“That wasn’t long at all, and I’m glad you two are bonding. I have a good feeling about him, and I don’t say that about many people.”
“I do too.”
I positioned the tray in the center of the bed, and while he started packing away the fruit salad, I found a pen and paper and asked him his sizes. Then I stuck the note out in the hall before gingerly climbing onto the mattress.
After a few moments, he glanced at me from beneath his lashes and told me, “I’m sorry for running off the way I did yesterday morning. I got scared and was feeling overwhelmed, but that’s no excuse. I came back to apologize, and to talk about it—”
“Right in time to get shot. I’m so fucking sorry that happened to you.”
“That wasn’t your fault, and you don’t need to apologize.”
“Yes, it was. If I’d stood up to Greco in the first place, instead of retreating to San Francisco—”
“Then you’d probably be dead now.”
I could tell this was upsetting him, so I let the subject drop. I’d handle Greco on my own, and the less Jack knew about it, the better. I didn’t want him to get implicated in…
What exactly?
A murder?
Was I willing to go that far to make sure Greco never harmed my loved ones again?
Would anything short of that actually stop him?
20
Jack
Adriano brought us a huge breakfast, and somehow between the two of us we actually managed to polish it off. After we ate, he said, “I’d like to give you a bath. I know that must sound odd, but I have this overwhelming urge to take care of you. So, will you just go with it?”
Normally, I’d insist I was fine and didn’t need him to take care of me, but this seemed important to him. Besides, I really wasn’t okay. That rescue mission right on the heels of getting injured had taken a lot out of me—not that I would have done a single thing differently.
When I agreed, he moved the breakfast tray to the dresser and hurried to fill the tub. He came back a few minutes later and carefully wrapped my injured upper arm in a hand towel to keep it dry. Then he picked me up and brought me into the bathroom.
After he carefully lowered me into the warm water, I rested my arm on the edge of the tub and exhaled slowly. It seemed like overkill when he soaped up his hands and went to wash me. I wasn’tthatinjured. But then he began to rub my shoulders, and I muttered, “Okay, this I can do.”
“Hmm?”
I hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud, but I told him, “I thought it might be awkward—letting you scrub me down like a dog at a grooming parlor. But this is nice.”
He chuckled at that and pushed his hair out of his eyes with his forearm before going back to what he was doing. I groaned with pleasure as his strong hands began kneading a knot of tension. “That right there, that’s magical,” I murmured, as my eyes slid shut.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it. I only have one question.”
“What’s that?”
I raised a lid and asked, “Why are you out there, and not in here with me?”
“Two reasons,” he said, as he kept up the massage. “First, it’s a small tub, and I’m a big guy. If I got in there with you, there wouldn’t be any room for the water.”
“You’d fit just fine. What’s your other flimsy excuse?”
He ran his knuckles along my jaw and met my gaze. “You’re the most tempting, irresistible man I’ve ever met, Jack. Getting in that tub with you and feeling your wet, naked body against mine would turn me on, but since we probably both have concussions, we need to abstain from sex for a few days while we heal and recover.”
I frowned at that and asked, “Who says?”