Page 9 of Forever in the Country

“Of course not.” I slide my hand into his and he lets me. “But you can pick mine.” He looks out the side of his eye at me, and I pull my bottom lip between my teeth to hide my smile.

Ruby holds out her hand, and Sorren shakes it with his free one.

Her eyes never leave his as she says, “I understand you experienced an injury, and while I believe I’m prepared to minimize your discomfort, please be honest with me so we can adjust to ensure your experience is enjoyable.”

I squeeze his hand harder as his gaze slides to mine. I have nothing to hide, and I let him see that. This is supposed to be a relaxing afternoon, but I just need to get him in the chair to make that happen.

“All right.” He says the words to me before looking back at Ruby. “No polish.” Then points to me. “She gets hot pink.”

Ruby beams and nods before directing us both to our respective chairs. We sit and dip our feet into the basin of warm water, and I hand him his e-reader that I stowed away in my purse.

“Anyone know we’re here?”

I shake my head. “Not unless you want them to.” He leans his head back against the headrest and closes his eyes as Ruby takes his uninjured leg from the water and begins.

“This is weird,” he says after a few minutes, and I chuckle.

“I can work with weird.”

While Colette removes my old polish and cleans up my cuticles, Ruby has already started massaging Sorren’s foot. He groans, and the sound reverberates around us. It’s one of pleasure, and I shift slightly in response.

His gravelly timbre is something I’ve always found pleasant—sexy even—but there’s never been anything between us. I’m his safe space, and I won’t do anything to jeopardize that, even if my body’s reaction to him has me more than a little curious.

Ruby’s hands glide over his injured calf and he sighs. Her hands are gentle as she watches his face intently, and I make a mental note to tip her extra after the care she’s taken to ensure he’s okay.

“I can feel you watching me,” he says without opening his eyes.

“I like the view,” I tease, and his lips twitch at the corners.

His head lolls to the side as his dark-green eyes find mine. There are flecks of gold in them, and I can’t help getting lost in them for a while.

“I’m okay, you know.”

I mimic his position in my chair. “I know. But I thought this might be nice.”

He rolls his lips inward. “I’m really trying not to like it.”

I giggle and Ruby and Colette snicker.

“Which one?” Colette says as she holds up two pink polishes in her hand. Sorren points to the one on her left and she nods and gets to work. She makes it look easy, while unless I tryreallyhard, it always looks like I did it with my eyes closed.

I can do intricate designs with just a piping bag at the bakery, but this is completely out of my wheelhouse. Besides, it’s one of the few things I splurge on for myself in the name of self-care.

Colette applies the topcoat and then helps me slip on my sandals. Sorren’s boots are already laced up, but the anxious energy that usually radiates from him is gone, and my heart swells in my chest.

He’s at peace and even though it’s temporary, it means everything in this moment.

Easing toward the door, I ask the one thing on everyone’s mind. ”So, what did you think?” My smile is hesitant as I pull cash from my bag and hand it to both Colette and Ruby. I paid for the pedicures in advance so I wouldn’t have to deal with Sorren trying to strong-arm me over the bill.

It’s happened before.

We wait with bated breath as his hand rubs against his stubble-covered jaw, “I think I’d be all right if we did this again.” Ruby does a fist pump, and he grins before shaking her hand and thanking her.

I book us appointments for the following month and walk a little taller all the way to the car.

“Thank you,” he says, the engine barely on long enough to cool the Tennessee heat.

“You, sir, are very welcome.”

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