“Where else?I’ll put some salve on.”
He looked at her for a long moment, his jaw clenched.Then he wrapped a hand to his side.
Violet nodded.“Right.I’ll help you take your shirt off.”
A small half smile appeared on Rhys’s face.“Isn’t that inappropriate, sugar?”
She gritted her teeth.“Yes, yes, it is.But you saved my life today, and I’m not leaving until you are properly cared for and comfortably tucked into bed.”
His smile turned into more of a smirk.But he pushed himself to sit up straight and shrugged out of his jacket.His wince of pain proved to Violet that she was doing the right thing by helping him.Next, he pushed his braces off his shoulders.
“Now raise your arms, and I will pull the shirt off over your head.”
As he lifted his arms, he froze halfway up, blowing out a whoosh of air.His face contorted with pain.
“Stop.Can you lean forward?”
He did.Violet reached over his back, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and pulled it off over his head.Then he straightened as she slid it off his arms.Good Lord.The man was made entirely of lean, sinewy muscle.He only had a light dusting of hair across his chest, and his nipples were a dusty pink.
He scratched at his chest and smirked up at her.“Are you sure you want to be my nursemaid?”
Violet took a deep breath.She was a married woman, for goodness’ sake.This wasn’t the first male chest she had seen.She was simply helping him when he was in need.She snatched up the jar of salve.“Now show me where else you are hurt.”
Rhys turned in his chair and waved a hand to indicate his right side below his ribs.“Calvin got a good kick in here and a solid punch to my back, right to the kidneys.”
She dipped her fingers into the jar and scooped out a generous portion of salve.Then, crouching down, she tentatively smeared it across his smooth skin.
Rhys sucked in a sharp breath.
“Does it hurt?I will be gentle, I promise.”She spread it carefully across the red affected area.
“It doesn’t hurt, sugar.”
She glanced up at him and found those intense blue eyes back on her.Startled by the heat in them, she bit her bottom lip.Danger.Not the kind she was used to, though.No, this was entirely different.This look wasn’t a danger to her person; this look made her heart race and her breath hitch.It made her want to take chances that she was not allowed.She tore her gaze away and continued to spread salve over his side.Then she stood and moved around the chair.Scooping more salve, she applied it across his back.“Here?”she asked.
Another grunt of assent made her smile.Rhys was certainly not a man of many words.Coming back in front of him, she looked down and spotted an abrasion on the top of his left shoulder.She smoothed what was left on her fingers over the spot.“There, hopefully, it will help the bruises heal quickly.Apply it anytime they start to ache.”Her fingers lingered on his warm skin.Danger.
Rhys reached up and grasped her hand.“Thank you.”
“What?Thank you!You were hurt protecting me.”
His thumb brushed over the top of her hand.Then he froze as he stared down at it.He smoothed over the thin gold band encircling her thumb.“Is this the ring…from last year?”
Embarrassed at being caught wearing his ring, she tried to tug her hand away, but he held fast.Very few people saw her bare hands, so the presence of the little ring was normally not noticed.
His gaze rose to her face.
She sighed.“I fiddle with it.It’s soothing to spin it around and around.It gives me a sense of peace when…when things are bad.”
He looked back down at it and used his thumb to brush over the gold.“I’m glad.”
“I always wondered how you had it handy like that.For the trick, I mean.”
To her surprise, Rhys’s cheeks colored.“I collect things, objects, as I travel through the neighborhoods.”He shrugged.“Always have things in my pockets.An old habit from when I was a kid.”
She smiled.“I bet you were a beautiful child.Angelic with all this blond hair.”
He snorted.“More of a hellion.”
