Page 35 of How to: Seduce Your Wife

Poking around, she found a linen closet containing towels and selected a black fluffy hand towel and washcloth, then tossed a bath towel on the floor to catch any water that might splash onto the tile. If worry could be rinsed away with hot water, Mia would give it her best effort.

Next, she fetched her toiletry and makeup kits from her suitcase and stripped off her shirt and bra, setting them aside while she brushed her hair and washedup.

She stared at herself in the mirror, determination filling her.Time to face facts,she informed herself grimly. Only a limited amount of time remained with Brand and Toni. Perhaps even now, her husband of less-than a day was considering whether or not to send her on herway.

She worked the knots out of her hair and tied it in a loose ponytail. She didn’t belong here, not really. The echoes of the various rejections she’d suffered carved as deeply as the scars riddling herbody.

Despite that, Anna said Toni needed her. Even Carina, somehow, wanted her to be here. Come hell or high water, Mia would find a way to stay for as long as it took for the little girl to recover.

Once Toni healed, Mia would find her own courage and move on. She didn’t belong here as anything more than a stepping stone, which she’d force herself to accept. After all, she and Brand truly lived in different worlds. His one of riches and opulence, hers one of bare necessity. They didn’t fit. Would never fit. If she were smart, she’d rememberthat.

Knock, knock, knock.

Startled, she spun around, her feet skating on the towel covering the floor and going out from under her. She landed with a cry on the bathroom floor, her right knee twisting painfully.

“Mia, are you all right? It sounds like you fell. I’m coming in!” Brand swung the bathroom door open even as he spoke, and shot to herside.

“I’mnuda,”Mia announced, not sure why, considering she’d been comfortably naked with him the entire previous night. “Sort of.”

“So I see.”

“And I twisted my knee and busted mycula.”

“Your—?”

“Ass.”

“Shit.” He quickly grabbed a freshly laundered robe from the linen closet and helped her slide it on. “We need to get you out of those jeans before your knee swells too much and we have to cut them off.”

Embarrassment at her clumsiness flashed through her like heat lightning. Was it odd that she found her clumsiness more embarrassing than her nudity? “I’m fine, justmolto imbarazzato.”Very embarrassed didn’t begin to cover the horror show of emotions surging through her.

“Don’t be. Istartled you.” He crouched beside her. “Jeans off.”

Mia unbuttoned and unzipped, allowing Brand to help lift her so she could slide them off her hips. She winced at the slight tug it took to get the jean leg over her bad knee. And when she struggled to stand, her right leg threatened to give out on her.

“Let me.” Brand scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom, gently setting her on the bed. “How bad is it? Do we need to call a doctor?”

“No, Ithink I just twisted my knee a little. I’ve done it before. It’ll be okay.” Her knee already showed signs of swelling and the scars from her surgery stood out against the rising color. “Maybe some ice?”

“On it.”

He disappeared from the bedroom, returning a few minutes later with an icepack wrapped in a small towel, apizza box, acontainer of Caesar salad, and two beers. Setting the food on the nightstand table, he placed the ice over herknee.

His hand lingered a little longer than strictly necessary and she shivered in response, wishing he’d take the caress further. His eyes darkened and his fingers shifted upward a few inches beneath the robe before stopping. Maybe her knee issues kept him from following through. Or maybe he needed encouragement.

“Brand…” she whispered.

He gave her a direct look. “More practice?”

“Oh, yes.”

Heat burned in his gaze. “I brought dinner and you haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

Food or Brand? Easy choice. She offered a slow smile. “It was a large breakfast.”

He considered for an instant, then slowly removed his hand. “Eat first. Practice after.”

She didn’t find the idea of eating pizza almost naked in bed entirely unappealing, if only her knee looked less like a purple plum. “What kind of pizza did you get?” Hmm. Maybe he was her dessert. She could definitely live withthat!

---