“If you keep looking at me like that,” I rasped, “we’ll be in here all night.”
“There are worse things,” she murmured, the corner of her mouth lifting.
She rose onto her toes to reach my shoulders, the soft drag of the cloth grounding and electrifying at the same time. She moved down my chest, over the ridges of my stomach muscles, then brushed lightly over my groin.
She stepped around me, her chest at my back. Her hands faltered, just for a heartbeat.
“You don’t have to?—”
The words died on my tongue when I felt the ghost of a kiss on my back. Then another. And another. Feather-light, as if she were mapping me.
My shoulders loosened, the invisible bonds growing, and I fucking prayed they weren’t one-sided.
“Tell me about your day,” I said, my voice steadier than the knot forming in my chest and my heart squeezing with want.
I stared at the tile in front of me, trying to get a handle on my emotions.Jesus Christ. How was I supposed to put the brakes on feelings that were already so far gone?
“Oh, it was an awesome day,” she started as she began to wash my hair. “I got to scrub in on an emergency cesarean and I kicked ass. Their equipment is somewhat outdated, but it didn’t stop me.”
“I have no doubt.” I chuckled, picturing her like a tornado sweeping through the hospital and taking charge while I made a mental note to order the latest technology to be delivered as soon as possible.
“Everyone was good to you?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. And as soon as someone whispered your name, everyone started jumping around and acting overly pleasant and anxious. Apparently, you’re famous.”
“I doubt it.”
She moved us both under the spray, turning so we faced each other.
“Oh, don’t doubt it, babe. You’re totally famous.” She tilted her face up to mine while I stared at her. I hated how hard that word landed. If she had even the faintest idea of the torture I dished out all day or the lives I’d ended, she wouldn’t be saying it so confidently. In fact, she wouldn’t be saying it at all.
Not that I regretted it. That was a waste of emotion, especially for the kinds of bastards who deserved even worse fates.
“And how was your day?” she asked when I remained quiet.
My mask slid into place, careful not to reveal to her the horrors I’d committed. “It was good.”
She tilted her head, studying me almost as if she could sense my crimes. “Does your vagueness have something to do with Jacqueline?”
“What makes you assume that?”
“Maybe because you’re not answering my questions and instead asking your own.” Sophie was too perceptive for her own good. “Has there been any progress?”
“No,” I responded. “It’s frustrating.”
“I have no doubt you’ll find her.”
“I will.” And then my woman would be safe. But I couldn’t help but detest what that would mean for us. Would she jump on the first flight back to the States?
She chuckled. “You’re not a man of many words today, huh? Is something bothering you?”
I smiled and grabbed her waist, pulling her wet body flush with mine.
“I want to ask you something,” I said.
“Anything.”
“Will you be my date for a wedding?”
