Page 42 of Swept Away

I do as I’m told. He comes to sit behind me and twists my hair in his fist, squeezing gently to wring out the droplets. I close my eyes, heat lancing through me as he begins to comb out the tangles with his fingers.

“When was the last time you did this?” he asks.

His voice makes me shiver.

“Washed my hair?”

“No. Let someone do something for you.”

“Oh.” I blink. “I mean…Well…”

Answering this question is harder than it should be.

“Penny makes dinner sometimes?”

“Don’t you guys live together? I feel like that’s just…normal.”

“Oh, maybe…”

His fingers are firm and gentle.

“I mean, when was the last time you let someone treasure you? Look after you?”

“I wasn’t really raised that way,” I say. “My mum was not big on spoiling us.”

“Well, OK, you’re thirty-one now, not five.”

“Are you saying it’s too late for me?”

“Yes, Lexi, for once I am saying it’s too late for you,” he says, laughter in his voice. “You’re unspoilable. I don’t think there’s any danger in letting someone…” His fingers slip through my hair as he thinks. “I don’t know, letting someone give you the night off from looking after Mae just because. Or letting someone…give you a massage. Make you your favorite food for dinner. Cherish you.”

I swallow. The idea is so alien to me. It feels totally decadent, almost shamefully so. I associate doing things for yourself with the way my father behaved, I suppose—when we talked about him, he was always the selfish one who abandoned his responsibilities. My mum was the woman who stayed; she fought to keep the pub afloat, and she fought for me, and she took Penny in because she saw a little girl who needed help. She was my hero, and I never once saw her treat herself—always other people.

But the feel of Zeke’s fingers in my hair is so delicious, and the idea of someone wanting to do this for me—to make me feel good just for my own sake…it’s almost impossibly tempting.

“It sounds too good to be true,” I whisper.

“That,” Zeke says gently, “is just about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Zeke

She plaits herhair herself. I watch her fingers, still sitting behind her, still thinking about all the ways I want to make Lexi feel cherished. Some PG, some…less so. It’s getting hard, being together twenty-four/seven. The injury slowed me down some, and obviously I stand by the decision to keep things platonic, but I’m still me. My sex drive’s an issue, and Lexi is…she’s…Hmm. Even more gorgeous and fascinating every day I get to know her.

“Your turn? Shall I get a fresh bucket of water?” she says, turning to look at me over one shoulder.

“It’s fine. I’ll use this.”

I clear my throat, wincing slightly as I straighten my legs in front of me. Sitting at an angle like this, my feet stick out under the railings.

“Do you want me to go so you can strip off?”

No, I think.No, I want you to be the one to strip me down.

“Yes,” I say. Trying to sound convincing. “Yes, that would be…”

I trail off. I just checked under my bandage.

“Zeke?”

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