Ineligible Bachelor (16 page)

He stood over her, hands on hips, a real look of concern on his face. “You do look awful.”

“Thanks for the critique.” She began to struggle to a sitting position. He extended his hand. She took it and eased herself to the edge of the bed, grimacing all the way.

“You really should put something on that sunburn.” He started to sit down, but stopped. “Can I?” He gestured to a spot next to her.

“Only if you are as stealthy as possible.” She shut her eyes tight and waited.

Gingerly, he lowered himself down. “What on earth were you thinking?”

She opened her eyes and looked his way. “I was thinking I didn’t want the bachelorettes to grill me all afternoon while they waited for you to come back from your date with Jade, and I didn’t want to lock myself up here for the whole day. So I thought if I floated in the middle of the pool, they’d leave me alone.”

“And I guess they did.”

“Sounded like a better idea than it actually turned out to be.”

Logan leaned back. “Let me see what you did to yourself.” He made a disapproving tsk-tsking sound as he checked her back and arms. “I think you’re going to blister.”

Freddy sighed. “Red and bubbly. That should make for good TV. The viewers will love that.”

“You can’t go to the elimination tonight,” Logan said.

“Why not?”

“How are you supposed to get into a dress when ninety percent of you can’t stand the feel of anything?”

“You heard Clipboard Man. There is nothing either of us can do but finish this stupid game.”

“Show, not game.”

“Whatever.”

“That’s not important now.” His palm hovered over her back. He could feel heat emanating from her skin. “You’re going to be really uncomfortable for a few days unless we do something about this right now.” As carefully as possible he rose, still managing to jostle the bed enough to have Freddy wince. “I’m going to call Roberto so you can get to a doctor.”

Freddy jumped to her feet, ignoring how uncomfortable the action made her. “Don’t you dare. I’ll be fine.”

“You won’t be fine. Your skin is going to feel tighter as the day goes on.” He gently lifted her arm. “Plus, I’m pretty sure you’re going to be one big blister by morning.”

“Maybe not.”

“Trust me, Freddy. I come from a family of sun worshippers. And with football practice in the summer, any part of me not covered by equipment was not spared the effects of hours in the sun. Mom knew just what to do, and because of it, so do I.” He walked to the door. “Stay put. I’ll be right back.”

She shot him an impudent look. “I can’t even get out of my bathing suit without help. Where am I going?”

For a long moment, he stared at her before running his gaze down her length and back up to her eyes. “Good point,” he said,
raising his right hand. “So if you need a volunteer for that, I’m your man.”

In the kitchen, Logan ripped open the refrigerator door and found the milk. After setting it on the counter, he foraged through the mass of kitchen cabinets until he found a large stainless steel pot.

Milk and cool water. His mother’s homemade remedy for sunburn. For once, he was happy he’d spent all those summers on the football field in the sun. He watched the water and milk mix into a white opaque solution.

A smile curled his mouth, his mind drifting back to the last time he found himself in the kitchen. With Freddy. On this very counter.

That’s the night it began—the thought maybe she could be more than just a friend. The feeling crept up on him like a patient stalker at first, but now, thinking back, he couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been building. Days? Months? Years?

He’d always looked forward to seeing her at their regularly scheduled gatherings with friends, and he made sure she stayed near him. He liked her, sure, but he had liked a lot of women over the years. He’d grown particularly fond of a few of them. Fond enough to date one or two, for more than a few months even.

But he ended each relationship when he felt the walls closing in on him. Talk of something more permanent, like structure and limits and kids, did it for him every time. That’s when he pulled back—when someone tried to pull him into the predictable holding pattern of life as part of a couple. He didn’t like being that conventional; he liked the surprises life could hand a person.

Like the one he was having now. None of the women he’d dated would have done something as spontaneous as entering his picture in a contest or leaving a familiar routine to do reality TV. Now, however, because of just that, he had the strange notion that
he’d had someone pretty darn amazing under his nose all along and he’d never noticed her.

Okay, so maybe he had been a bit annoyed when the escapade started, but not now. Now he thought he would like to see what could develop because of it. He wanted more time with Freddy. More time to find out what she might do. More time to hear her laugh.

He shook his head. What was wrong with him anyway? Why hadn’t he felt this way before? Could it be real or just the excitement of the adventure?

Falling for her, if that’s what was happening, defied logic. They’d been friends for years, friends when they were kids, and friends now. If something were going to happen, it would have happened a long time ago. Even she had said that.

So why couldn’t he help but think something might be happening now?

As he reached over and turned the faucet off, he pictured the liquid running down Freddy’s reddened back in creamy droplets. In his mind, he drizzled more of the milk water over her shoulders and watched as the drops reached her waist. He felt his breath catch, and it shook him back to reality.

He stabbed his fingers through his hair. This was crazy, him thinking of her like that. Maybe some things were better left unchanged.

Freddy managed to get to the chair in the dressing room. She could almost feel her skin tighten against her muscles by the minute, the sunburn sucking every bit of moisture left in her body. Baking in the sun in the middle of the pool to avoid the rest of the bachelorettes had been a terrible idea, one she wouldn’t soon forget. She sat on the edge of the chair in the dressing room and contemplated her next move.

Elimination was only a few hours away. She needed to find a dress that wouldn’t feel like sandpaper running across her baked
back. She started to get up but was immediately told to sit back down by the painful message sent to her brain via her burnt thighs. She eased herself back down onto the caned seat and decided she should just sit there until her skin turned back to its normal color. How long could that possibly take? A few weeks at the most?

“I have some aspirin and my mom’s surefire home remedy for you.” Logan came in holding the large pasta pot—with both hands—a bottle of aspirin, and a box of baking soda tucked under his arm.

Freddy watched him set the pot and the baking soda down before holding out the aspirin bottle to her. She scanned the label, checking the brand, before taking two tablets without water. At this point, she wanted to dull the pain that ran from the widow’s peak of her head to the tips of her toes as fast as possible.

“Thanks.” She watched him pick up the pot and the baking soda and walk into the bathroom.

“Follow me,” he called back to her.

She heard water running. “Why?”

“I’m going to make you feel a whole lot better.”

Every part of her body that was bright red ached as she struggled to a standing position. “This better be good.”

“I promise, it will be.”

She stopped at the doorway. Logan knelt next to the large jetted bathtub filling with water and emptied the baking soda box into it. The pasta pot sat on the floor next to his knees. “I’m not getting into that. If I do, I’ll never get out.”

He held out his hand. “It’s a no-fail treatment for what ails you right now, trust me.”

Though skeptical, she reached toward him. She barely felt his touch when he took her hand and urged her forward. She looked at the marble tub and sighed, ignoring the way her bathing suit straps cut into her sunburned shoulders when she did. “At least it will feel good against my back.”

He helped her get settled and then turned the jets on to the lowest setting. She closed her eyes and leaned against the back of the white marble, feeling the cool water splash against her skin. For the first time in a few hours, she didn’t feel someone could cook hot dogs on her.

Her eyes flew open when she heard more splashing and felt water trickle across her shoulders and down her arms. Logan was cupping his hands in the water and trailing it over her skin.

“That feels wonderful,” she whispered, relishing how the cool liquid doused the fire on her skin. She could almost hear her overworked nerve endings sigh.

“The baking soda I put in here helps cool the skin. When we’re done, we will let it dry to a powder instead of toweling it off, to help with retaining moisture.”

“I can’t do that. I can’t look like I’ve been rolled in flour at elimination tonight.”

“I thought you might say that, so remedy number two is in the pasta pot.”

“What is it?”

“Milk.”

She made a face. “The last thing I feel like drinking is milk.”

“It’s not to drink. It’s to wear. Sit up.”

She furrowed her brow even though it hurt to do so.

Logan caught the doubt that showed on her face. “C’mon. Sit. You’re going to feel a whole lot better in a minute.” He reached into the water and put his hand on the small of her back, urging her up.

She sucked in a small breath when he touched her. Even though cool water surrounded her, his hand felt hotter than her sunburn did. The heat enhanced his earthy, masculine scent, blending it with the sterile scent of the baking soda and cloaking her with a pleasant aroma. So far, she liked his remedy. It almost made her forget the pain.

“This may be cold,” he said, his other hand splashing in the pasta pot next to him. “But it will be worth it, I promise.”

“You’re promising me an awful lot today,” she quipped.

“Trust me.”

She looked at him. “I do.”

The water that snaked down her spine when he drizzled it over her back ran right into the tingle of anticipation that raced up it. She had to admit, both felt really good. “Maybe you do know what you’re doing.”

“I have to. I can’t do this show without you.”

Her stomach sank with the reminder. “So you’re only doing this just to make sure I do what I’m supposed to do in the contract?” The question hung in the air, thickening it with tension.

“Is that what you think?”

Her defenses rose. “It’s what you said.”

“Wrong choice of words on my part, I suppose.” He moved his hand from her back. “Lean forward.”

She raised her knees and rested her cheek on her kneecaps, her hands circling her legs. She closed her eyes as cool water began running down her heated back. “You can do this all night.” Her voice came out in a sigh. “It feels great.”

“And it’s about to get better.”

The sunburn sting actually seemed to subside. “Can’t possibly.”

The splashing stopped. “It may be a bit of a shock, but try not to move.”

“What are you going to do, get in here with me?”

“Wouldn’t that be something for the editors?”

Even as a smile pulled the tender red skin on her face tighter, she laughed. Then suddenly something colder than the water in which she soaked hit her square in the back. On contact, she arched her back and inhaled sharply.

“Told you it might be a shock,” Logan said.

He began gently patting her back, and she realized he’d put a cloth over it. “What did you put on me?”

“Milk on a hand towel.” He removed the towel and soaked it again. “Ready for another round?”

“I have to admit, my back doesn’t feel as tight.”

“Or look as red,” Logan added, replacing the towel. “We always hung out too long in the sun in the pool, and Mom always used this remedy. You probably won’t blister, but you may still peel.” He dropped the towel in the pasta pot, preparing for another application. “Sit back. You need some of this on your shoulders and upper chest.”

Gingerly, she leaned against the back of the tub while he applied and reapplied the milk-soaked towel. It did seem to cool the fire on her skin. For that, she was very grateful.

But his working over her like a doctor in a MASH unit gave her another type of burn. One to her heart. While she watched him work, her gaze lingered on the angle of his jaw, the shape of his mouth, the soft wave in his hair. Her heart ached with what she had to do. She didn’t know how she would be able to hand him over to another woman. Look how she ended up after the first date.

He adjusted his position on his knees and turned his body more fully toward her, his gaze locking with hers. His hand stopped patting the soothing cloth on her shoulder.

When his lips parted, her heart nearly pounded out of her chest. She trapped a breath with a quick inhale before letting it out in a tease and gentle warning. “This would look really incriminating on tape.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth and then quickly rose back to her eyes, but he didn’t move his hand from her shoulder. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’ll take that chance if you will.”

Even through the terry cloth towel, his hand burned her more than the sun ever did. “I don’t usually take chances.”

“You did with the entry form for this little adventure we’re on.”

“I should have read the fine print,” she whispered. The fire on her shoulder spread from his touch and felt hot enough to melt her bones. She curled her toes, feeling the water move and hearing it splash at her feet, as the heat continued to sizzle where he touched her.

He grinned. “Nothing like this would ever be in the fine print.”

She watched his grin widen. “No, I suppose it wouldn’t be.”

He traced the top of her clavicle with his fingertips until he reached her neck. There, he tunneled his hand into the damp hair that brushed her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” Her words came out in a whisper.

“Changing the terms.” He leaned in and inched his face toward hers.

“Why?”

The breathless question hung between them for a moment as his gaze ran over her face. “Because these past few weeks have let me see a part of you I never knew.” He slid his free hand into the shallow water next to her waist and braced himself so he would not slip down onto her as he leaned so very close. “And I like it.” Just as her jaw slackened and her mouth opened, he leaned forward and captured her lips with his.