Clara almost forgot how long it had been since the last time she had been bathed in this way.
In Clara's memory, Helena bathed her a lot when she was a kid; yet when she grew older, Helena became busy earning a living and she must take care of herself.
It was unexpected that, after years of independent and lonely life, there appeared a man who would be willing to take care of her, feed her, clean her room for her and bath her when she was injured.
His care seemed to be trying to make up for all the love she had lost over the years.
More importantly, he was a man with such a high social status and had never done such things.
At that moment, Clara felt that some parts of her heart were moved and even melted by his tenderness.
She could not help closing her eyes to conceal her real feelings.
"Horace Kirkland…
Please stop being kind to me.
I am so afraid. I am so afraid that I will fall in love with you."
After the bath, Clara and Horace went back to the living room and Horace was sopping wet. Feeling sorry, Clara rummaged through her closet for several large sports clothes that she would wear when she did exercises. Before handing those clothes to Horace, she ventured, "Are you sure that you want to stay here for the night?"
"Of course," Horace took the clothes and said, "Don't you want to take care of your mother? Well, you can't do that with an injured hand. Therefore, I will stay and take care of both of you."
"Don't trouble yourself." Clara didn't want him to stay so she said, "I can do it myself."
"Are you sure?" Horace raised his eyebrows, "Are you sure that you can do it yourself when you could not even bath yourself without my help?"
Horace's words reminded Clara of the bathroom story, which made her blush and stopped her from refuting his words.
Then, Horace chuckled lightly and walked to the bathroom with the sports clothes.
All of a sudden, Clara was a little annoyed that she was tricked by Horace again and even acquiesced his stay.
Before entering the bathroom, something suddenly occurred to Horace's mind and he said, "If you don't want me to stay, then come home with me."
He walked straight into the bathroom after his words.
Horace took a cold shower on purpose. He didn't leave the bathroom until he had controlled his fiery desire.
When he was back in the bedroom, he found that Clara was already lying in the bed.
The bed was so small that Clara was almost curled up in the corner. Horace could not bear to see her sleeping in this way, so he went straight to pull her in his arms after he entered the room.
"What are you hiding from?" Horace held Clara tightly and whispered into her ear, "Won't it be much more comfortable in this way?"
As he said that, he quickly turned off the light, closed his eyes and fell asleep. He was really exhausted after busying himself for the whole day. The fragrance of Clara's hair comforted him in an indescribably tender manner.
From a special perspective, a small bed also had its advantage.
Soon, Horace's breathing became steady and he fell asleep. However, lying in his arms, Clara could not calm herself down for a long time.
She turned around slightly, raised her head, and saw Horace's handsome face with a little stubble on his chin. His breath and scent enveloped her.
At that exact moment, she felt that her heart began to beat wildly.
A shade of helplessness appeared in her eyes and she closed them in despair.
"Clara, don't conceal your feelings anymore. You are falling…"
"You have already fallen in love…"
...
It had already been midnight, but, in Stratmont, there were countless people still awake.
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