A frown filled her face as she glared at him.
“Don’t give me that face, baby girl,” he warned.
She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. She wanted more kisses. Maybe she could sneakily kiss him.
Secret mission: Kiss Brick.
Brick eyed her warily. “Time for a bath.”
“No bath.”
“Yes, you need a bath.”
“No bath.” If she threw herself at him, he’d have to catch her, right? Then if her lips just happened to land on his . . . well, he’d have to kiss her.
It was a flawless plan, really.
“You’re a brat. Since you’re obviously feeling well enough to sass me, we’ll be having a chat about you obeying me. Especially when it comes to safety.”
“No chat.”
“Well, you’re right. It won’t be much of a chat. More like a lecture, followed by someone getting a red ass.”
“Your ass.”
“No, not my ass. What’s got into you-oomph . . . Argh!”
Oh shit. She froze.
Her secret mission to kiss him had somehow gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Blood hadn’t been part of the mission! Somehow, instead of him catching her, and ‘accidentally’ kissing him, she’d managed to slam her forehead into his nose.
Which was now bleeding everywhere.
Oh no. Oh no.
Why couldn’t she do anything right? Even though he was bleeding a lot, he’d still managed to grab hold of her with one arm so she didn’t slip onto the ground.
“Fuck. Crap.”
She stood frozen as he grabbed one of her mermaid towels and pressed it to his nose. Then as he turned, she did the only thing she could.
She ran.
Christ. That hurt.
And it was bleeding like a motherfucker.
Damn it. He pressed the towel to his nose to stop the bleeding. But it just kept going. He turned to check on Juliet.
Where the hell had she gone?
Shit. No doubt she was feeling bad about hitting his nose. But it hadn’t been her fault. She’d been trying to jump off the counter, which he’d have to speak to her about since she could have hurt herself. Grabbing a fresh towel, he moved back into the bedroom.
“Duchess? Where are you?”
Alarm filled him. But she couldn’t have gone far. Clearly, she wouldn’t have left her rooms again just wearing pajamas.