“See, easy peasy.”
“Is the temperature okay, or do you need me to adjust it?” he asked.
“The temp is good. God, this feels nice,” she said as she pressed the button to turn the jets on.
Her moan of pleasure was a familiar sound to him and made him want to jump in that tub with her. Give her something to moan about. But with the heart-to-heart conversation they’d just held, that was out of the question.
Reaching back, Cap snagged a towel from the rack and rolled it up.
“Would you like to slip this under your neck?”
She opened those lovely dark eyes of hers.
“Yes, that would be great.”
He didn’t wait for her to move; he gently raised her head instead and slipped the towel under her and carefully laid her head down. Her silky strands of dark hair floated in the water.
“Thank you.”
Among the bright white bubbles in the water, he eyed her pert breasts with darkened nipples. His mouth watered. He needed to get out of this room before he made a move for her without waiting for a cue, as he’d promised.
Conversely, she did just bare all to him. Was that a cue?
When her shoulders went slack and her eyes closed, he knew it hadn’t been a cue. She needed this time alone.
Chapter Twenty-One
The air from the jets massaged Emma’s weary muscles as she lay with her head back against the makeshift pillow Cap had made for her. The man couldn’t be any kinder. Certainly not what she had expected from him when they’d first met.
She cringed as she recalled the hurt look in his eyes when she babbled about losing herself and told him she wasn’t sure if her feelings for him were real. Why on earth did she phrase it like that? Her mouth said one thing, but her heart said another. She was very confused. She’d intended to make a point about not wanting to hurt him more than she already had. by dragging him into this mess, but it came out all wrong. Then when she recanted the words, it was understandable why he looked hurt and backed off.
Jonathan. Her entire body tensed. How had it come to this for him? Drug dealing? What the hell? Now, with him gone, she’d never know. All of her questions would go unanswered.
Was he ever a commercial real estate lender, or was that all just a ruse? He knew the right people, including her dad and his developer buddies. And her? Why her? Was he just after her family’s money? Did he ever really love her? And why did he dump her two weeks before the wedding? If he were after her family’s money, he certainly wouldn’t have done that. Or, did he grow a conscience? Did he discover he cared enough for her that he couldn’t drag her into this harsh drug-dealing environment? If that were the case, at least it proved he had cared for her. Her thoughts shifted to the loving man in the next room, making her wonder why she cared so much if Jonathan never cared for her. She seemed to move on fairly quickly. Hence, the confusion and the horrible conversation she had with Cap, which hurt him.
Good heavens, her brain was a rambling mess.
She opened her eyes and looked at her shriveling fingertips, realizing she should probably get out of the comforting water.
As she rose and climbed out of the tub, the pain in her feet instantly reminded her that proper footwear in the woods was important. Those bruises would take more time than she wanted to heal. She dried off and dressed in leggings and a long T-shirt.
She exited the bedroom and entered the kitchen and living room area. Cap sat on a chair, eating a sandwich while staring blankly at the television. When he felt her presence, he shifted his gaze to her.
“Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich,” he said as he stuffed the last of his into his mouth and rose from his seat.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to make it. I can do it.”
Still, he followed her into the kitchen area and munched on his carrot sticks as she made her sandwich.
“You feel better?”
“Yes, the bath was amazing.”
He leaned from side to side, stretching. His slight grimace did not go unnoticed by her.
“How about you? How are you doing?”
“Just stretching out the kinks.”
