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She was silent until he turned back to the table. She had her head down, staring at her hands.
Regent frowned. What was going on? Why did she look so defeated?
“Jilly? Are you all right?”
Her head shot up and she blinked at him for a moment before replying. “Yes, sorry. Really long day. I should have offered you a drink. Would you like tea as well?” She stood.
“Sit down,” he barked.
Regent instantly regretted his tone as she sat with a gasp.
Fuck.
He usually had more patience than this. He didn’t let things get to him.
Or he didn’t let it show when things affected him.
He blamed it on being tired. He placed the glass of water down on the table. “The water isn’t for me, it’s for you.”
“It . . . it is? You got me water?”
Regent scowled. Why did she sound so shocked? Was it because she wasn’t used to others taking care of her?
He knew she’d lived with a boyfriend for a while. Anne had told him. How had that asshole treated her?
Okay, so he had no idea if he was an asshole. He hadn’t looked into him. Regent hadn’t wanted to know how happy they were.
That guy had been gone for months now, though. Was she dating someone else?
“Yes. For you. Now, drink it.”
Reaching out, she grasped hold of the glass and gulped the water down.
He liked how well she obeyed him. Regent was a man who didn’t suffer disobedience.
But what if she was obeying him out of fear?
That didn’t sit well at all. He didn’t want her to do as he told her out of fear. He wanted her to obey him because that’s what she desired.
“Good girl,” he murmured, trying to soften his tone. To make himself seem less scary.
He didn’t think he’d ever tried to make himself less intimidating. Perhaps when Ace and Keir were first introduced to him. Although those hellions weren’t scared of anyone.
When the women in his family were around, he tried to be . . . warmer. Mostly, he didn’t think he succeeded.
He sat in a chair across from her and picked up the foot that she’d been holding while she’d hopped around.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying to pull her foot back.
“I need to check your foot. To make sure the rice pudding didn’t break anything.”
Rice pudding in a can? He hadn’t realized you could even get it in a can.
“Darn! The rice pudding! Wait! I can take off my own shoe.”
“You could. You’re not going to. Stay still.”
“Or what? Are you going to threaten to spank me again?” she sassed.
