What It Feels Like for a Girl (Part 4)

Shaun chewed slowly as she ate her meal of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. Her jaw and face still ached dully and made eating a chore. "Are you okay?" Alex asked her, noticing that she grimaced with pain each time she took a bite of food.1

"Just a little pain, nothing I can't handle," she replied. "Can we get this to go? I'm not very hungry at the moment."2

"Yeah, anything you want, lass." Alex motioned for the waitress to come over and asked for two takeout containers for the rest of their food. Shaun sat back against the booth as Alex carefully scraped her food into its container and then did the same to his plate. "Let's go get your stuff and go home."3

She went out into the parking lot to her car and unloaded her bags while Alexander paid for their meals. After making sure that it was locked up securely for the night, she carried her suitcases over to his truck that was parked near the front doors of the IHOP. Alex came out with a sack in one hand that contained the takeout plates. He quickly took one of the suitcases from her and set it down next to his vehicle. "Careful, love, you have to take it easy with bruised ribs."4

Unlocking the doors, he opened the backdoor and loaded the suitcase in. He set the bag of food on the driver's seat and took the other suitcase and duffel bag from Shaun and loaded them into the backseat of the truck. She walked behind the truck over to the passenger side and go in. Alex handed the bag of food to her once she was buckled in and she held it as he got in and locked the doors. "Everything is going to be alright, Shaun," he said to her, "I promise."5

"Alex, don't make promises you don't intend to keep. Daniel did that a lot and it only turned out bad in the end."6

"I do intend to keep my promises, Shaun. Everything I do, I do it for you. I just want you to know that."7

She simply nodded and said nothing as he started the engine, backed up, then drove off into the night. 8

~*~9

..."Lass,wake up. We're here," said Alex as he pulled into the garage of his country home.10

She yawned and slowly opened her eyes, not realizing that she had fallen asleep in that short period of time. "What time is it?"11

"Almost 3 am."12

"I didn't know you lived this far from the city," said Shaun, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the passenger door. 13

"It reminds me of the countryside of my homeland," he replied as he got out of the truck and opened the rear door to get her bags. "You'll like it out here, peaceful and quiet."14

"I'm sure it is."15

Alexander led Shaun into the house through the garage door, which led into the kitchen. The sheer size of the kitchen surprised Shaun for she had always thought that Alex lived in a small house, not a family sized home. 16

The kitchen was painted white with black and gold trim around the walls. An island stove with six burners sat in the middle of all that space. Black marble tile encrusted with gold covered the floor. The cabinets were white with black handles and the pots and pans hung from a rack above the stove. It look more like a kitchen made for a married couple rather than a single guy. 17

She followed him through the living room which too had white walls but had oak hardwood floors. A black leather sofa and two loveseats were near the jumbo sized flat screen TV and two black leather recliners were near the fireplace on the opposite side of the room. A curving staircase led to the second floor. "Your room is up here," he said as he walked up the steps and she right behind him.18

Entering the first door on the left side of the long hallway, he set her bags down at the foot of the queen size bed. "This is your room for as long as you need it. My room is the one at the end of the hall with the double doors."19

"Oh Alex, this is nice," she said, looking around the spacious bedroom."How many bedrooms are in this house?"20

"Eight bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms. All together there are 15 rooms in the house," he replied.21

The bedroom was painted a soft shade of cream with deep burgundy plush carpeting. The cherry wood canopy bed, high boy, dresser with an oversized mirror, two nightstands, and bed steps gave the room a romantic air. The comforter on the bed was made of burgundy velvet with satin insets. "You have a private bathroom in here as well," he said, bring her out of her sense of awe. 22

"It's beautiful, Alex. You designed the interior of this house all by yourself?"23

"Yeah, maybe one day I'll find a queen to come live here with me. Anything she wants I would gladly give her, even my very soul."24

Shaun sat down on the edge of the bed and massaged the side of her neck. Alex had walked over to the door when she said, "Thank you for everything, Alex."25

"You're quite welcome, lass. Get some sleep, I'll wake you up for lunch."26

"Lunch?"27

"We've eaten breakfast and I'll have the privilege of making you lunch. Sleep well."28

Smiling softly at him she then said, "Goodnight, Alexander.29

With that, he closed the door and left the woman he adored alone with her thoughts and dreams.