Wood Worked

A whimper made me leap to my feet. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she called back. “It’s hard, but the warm water feels really good.”

“Glad to hear it.”

Except I wasn’t just hearing it, my mind was also trying to envision it. I shut those thoughts down hard. Alyssa deserved whatever privacy I was able to give her. But then she moaned, and it reminded me of the sounds she’d made when I gave her a foot rub.

Then I heard a yelp, a genuine cry of shock, and I rushed into the bathroom, worried that she’d fallen. “Are you okay?” It seemed ridiculous to address a bright blue shower curtain with toy boats on it, but that was the one the twins had picked out years ago.

“I’m fine. The water just, um, hit the spot.” I detected notes of embarrassment and amusement in her voice, and I suspected I knew exactly what spot that was.

Damn. I stalked out into the bedroom again, angry with myself and my body’s reaction. For years, I’d prided myself on being unflappable. When your sister gets married, gets pregnant, and gets cancer in less than twelve months, nothing less than that can really shake you.

But I hadn’t seen Alyssa coming. Or not her, exactly, but my reaction to her. I just couldn’t get her out of my mind. For nearly a decade, the only thing that had mattered to me was my career and my family. Nothing else even came close. I’d dated a little, sure, and I’d been hit on by my female clients at the gym and a persistent ex. But none of them had mattered the way Alyssa did.

She got through my defenses in a way no one had in a very long time. Not just because of what she’d done, but because of who she was. A beautiful young woman, inside and out.

There was no way I’d ever act on it. I owed her the best recovery I could give her, and her having to fend off unwanted attention wasn’t part of the plan. But still, my reaction to her caught me off guard. It had almost felt like that part of my life was over, like those feelings were gone.

But now they were back.

I’d never burden her with them, however.

Never.

The shower shut off, and as I waited for her call, I vowed to be as professional as I could be. That’s what she needed.

“Raphael?”

Hurrying into the bathroom, I saw a wet towel slung over the top of the shower curtain rod. “Are you decent?”

“Yes.” She sounded exhausted. I pulled back the shower curtain. Her hair was damp, as were patches of Spencer’s shirt that she’d put back on. Carefully, I lifted her out of the tub and set her on the bathmat. Then I began the painstaking process of peeling the tight sleeve back down over her cast. It took some doing, but I finally got it off her. “Looks like it stayed dry. Now, I’ll towel off your other leg, and then I’ve got some clean clothes that I can—”

“I’m sorry, I—” Alyssa clutched my shoulder, her hand shaking. “I need to lie down.”

Her face was pale. Immediately, I picked her up, carrying her to the bed. Laying her down gently, I smoothed the damp hair away from her face. A citrusy smell floated up to me. “It’s been a long day for you. I’ll just get your meds and then you can rest.”

“Okay,” she said, sounding half asleep already. I used a hand towel to dry her good leg and feet as best I could. The weariness in her voice worried me, even though it wasn’t surprising given everything she’d been through this week.

Her creamy skin wasn’t completely dry, but it was close enough. I eased a pillow under her cast and pulled the covers up to her chin. She gave a deep sigh, and it was as if her consciousness drifted away with her exhalations.

The medicine could wait. I kissed her on the forehead, closed the blinds, and let her sleep.

11

Alyssa

I woke up feeling completely refreshed. And clean—that was a big plus. Of course, my hair was probably a disaster after falling asleep with it wet, but that was a small price to pay.

The shower had felt amazing. Sure, it hadn’t felt great to have to cling constantly to the handrails, and it was more standing than I’d done in days, but that was a small price to pay for how good the warm water had felt on my skin.

For a while, I’d almost forgotten that there was a man waiting for me in the next room. That had been weird, almost like having another person in the bathroom with me. As I sat on the bench and directed the stream of water over my good leg, the memory of his hands on my body came back. And the way his face had been practically between my thighs when he pulled the plastic sleeve up and over my cast.