Free Off Chance by Sawyer Bennett Page A

you to wear and I thought we’d go out shopping for some more.”
    Her scrubbing motion stops and I can see tension stiffen her shoulders. “Fine, but we need to make a stop first so I can get my money.”
    “You got it.” I give one last wistful look at her ass, and head toward the kitchen.
    I’m just putting up the last dish when Rowan walks in. When I look at her, I’m surprised by how lovely she looks. Now that her hair is clean and dry, it lends a new level of attractiveness to her. She has it cut so the ends just drag the tops of her shoulders but lays in shaggy lengths with long bangs that angle over one side of her face. The look is carefree and wistful. Coupled with her delicately boned face, she looks like a fairy pixie having stepped straight out of a fantasy movie. It’s very at odds with the hard life that I believe she’s had.
    Pointing to the plastic bag on the table, I tell her, “There are a few outfits and some shoes in there.”
    She opens the bag and pulls out a blouse laying on top. It’s dove gray and looks to be made of silk. It matches her eyes perfectly, which is an odd coincidence that Emily would choose it.
    Rowan holds it up against her body and looks down at it. When she looks back up at me, her nose wrinkles in distaste. “It’s a little fancy, don’t you think?”
    “Beggars can’t be choosers,” I tell her. The minute the words are out, I know they were a mistake.
    Her eyes turn dark... the color of dirty steel, and she actually bares her teeth at me before she snarls, “I’m not a fucking beggar and I told you I don’t need your help.”
    She throws the silk shirt back in the bag and storms down the hallway to the spare bedroom.
    I’m stunned stupid for just a minute and then I take off after her. Rounding the corner of the bedroom door, I skid to a halt, mesmerized by the sight before me.
    Rowan is jerking my t-shirt over her head and she throws it angrily to the floor. Her back is to me but I can see the curve of her breast from the side, and while I want to be captivated by the half-naked sight of a beautiful woman, I’m immediately dismayed when she reaches over and picks up the surgical scrub top that she had neatly folded and laid beside the bed.
    “What are you doing?”
    She doesn’t answer me immediately and apparently has no shame, because she turns to me and I have a momentary flash of two perfect breasts before she’s yanking the scrub top over her head. “I’m leaving—what does it look like?”
    Her hands start working at the drawstring tie around my shorts she’s wearing and I leap forward, taking hold of her hands to stop her action. “Wait... please, just wait.”
    Her hands still and she looks up at me. Her eyes are still dark and filled with fury. She doesn’t say anything.
    “I’m sorry, Rowan. I didn’t mean anything at all by that statement. It was just a cliché that popped out, but I don’t think of you as a beggar.”
    She regards me for a moment and while I’m happy to see her eyes lighten up a shade, her tone is frosty. “I don’t take handouts, Flynn. Not from you... not from anyone. I stand on my own.”
    “I got it,” I hastily assure her. “Seriously... I didn’t mean anything by it.”
    Her eyes pin me and we wage a silent staring war. This woman standing before me... I wonder what has happened in her life to make her so averse to getting help from others. It makes me a little leery over the fact that I just really want to help her. I will have to be careful so that she doesn’t see me giving her a handout, but rather a hand up. Even then, she’s going to insist on repaying me in some way for that hand up.
    I take a deep breath and continue on. “Rowan, I know you’re perfectly able to take care of yourself. I haven’t known you long, but gaging by your resilience and determination... well, I just know it about you. But just this once... let me give you a little help. You can pay me back, with interest if you want,