Eden froze. That sounded way too intimate and almost inappropriate.
He's only offering to wash my back. Nothing else.
But then he'd want her to wash his. She'd been all too aware of the taut muscles in his back when he told her about the accident that killed his friend, and this situation was even more intimate.
He turned toward her. "Come on, you might be able to reach all of your back, but I know I can't reach all of mine."
Yeah, because you have too many muscles.
Fortunately, she managed to keep the thought from coming out of her mouth. Instead, she said, "Okay," and handed him her cloth before pulling her hair to the side.
She focused on taking deep even breaths as he rubbed the washcloth over her back, because every innocent brush of his fingers against her skin sent a series of shivers racing through her.
"Listen, Rudy. I don't think...we should kiss anymore."
He let out a heavy sigh as his hand dropped away. "You're probably right." He shifted, rotating away from her. "Not going to lie, I'm disappointed, but it's probably for the best."
His quick agreement only amplified her own disappointment.
"It is."
When he turned his back to her, broad, sculpted shoulders beckoned her to touch them. It was obvious he made good use of the home gym downstairs. Something she hadn't found time to do yet. She drew in a deep breath and braced herself for the task at hand.
She dipped his cloth, soaking up the last of the peroxide mixture, and focused on not touching his skin as she wiped over his taut muscles. Every time her mind began to fantasize about dropping the washcloth and caressing his back with her hand, she reeled it in. She shouldn't be thinking about him like that after telling him they couldn't kiss anymore.
"Okay, I'm done." she said as she tossed his washcloth into the empty bowl.
Did her voice sound as breathless as she felt?
Rudy surveyed his arms and chuckled. "We're going to look like a couple of albinos."
"Why?"
"Because peroxide is like bleach, it takes the color out of your hair. Why do you think there are so many blonds in the world?"
Eden would have laughed at the joke if her body wasn't slathered in a solution that would lighten her hair. At least she'd shaved her legs this morning. She looked at her arms where small clumps of the goopy mixture clung to the fine hairs.
Then a thought hit her, and she felt the color drain from her face.
Oh no, have I touched my hair? What about my eyebrows?
Her face was one of the first places she washed.
Rudy must have seen the horror on her face because he laughed again. "Relax, the hairdressers always leave the peroxide stuff on for like thirty minutes, if you shower soon, I'm sure you'll be fine."
Eden didn't know how long they'd been perched on the edge of the tub, but she wasn't taking any chances. She turned on the water, stood, and tugged the lever to turn the shower on.
Cold spray struck Rudy's body and bounced off, hitting her.
"Oh snap! That's cold!" He bolted upright and pulled the shower curtain closed before cowering at the back of the tub. "You could have at least let the water warm up before turning the shower on."
"Sorry." She really wasn't, though. If it wasn't for Rudy agreeing to take her to meet Hazel then talking about stargazing, they wouldn't be in this crazy predicament, where as the shower grew warmer, the temperature in the bathroom skyrocketed.
CHAPTER14
Eden jumped when her cell phone dinged beside her. She'd been so intent on inputting Hattie's ledgers into a spreadsheet so she could analyze the state of her business that the noise startled her. With Alice spending the week at Debbie's house tending the three youngest children while Debbie and Austin were in Florida, the house was quiet.
She picked up her phone to find a text from her father.I'd like you to bring Rudy to dinner on Friday evening.
