“Maybe we should skip it. Or put you in the shower.”
“No. Just come with me. If I start to drown, pull me up by the hair.”
He didn’t answer, and his hand tightened further on her waist. She should look at him, see what was going on, but screw it. She had to get clean. As tired as she was, sleeping in her own filth held no appeal. The very idea made her skin crawl. “Come on. Let’s do it.”
He helped her into the large bathroom, and for a moment she felt disoriented. The white tile, the white towels. Everything was clean and bright. This was the real world. The kind of place she’d dreamed about in her long stay underground.
He guided her over to the commode and after he put the seat down, he seated her. “We have to get these off,” he said. His voice sounded strange, or maybe it was her ears. She wouldn’t trust anything tonight.
He lifted her arms and pulled the T-shirt over her head. She felt no embarrassment being in her bra. Or out of it. Being naked was the least of her problems. If it had been anyone else, she probably would have been more concerned, but it was Nate, and his hands were so big and so gentle. He removed her clothes as if she were a child. Lifting one foot, then the other to take off her shoes. He stood her up to get her jeans off. Smart man, he took her panties along with them.
When he had her in the buff, he walked her over to the tub and held on to her as she got in the hot water. It took a minute for her to adjust to the temperature, but he was patient. Quiet, too. Inch by inch she lay down, letting the warmth seep deep into her bones.
When she was up to her neck in water, she looked up at Nate. He wasn’t smiling, in fact, his lips were pressed so tightly together they were white. She would have asked him what was wrong, but her head went back and her eyes shut as she tried to let the horrors of the night go…for now.
She felt him sit on the edge of the tub, and she giggled with the thought that he was the best bath toy ever. Rubber ducks included. She must be losing it.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay. Uh, you want me to put some soap on the washcloth for you?”
“Sure, why not?”
He reached over her and grabbed the bar of hotel soap and then he dipped the cloth in the water. “I’ll bet you’re a real fun drunk.”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said. “I’ve never been drunk.”
“Never? Not even in college?”
“Nope.”
“Come on. I’ve met guys from MIT. They partied as hard as anyone.”
“I was too busy being a nerd,” she said. “I didn’t have a social life.”
“I can’t picture that,” he said as he leaned toward her. He pushed her hair back with his tender touch, then slowly cleaned her face with the soft cloth. “I’ll bet every guy in Cambridge was banging at your door.”
“You’d lose your money.”
“You didn’t have a boyfriend?”
“One. But he was a bigger nerd than I was. We spent all our time in the lab. We never even did it.”
His hand stilled. She could just imagine the shocked look on his face. One thing for sure, no one would ever call Nate a nerd. He was everything women swoon over—tall, dark, handsome as sin. Those green eyes of his could seduce the pants off a girl without him even trying. Not to mention the little cleft in his chin.
“Are you a virgin?”
That got her eyes open. “Would that shock you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, don’t worry. I’m not.”
“Okay, then.” He rinsed the washcloth and went over her face with it once more.
“Kate told me all about you,” she said, bliss taking over her body. “She said you surprised her.”
“Oh? How?”
“She figured you were an out-and-out hound dog, but then you turned out to be a gentleman.”
He grunted.
“No, really. She said you made no pretense about not wanting anything serious, but you weren’t only thinking of yourself. She liked you.”
“She dumped me.”
“Doesn’t matter. She thought you were hot.”
“Hot, huh?”
His hand went behind her back and she let him push her forward. He washed her back, then rinsed it, and she just sat there like a lump.
“You want your hair washed?”
She nodded.
“You got it. Now, lean back and close your eyes.”
He dipped her into the warmth, holding her steady. She thought of movies she’d seen of people being baptized. The congregants had worn white robes, but still, it was just like that, and not only because of how he held her. She had lost the last of her innocence tonight. She’d taken a life, had seen her world turn to ashes.
He lifted her back up, and then he did the most amazing thing in the whole world. He poured shampoo in his hands and he washed her hair. So gently, so wonderfully, it was miraculous, life-changing, and he just kept massaging and massaging.
“You like that?”
She made some kind of sound, something in the affirmative vein.
He chuckled and he didn’t stop.
She jerked again, and blinked. She must have fallen asleep.
“Let’s get you rinsed off and put you to bed,” he said.
“Okay,” she mumbled.
She struggled to stay awake while he rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. Then he stood her up and got her out of the tub. Instantly, there was a big fluffy towel around her, and he dried her with the same care.
He led her out of the bath and when they were next to the bed he drew back the covers.
She looked at him. “I don’t have pajamas.”
“It’s okay.”
“You don’t either.”
“That’s okay, too. I’m going to be right over there.” He nodded toward a chair by the window.
“No,” she said. “You’re sleeping with me.”
“Tam—”
She turned to him, took hold of his shirt and met his gaze. “Please?”
