Read To Love a Man for Free Online Page A

was finished, but a sudden attack of shyness made her tell him, “Turn around.”
    He grinned in disbelief. “What?”
    “Turn around. I need to wipe and then stand up and flush the toilet.”
    Cal’s hands were on his hips, and nakedness not withstanding, he managed to convey scorn quite well. “Ellie, I’ve seen you naked lots of times, including about five minutes ago. There’s no need to go all modest on me.”
    “There most certainly is. You are no better than a stranger to me now, really. Actually, you’re much worse to me than any random stranger has ever, ever been.” She watched his expression darken dangerously but thought that that was just too damned bad if he didn’t like hearing the truth, “And I won’t feel comfortable doing what I need to do until you turn around.”
    “Well, then you’re going to have to learn to get used to feeling uncomfortable, aren’t you? ‘Cause I’m not going to do that.”
    They were at a standstill, and normally Ellie would have waited him out, but her ankle was throbbing too much, hanging down as it was, for her to do that. Finally, she sighed heavily, gave herself a passing swipe with a wad of toilet tissue and rose.
    Cal was there immediately to lend a steadying arm, which Ellie was loath to admit she needed. He even reached down to flush for her, washed his hands quickly but efficiently, then scooped her up and carried her to her bed. He located her dresser and began to rummage around in it, coming up with a nightgown. “Still Tinker Bell, I see,” he commented with a small smile, and she was surprised that he didn’t seem to be trying to be nasty about it. He added a fresh pair of undies and tossed them to her.
    At least he wasn’t insisting on dressing her himself. Ellie tried to be grateful for small blessings.
    He doled out ibuprofen, put the bottle and the big glass of water he’d gotten for her to take it on her nightstand, along with the remote to the TV, her computer, and a bag of ice that he placed on her ankle himself, looking down at it and sighing heavily. “I am sorry about this, you know. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
    “No, you just wanted to humiliate me and, if you were lucky enough, throw me in jail.”
    He surprised her by having the grace to blush.
    “Is there anything else I can get you or do for you before I go?”
    She had to smile, and he looked at her quizzically. “That was almost exactly what Cruz asked me before he left.”
    His face froze and then his brow furrowed and his face began to resemble a thundercloud. “And I’ll tell you the same thing I told him when he got back from seeing to you: you stay away from him, Ellie.”
    She snorted. “You can tell me not to darken your door again. You can even tell me not to set foot – injured or otherwise – on your property. But I don’t believe you have any right what so ever, Mr. Jennings, to tell me who I can or cannot see. Fuck off.”
    He couldn’t suppress a small grin. “That was extremely reminiscent of what he said to me, too.”
    “I’m not surprised. He’s a smart man.”
    “I’m not kidding, Ellie. Leave Cruz alone.”
    “I’m not kidding either, Cal. You are no one in my life any more.” It felt better than she wanted it to when she saw him flinch slightly before he managed to cover it up. “Sex and the highly out of character Florence Nightingale routine not withstanding, you couldn’t have proven it to me any better this time around than you did the last time you completely rejected me. So fuck you.”
    He wasn’t very happy with the idea of leaving things at that, but he didn’t have much choice, he supposed, and he liked that even less. He was a man who was used to having options – money usually did that for him. But when it came to Ellie and whatever it was that was between them – what had been and would never be again, despite this delightful interlude – he was beginning to think that he’d brought it all on himself, although he