Page 38 of The Cowboy Takes a Nanny
“Still hurting?”
Gently flexing those impressive shoulder muscles, he shrugged away her concern. “It’ll be fine.”
She ducked her head in the direction of the liniment still held in his other hand. “I can help with that.” She set Mia back on the floor.
She saw his chest fill, hold, and then slowly exhale, his pupils dilated, and Ella immediately regretted her offer. She’d not been thinking clearly when she’d made the suggestion. Well, her conscious mind hadn’t been thinking clearly. Her subconscious? Something else entirely.
Sensibly, he was about to refuse, she read it in his suddenly flat expression, and might have voiced it if Mia hadn’t made her way to him and indicated she wanted up. And if his daughter hadn’t used the precariously tied towel for leverage; hadn’t accidentally pulled it from his narrow hips. That, in turn, caused him to spin away from Ella to hold it in place and to reach for his daughter to steady her all at the one time—and that was the cause of the howl of pain.
It was a moment of poetic perfection; a farcical ballet of movement that deserved her appreciation, and she showed that by howling herself—with laughter.
Towel secured firmly by both hands, he turned back to face her. His expression momentarily revealing his astonishment that she found his predicament amusing, before he joined her.
It was just what they’d needed, and a silly slip that brought them both crashing back. And with it came the optimistic hope for Ella that all could be well with them again.
With the little ones joining in, laughing again simply because their elders laughed, she pointed to his dressing room. “Go get some clothes on, bottom half at least and I’ll apply that liniment.”
“You think we could handle that?”
She didn’t need him to expand; knew what he was thinking. And agreed with him. But she’d seen his discomfort. “I could try to do it blindfolded, but that would only solve part of the problem. Wear mittens? You know? No flesh on flesh.”
He groaned. “Did we have to use the F word?”
Her giggle felt good. Better than good. “Option three is that I paint it on with the floor mop? No skin-on-skin contact at all. And I’d be at least four feet away?”
“Hilarious.” He shook his head. “Nah … Thanks anyway. It’s self-inflicted. Maybe I’m supposed to suffer.” Shot a lingering look her way, his smile rueful. “More. Suffer more.”
The softly growled words accompanying a look that feathered across her skin; pebbling it, beading her nipples, her entire body aching to be touched. A pulse began down low and that delicious heat incessantly flooded her body of late, started its rounds again, once more making her face as a beacon. He noticed … And reached out to gently run one finger down her overheated cheek.
Her breath caught, her eyes closed, just letting herself be in that swirling moment of need and his sweet, simple touch.
“Ella—?”
His voice dragged her back, and she opened her eyes, saw him, remembered all the reasons they couldn’t do this. Voice pleading, she whispered, “Leo, don’t. I—”
His hand dropped immediately. “I know.” His voice was gruff, broken. “I’m sorry. You take the kids down. I’ll get dressed. Maybe have another shower. Cold…”
Chapter Ten
The evening was painful; exacerbated by the swirl of emotions that the day had brought. Fear, remorse, guilt, relief, elation, and that was without the attraction simmering between them. When it almost boiled out of control again in his room, it only heightened the attraction between them.
Ella expected that they’d both still be in their corners licking wounds after the surprise revelations of earlier, instead they were in their respective corners for something completely different. All through the meal preparations, feeding and bathing the children, it had been like they didn’t even dare bump into each other for fear of combusting.
It was intense. Weird. Wonderful, and painful.
Now with the children asleep, Ella escaped to her own room and as she readied for bed, she resigned herself to what she knew would be another long sleepless night. However, when Mia stirred in her sleep and it came through the monitor on her bedside table, she knew she had a dilemma on her hands.
Leo would want his daughter’s monitor. It was something he was insistent on, especially after the night the children had been unwell. But to get it to him meant going to his room. Perhaps she could text him and tell him it was on the floor outside his room? She could, but that would be petty and childish. And sensible.
But still petty and childish. Besides, all she had to do was knock and hand over the monitor, and she’d be safely back in her own bed in mere seconds.
Determined to get it done she jumped up and padded barefoot down the hall. Despite the door being slightly ajar she raised her hand to knock, but heard something that shoved her very sensible plan out of her head. Leo was groaning. Her head went straight back to the painful grimaces she’d glimpsed through the evening.
Pushing the door gently she poked her head inside the dimly lit room. “Leo? You okay?” The sound came from the bathroom, and she instantly she wondered if the groaning could have a more carnal basis, and while her face flamed at the idea, her gut told her it wasn’t that kind of groan. But one of physical pain.
Knocking lightly, she heralded her entry. “Leo? What can I do to help? Have you had some pain relief?”
Thankfully, and thus saving her additional embarrassment, her instincts had been correct, and clad in just a pair of soft black boxer shorts, he was twisted up desperately trying to apply liniment to his back.
