Page 133 of Luck of the Draw

She turned to face him, leaning her back against the wall to steady herself. He was bracing his forearm on the opposite wall, staring back at her across the spacious shower. Both were still catching their breath.

“I’ve never done that before,” he remarked.

One corner of her mouth quirked. “Done what?”

His devilishly handsome grin stretched across his lips as he crossed the space to frame her face and kiss her deeply. Releasing her lips, he lowered his forehead to hers and growled mischievously, “Bareback.”

Skye snickered against his mouth. “You like it, huh?”

“Oh baby, you havenoidea.” Brennan leaned his face lower to pepper her neck with kisses for a moment before looking at her again through an expression that didn’t match his playful tone. He cupped her face, drawing his thumb across the line of her jaw. “I’m so sorry, Skye.”

It took two seconds to register what he was talking about. She shook her head and ignored the pain in her heart. “Don’t. It’s okay.” She tickled the sides of his ribs. “I was just saying you didn’t need to worry about running back into your room soaking wet and stark naked as a jay bird.”

They both laughed at that, but it was the kind of laugh you offer to avoid something uncomfortable.

“Okay, come here,” Brennan said after a few beats, holding her wrists to pull her all the way under the hot, steamy stream of water. “I’m going to wash your hair.”

“Okay,” Skye said, smiling. He really was so sweet. It was such aBrennanthing to do, and something about it caused tears to threaten. She tilted her head back so he could work the lavender-scented shampoo through her mass of wet tangles.

For long minutes, they stood silently as he lathered her hair and massaged her scalp. It was almost as orgasmic as the orgasm he’d just given her.

“Skye,” Brennan eventually said, speaking quietly. “I think knowing you is the best thing I’ve ever had the opportunity to do.”

She smiled as she wiped away a few droplets of water from her face. “You’ve definitely been the highlight of my life so far.”

“Yeah?” he asked with a smile she could hear.

She leaned against his torso and let her sudsy head rest against his shoulder. “Obviously.”

He wiped her forehead and kissed her temple. “Do you like this house?”

She crinkled her brow in amusement. “What’s not to like?”

“Okay, but…” He paused. “If you felt like New Orleans was a safe place for you, would you live in this house?”

She nudged her elbow into his abs. “You mean live with you.”

“No,” he said. There wasn’t any kind of playful give in his tone. He was just matter-of-fact. “I mean, if you felt like New Orleans was safe, and there was no me, would you live in this house?”

Skye squinted at the shower wall as she weighed the strange question. “I would love to live in a house like this, but I doubt I’d ever be able to afford it.”

“But if money were no object. If there was no me, and you didn’t have to worry about anything else in life like getting on your feet or staying away from dangerous people, would you live in this house? This exact house.”

She leaned forward so he could rinse her hair as she pondered what he might really be asking her, because it was obvious he was tiptoeing around something. “I mean…it’s hard to put myself in the idea of those circumstances, but I guess, yeah. If this was just a house available to me, and I had no other place to live, I would live here.”

Brennan squeezed his fist down the length of her hair to wring it out, and then turned her around as he offered her a content smile. “Okay.”

“Why do you ask?”

The muscles of his shoulders hulked and released as he shrugged. “Just curious.”

She hesitated a moment as she eyed his face before she stepped close to him again and combed back his wet hair. “You know, your face is even more sexy when you’re keeping shit from me.”

“Oh, honey.” He dipped his face to claim her lips for a kiss that felt like he was making love to her mouth. “Don’t worry. I’m not keeping anything from you for long.”

He paused, his eyes drifting for a second before he looked at her again. Now the anxiety and sadness were painted all over his extremely sexy features. It all said the things neither of them would.

It won’t be long because our time together is about to end.

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