“Nobodyis touching my eyeballs.”
She laughed. “Okay, I won’t touch them. But I can put the drops in for you.”
“Uh…that’s okay.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t be such a baby. Get the drops.”
He hesitated, then went into his room and returned, holding up a small bottle.
She took the bottle from him. “Come and lay down on the couch.”
They went into the family room. “Lean your head back.” She gave the bottle a shake then unscrewed the cap. He did as she asked, removing the sunglasses as he rested his head on the soft cushion, his body tightened in preparation for the torture she was about to deliver.
Krissa gazed down at Nate’s closed eyelids, dark lashes fanning on his high cheekbones. He was…incredibly beautiful.
Her heart skipped a beat, then started thudding unreasonably in her chest. The fingers holding the tiny bottle trembled. She touched a fingertip beside his left eye. “Can you open this eye?” Her voice came out in a whisper.
He opened the eye and stared at the ceiling. His eyes were a beautiful aquamarine color, like a Caribbean cove. Clear and translucent. She compressed the bottle and a drop fell into his eye. He immediately squeezed it shut and hissed.
“Does that hurt?” She sank her teeth into her bottom lip. She didn’t want to hurt him.
“Like a motherfucker.”
She waited before doing the other eye, then capped the bottle, watching him screw up his face. Still gorgeous.
He lay there for long moments, the house quiet, until he huffed out a breath and blinked his eyes open.
“Better?” Tenderness expanded in her chest.
He looked up at her and their eyes met. And held.
Chapter 7
Nate blinked rapidly, and Krissa couldn’t drag her eyes away from his face. Those eyes pulled at her like a receding wave in the ocean and she swallowed.
“I’m going to change and then go do my shopping.” She set the bottle on the table. “If you still want to come, we could go get some lunch somewhere.”
“Nah, never mind.”
She blinked. “Oh. I thought you wanted to come with me.”
He rose to his feet. “I changed my mind.”
He turned his back on her and walked stiffly toward the stairs.
Disappointment flooded her. She’d been looking forward to having company while she did her grocery shopping. “What’s wrong, Nate? Are your eyes bothering you that much?”
“They’re fine. Just leave me alone.”
She stood there, watched his retreating back. Ooookay. Rude prick. God, she was surrounded by grouchy testosterone.
Then she felt ashamed of that thought. He wasn’t a prick. Just like Derek, he had big problems. And didn’t want to talk about it. Fine.
Besides, she’d been a bitch herself last night. Guess she deserved that. They were all behaving badly.
She went to her own bedroom to change out of her plaid shorts. She pulled on ashort denim skirt and a T-shirt, brushed her hair. As she slicked some gloss on her lips, she heard a knock on her door.
The door was open, so she just turned. Nate stood there hands in his pockets, dark glasses shielding his eyes. She looked at him. Waited.
