Just Like That (12 page)
He was down the hall in seconds, pounding on the door. “Danika! What’s going on in there?”
“Geez, you scared the crap out of me!” she shouted through the door.
“Do
not
try curling your hair or something stupid. If you can’t use your hand you’ll burn yourself and we’ll be back in that ER. If you do use your hand you’ll mess it all up.”
“I’m not trying to curl my hair!”
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Just Like That
“Then what are you doing?”
“Nothing!”
He thought about that. That was stupid. “Come do nothing out here, then.”
“No.”
Yeah, she was doing something. “Put the mascara down.”
“I’m not doing my makeup either! Just go away!”
She was definitely doing something. “Danika, open the door.”
“No.”
“You’re doing something.”
“No I’m not.”
“Prove it.”
Several seconds went by, then the door was yanked open. “Fine. The door’s open. What do you want?”
He peered into the bathroom over her shoulder. There was no curling iron, blow-dryer, makeup bag, or anything but a toothbrush lying on the counter.
“You brushed your teeth,” he accused.
“I can do that one-handed.”
“How did you get the toothpaste out?”
“I laid the tube on the counter and pushed on the end with my elbow.” He looked closer and saw there was a glob of toothpaste lying next to the brush.
“How’d you get the cap off?”
“My teeth.”
He looked down at her, really seeing her for the first time. Her hair was mussed, her eyes were bloodshot, her cheek had a crease from the pillowcase and she wore only the short, silky nightgown. She looked adorable.
“Morning,” he said, smiling at her.
Her eyes instantly welled up, tears spilling over and down her cheeks.
The tears startled him. “What’s wrong? Are you hurting?” She shook her head and sniffed, turning away and whipping a tissue from the box on the counter next to the sink. She wiped her nose, even that looking awkward with her non-dominant hand.
“Need help?”
She glared at him. “I am
not
going to have you wipe my nose.”
“I don’t want to,” he admitted. “But if you need help—”
“Just shut up.”
He frowned in surprise. “What’s your problem?”
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Erin Nicholas
“Nothing.”
“You’re crying.”
“So?”
He sighed. He could be patient, but he wasn’t especially good at it. “Come on. What’s going on?”
“I hate this.”
He knew what she was talking about. She was used to being self-sufficient. She knew how to rewire a ceiling fan. She’d claimed that she made a point of always doing everything for herself.
This had to be hard for her.
But he was enjoying it. Not to the point of being truly happy in the face of her misery, but definitely not upset about the situation that made this sweet, funny, beautiful woman let him hang around for awhile.
“Why were you crying, Dani?”
She sniffed, but met his eyes. “I can’t wash my hair.” He thought about that. Yep, that would be tough with one hand. Especially one hand that she could not get wet.
She just looked at him, her eyebrows slowly rising. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“Say what?”
“That I…need you.”
He probably moved a notch closer to “ass” on the jerk scale but he did like hearing those four words from her.
“You need me to wash your hair?”
She nodded, looking royally pissed about the whole thing.
“Um…”
Sam blinked down at her.
Her hair.
It seemed like a simple request. But she was a girl. Which pretty much guaranteed that anything to do with her hair wouldn’t be simple.
“You realize that as far as I’m concerned, hair washing involves three steps. Get hair wet, rub shampoo in it, run more water on hair.”
She propped her left hand on her hip. “Why are you looking like I just asked you to perform open-heart surgery on me?”
“Well, girl hair involves those twelve additional steps that I don’t even know about.”
“What twelve additional steps?”
“Whatever it is that ensures no woman can get out of the shower in less than twenty minutes.”
“Did it ever occur to you that they were doing more in there than fussing with their hair?”
“Okay, there’s soap and other body parts, but come on, twenty minutes?” 70
Just Like That
She laughed at that. “Sam, there aren’t any magic hair-washing steps. There’s conditioner, but I know you can handle it.”
He watched her face, and felt humble. He sensed that this woman didn’t ask people for things often or easily. “You hate that you need help for this, don’t you?” She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“Get over it,” he said simply.
She slipped around him and was through her bedroom door before he realized she was moving.
“What are you doing?” he asked her back.
“Getting my swimming suit.”
“You don’t need—”
“
Yes
,” she interrupted. “I do.” The door shut in his face.
He grinned. “How are you going to get a swimming suit on by yourself?”
“I’ll manage,” she called.
He leaned back against the wall across from her bedroom to wait.
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Chapter Five
She was desperate. Plain and simple. She
had
to wash her hair or she was going to go crazy and there was absolutely no way she could do it herself.
It was
so
frustrating! To not be able to do the simplest, most normal thing made her want to scream.
She didn’t want to need Sam, not like this. She was kind of okay with needing him physically, with feeling like she would die if he didn’t touch her. At least, she was getting used to it. She wasn’t as okay with needing him to make her a sandwich, unzip her dress and wash her hair.
Talk about pathetic.
This was
exactly
the kind of thing she avoided at all costs. She never let other people take care of her.
She’d been sick with the flu for almost a week four years ago and it had taken her three days to call Carmen and even tell her and another two before she would let Carmen come over. She hated the feeling of vulnerability, of weakness, of being a burden.
Sam thought this was fun now. He felt responsible now. He was even making it sexy.
How long would any of that last?
Not as long as she would remember being dependent on him for the smallest thing.
She was able to wiggle out of her panties and the nightgown was loose enough that she could pull it over her head one-handed. The swimming suit was more of a challenge. It was a one-piece and she was able to get the bottom of the suit up by pulling one side up, then the other until it was in place. She threaded her casted hand in through the strap and up onto her shoulder, then the other side.
“I’m going to need a plastic bag to put over the cast,” she said as she stepped back into the hallway, still pulling her right shoulder strap up.
Sam was standing across from her, leaning back against the wall, but he pushed away as she stepped through the door. His eyes were wide.
“Wow.”
She stopped short at the look in his eyes. She might as well have been naked. He was looking at her as if memorizing every curve and prominence.
She tried to ignore the tingles that seemed to erupt everywhere as she realized that he was imagining peeling her swimming suit off of her. It was so clear, in fact, it was like reading his mind. “You going to be able to do this?” she asked.
“Definitely. I’m a little tight in my jeans, but I’m okay.”
Just Like That
Her eyes dropped to his fly in spite of her effort to avoid it. He was grinning when she looked back into his eyes.
“Let’s do this,” she muttered, stepping past him into the bathroom.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She looked over her shoulder. “Washing my hair,” she clarified.
“Of course.”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “The garbage bags are under the sink.”
“I’m all over it.”
She wanted him all over her. “Garbage bags.” She wasn’t sure if she said it to try to distract her own thoughts or to again clarify what he was all over.
“Right.”
She started the water running while Sam went to retrieve a plastic bag from the kitchen. She knew the moment he was back because the air temperature in the bathroom spiked and she could feel him behind her, checking out her butt.
“Isn’t that how we ended up in this mess?” she asked without looking at him.
“Yep,” he said unapologetically. “But it isn’t my fault. You can’t take someone to the edge of the Grand Canyon and expect him not to look.”
With the water the right temperature, she turned to frown at him. “My butt reminds you of the Grand Canyon?”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Again, thinking too fast on my feet. How about you can’t take someone to see the Hope Diamond and expect him not to look.”
“Again, you’re comparing my butt to something that is extraordinarily big.” He chuckled. “I can’t think of anything amazingly beautiful, but appropriately trim, firm and
tiny
.” She tipped her head to one side, considering that. She, of course, didn’t think that he’d been insulting her and she couldn’t think of any other way to make him squirm so she shrugged. “Forgiven.” She started to step into the tub and he immediately moved forward and took her good hand. Once she was standing in the warm water swirling at the bottom of the tub, he shook the plastic bag and held it out to her. She stuck her hand inside and he smoothed it over her cast, sliding a rubber band over it to hold it tight.
It wasn’t going to be completely waterproof, but it would keep drops from kicking up onto the plaster. She would still, obviously, have to keep her hand up out of the water.
“Now what?” he asked.
Thankfully, she had a sprayer that could be taken down from the wall and held. “I’ll sit and then you’ll have to use that to wet my hair.”
“Sounds good.” For a guy who had been claiming to not know what to do with washing a woman’s hair, he certainly sounded confident.
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Erin Nicholas
He held onto her as she lowered herself carefully to the bottom of the tub. Then he knelt beside the tub on the fluffy lavender mat. He pulled up on the lever on the faucet that turned the shower on and she held her right hand up in the air.
“Here, rest your hand on my shoulder.” He moved so that she could rest her cast on his left shoulder, somehow leaning around to use his right hand to maneuver the sprayer head.
Warm water hit her scalp and coursed over her shoulders and she closed her eyes and tipped her head back at the feel of it, resisting the urge to sigh.
She felt Sam shift the sprayer to his left hand as his elbow rested on the edge of the tub, the spray angled at her feet for the moment. The gentle pressure of his right hand settled on her head, smoothing her hair back, his fingers curling gently into her scalp, massaging and wetting all the strands.
She did sigh then.
He was leaning in so close that she could smell that wonderful smell from him, and she kept her eyes closed, just absorbing the feel of him touching her, his scent and body heat around her.
“You’d better hold this.” He moved the handle of the sprayer to her left hand and shifted away.
She opened her eyes and saw him reaching for the shampoo bottle on the ledge. His eyes met hers as he poured some of the shampoo into his hand, then rubbed his hands together in small circles.
“Step two,” he said with a smile.
“So far, so good.”
He lifted his hands to her head and started a slow massage again, working the soap through her hair.
She closed her eyes again. She didn’t know if he meant for the shampooing to be sensual, but it certainly was. Of course, this was Sam and it seemed that even the most innocent touch made her want him.
Her long hair was piled on top of her head and his fingers kneaded from her temples to the crown of her head, then down the back, to the base of her skull.
After a few delicious minutes, he reclaimed the sprayer and aimed it at her head, rinsing the bubbles off.
“Now?” he asked.
She thought his voice sounded hoarse, but when she looked at him he was simply watching her.
“Conditioner.” She pointed to the other bottle on the same shelf where he’d found the shampoo.
He repeated the pattern without another word, including the rinsing.
She opened her eyes again as she realized the rinsing was more than complete. “Could you…” she started, then stopped, hoping he’d let it go and knowing he wouldn’t at the same time.
“Yes, I could.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
“Doesn’t matter. Whatever you need.” He was suddenly so sincere.
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Just Like That
Which made her ask hesitantly, “Could you help me wash my face too? While I’m already here and wet.”
At that Sam pulled in a quick, sharp breath, but he nodded. “Sure.” She pointed to the bottle of foaming facial cleanser and he pumped a small amount into his palm and then spread it out with the pads of the fingers on the other hand. He lifted his hands to her face and gently began making circles on her cheeks.
“Here, I can…” she started.
He bumped her un-casted hand out of the way. “I’ve got it.” It was strange being bathed for the first time in twenty years. Not terrible, but strange.
Sam’s fingers circled over her face, spreading cleanser over her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, over her cheeks and along her jaw and chin. He washed her face nearly two minutes longer than she ever had and Danika found it stupidly erotic. She figured Sam was just thinking what a pain in the ass this was all going to be after a few days.
Once the cleanser had been washed off, Danika realized she didn’t have any reason to linger in the tub. Other than that she just wanted to, at least.
