Page 12 of Nigel

“It’sjust a stupid head cold combined with allergies. Just grab some wettowels and use them on me. I just need to get the fever down.Please.”

Hesitating onlybriefly, she turned and hurried into a sea green bathroom that simplytook her breath away.

“Holy shit!”she whispered, looking around. There was a large square bath thatcould comfortably hold a dozen people, triple sinks and a showerpartition with mullioned glass.

Shaking her head, shefilled a basin she found under the sink with cold water and grabbedseveral towels. Opening the large white cupboards, she rummagedaround and found some painkillers and took them with her.

He was still layingthere with his eyes closed and his shirt sticking to his chest. As ifsensing her presence, he opened his eyes and gestured her forward.

“Pills.”She poured them into his palm and gave him some more water. Shewatched as he swallowed them down. “You are going to have totake that off. She indicated his sodden shirt.

“A littlehelp?”

Taking a deep breath,she told herself that he was just a sick man, albeit a very wealthyone and extremely attractive. But that did not matter to her. Sheworked the shirt over his chest and pulled it over his head, placingit on the table.

Dipping the towelinto the water, she squeezed it out a little before using it on hisface and down his neck. Ignoring the play of muscles on his chest andthe hairs curling in the moisture, she wiped him down.

“That feels sodamn good,” he whispered hoarsely without opening his eyes.“Thanks.”

She muttered something as she continued towipe him down.

“Don’tstop.” His breathing was slightly shallow and she could feelthe oddest sensation as she continued. If he asked her to go further,that was where she was drawing the line.

The man washalf-naked and it was not like she had never seen a naked guy before.For goodness’ sake, she had three brothers and she was not avirgin. Yes, she had not been in a relationship in so long that shecould barely remember, but still…

“More waterplease.” His deep voice jerked her out of her reverie.

“Okay.”Dropping the towel into the basin, she went to get the water andbrought it back to him. He swallowed it down hastily and handed herthe glass.

“I need a fresh shirt.” He pointed to theenormous armoire across from the bed. “Second drawer.”

Without a word, shewent over to open the drawer, goggling at the number of neatly foldedshirts in the deep bottom drawer. The doors of his closet were thrownopen to reveal shelves, revolving racks and a padded stool in themiddle of the floor. How many clothes and shoes did one person need?

Picking out a shirt,she went over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Can you help?I feel as weak as a kitten.”

Firming her lips, shepulled the shirt over his head and waited until he pushed his handsthrough the sleeves.

Her fingers madecontact with his skin and she was relieved to find that he was not ashot as he had been before.

“The fever isbreaking.”

“I don’tfeel as awful as I did before.” His eyes wandered over her faceand she could feel the heat rising through her body. “I did notcatch your name. Or should I call you Florence Nightingale?”

“Nope. The nameis Ava.”

“Just Ava?”He cocked a brow at her.

“The rest isnot important.”

He stared at herquizzically. “You don’t look or sound like a maid.”

She bristled at that.“Is there a particular way they are supposed to look or sound?”

“Certainly notlike that.”

“A maid cancertainly be educated enough to speak in lofty company.”