“Dammit, Brooks.”
I really need to go.
I start to turn away but then my gaze catches on a glass jar sitting in the corner of the tub and I freeze, that damn hitch in my chest making itself known again.
The jar is heavy but the plastic seal has been removed, so I screw off the lid.
Untouched, though the familiar scent of roses and vanilla surrounds me, taking me back to another lifetime, another house.
“I love the way you smell.” He kissed my temple. “No matter what you’re wearing.” A nip to my ear that made me shiver. “Most especially when you’re wearing nothing at all and I’m kneeling between your legs, my mouth?—”
I clamped my hand to that dangerous, delicious mouth. “Behave.”
A flick of his tongue to my palm before he peeled my hand free. “That’s what you say now”—his eyes burn into mine—“but later tonight…”
I rolled my eyes, put the jar of body scrub back on the shelf, and started for the front of the store.
“Why aren’t you getting it?” he asked, following me.
“Because it’s stupid expensive,” I said over my shoulder. “And I don’t need it.”
I wasn’t lying back then—Ihadn’tneeded it.
Brooks took care of me, spoiled me far too much and far too often.
Including that day.
Because when I went up that night to take a bath…
There was a jar on the edge of the tub.
And it was never empty.
It’s been five years since I’ve smelled it.
Five years since I’ve taken a bath.
I couldn’t make myself sink into the small tub in my apartment, the dingy ones at the motels I stayed in.
But tonight I can’t stop myself from reaching for the tap.
And filling the bath with hot,hotwater.
SEVENTEEN
BROOKS
I hearthe water start running and breathe a sigh of relief.
She’s changed so much…but at least one small thing is the same.
She can’t resist the allure of a bath.
I slump, leaning back against the wall, dropping my chin to my chest.
“Fuck,” I whisper.
But I only give myself a moment to let the guilt run free and slice at me.
