Of course, he wouldn’t. This isn’t about sex.
No, it was about much more. And that still scared the shit out of her.
“You’re not eating, princess.”
“Um, just wondering when the football team is arriving to help us with all this,” she joked.
“You’ve lost weight, Eden. Weight you didn’t have to lose. I want you to make a good dent in that.” His voice was stern. Authoritative.
She sighed. “I’m not in danger of being too skinny. I could afford to lose that weight. Probably a few more pounds too.”
“You don’t lose weight by not eating. Skinny doesn’t mean healthy,” he lectured. “And you won’t be skipping any meals on my watch. I want you taking in some proper nutrients.”
“But proper nutrients are just so boring. I’d rather take my calories in with ice cream.”
He shook his head but she saw his lips twitch. “Eat. We’re going for a workout and you’ll need the energy.”
“A workout?” She gaped at him as though he was speaking a foreign language. “I don’t workout.”
“You do now. You need to keep moving your muscles. Keep yourself strong and fit.”
She scowled at him, feeling like she was being lectured at. “This isn’t what I agreed to.”
“You agreed that I would take charge of your health and safety.”
“I’m healthy.”
“And I’m going to make sure you stay that way, by eating well and getting in some exercise.”
“I don’t have proper exercise clothes.” There, let’s see what he did with that.
“That’s okay. I’ve found you some clothes to wear.”
“Whose are they?” she asked suspiciously.
“Hayes, the guy who owns this cabin, they were his wife’s. She was a Little too.”
“You said she died?”
Sadness filled his face. “Yeah. She was a sweet thing. Kind, caring, a bit shy. But when she was in Little mode, she came out of her shell. And Hayes adored her. Fucking worshipped the ground she walked on. Here was this big, gruff Navy SEAL whose heart was owned by a woman who was everything to him. May didn’t do very well without him. He was getting out, about to retire when she died. It nearly killed him.”
“Poor man.”
“They used to come up here to play. They often brought friends too. There are other themed rooms. I don’t think he’s been here since she died.”
“Won’t Hayes be annoyed that I’m using her stuff?”
“No, baby. He told me to help myself. I know it’s weird but May would have helped anyone who needed it. She wouldn’t worry about you borrowing her clothes. And a lot of the stuff here was used by their friends when they came here to play. It’s more like it’s communal stuff.”
“How did she die?”
“Severe asthma attack. The next-door neighbor found her. Hayes was overseas at the time.”
“Oh God, that’s terrible.”
“Don’t think Hayes ever forgave himself. Even though it wasn’t his fau
lt, he felt like he should have been there for her.” He stared down at her. “Us daddies tend to be overprotective. We like to protect our Littles from anything and everything.”