinner, and he had said it was because she was so beautiful, no one believed her capable of hard work. It was an insult in disguise as far as she was concerned. 

Juric had disappeared once again, and there had been no news of him. Otherwise, she might have asked him to intervene and let them know that she was a capable nurse since even her father believed her to be incapable of the work.

Chloe's days had evolved into a routine. She spent the week at the hospital and the weekends with her father at his house. It allowed them to spend time together and allowed her to get to know him again.

On Friday, after a long shift of running errands for others, she arrived at her father's house. It was just as she remembered it. It was a modest two-story concrete building. There was a walled courtyard with a small garden, and the front entry hall was dark with a peeling vinyl floor. The ceilings were low, and the carpet throughout the house was a muddy brown color that was worn very thin in the high traffic areas.

Chloe's first weekend had been spent cleaning and straightening, something it appeared her father hadn't done in the past twelve years.

Her room was also the same. The first time she had entered it, it was like walking into the past. The bed still held the white quilt and fluffy pillows she had always loved. Many of her clothes were still in the closet, and she had spent an entire day sorting through them, remembering her favorite pieces and the memories attached to them.

Now, however, she had a mission. Her father was bringing a surprise guest to dinner, and she was going to cook. When Chloe entered the house, she raced up to her room and stripped before jumping into the shower in her ensuite bathroom. She took her time, luxuriating in the warm water as the stress of the day slid away.

Her father had said diner would be at eight, so she had plenty of time, but she wanted to see what was in the kitchen in case she needed to run to the market before it closed. Turning off the water, she jumped out of the shower, briskly dried herself, then pulled her hair out of its top knot and started brushing out the kinks, working through some ideas as to what she could prepare for the meal.

With a resigned sigh about her untamable hair, she reached for the bathroom door handle just as it turned, and the door swung open. She jumped back with a startled yelp, hitting a patch of water left by her feet, starting to slip. A strong arm reached out and caught her, yanking her forward, which caused her to hit a very solid and naked chest.

Of course, she knew who it was without looking. Her body's reaction gave it away. A completely naked Juric was holding a completely naked Chloe. Every part of her was pressed against every part of him, and Lord help them, neither one of them was letting go. She felt every inch of his skin where it touched hers, and she had to close her eyes to keep from asking for more. Chloe couldn't help but tremble in response. It had been so long since he had held her.

After a few minutes, when neither one of them had moved, Chloe realized that they couldn't stay as they were forever, so she took a step back, knowing that her body's reaction to him was giving her need away. Chloe should have reached for a towel or offered him one, but she couldn't move as she took her time studying the changes in his body. A body that was telling on him just as much as her body was telling on her. She hadn't imagined the new muscle he had developed. He was built for fighting. His thick arms and legs were solid muscle, and his chest was twice as broad as it used to be. The most significant change was all of the scars that crisscrossed his body. There were so many of them.