Page 50 of Pretend

It would be wrong to smile right now, Morgan reminded herself as she watched the poor man that barely survived being attacked by the cutest kitten that she’d ever seen slowly make his way up the stairs and-

“I can feel you smiling,” Eric said, making her wince.

“If it helps, I think you broke the kitten’s fall?” she said with a hopeful smile that quickly disappeared when he started grumbling again, even as she couldn’t help but wonder where the kitten ran off to.

Maybe she should go look, Morgan thought, only to decide that would probably be a bad idea as she followed him down the hallway to the bathroom. When she moved to follow him inside, Eric bit out, “I’m fine.”

“Umm, you just fell out of a tree,” Morgan felt obligated to point out.

“I was thrown off,” he muttered angrily.

“By a kitten?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“That kitten was vicious!”

“That’s exactly what I thought when it curled up on top of you and fell asleep,” she said, nodding solemnly.

“It was waiting for the right moment to finish the job,” Eric bit out with a glare that dared her to argue.

“Clearly,” Morgan muttered as she pushed her way past him and headed for the bathtub, grabbing the bag of Epsom salt that she picked up earlier, deciding to make herself useful.

She’d learned a long time ago to make sure that she kept plenty of Epsom salt on hand, especially when they were renovating an old house like this one. It was back-breaking work and she knew the big baby currently pouting was going to need it.

When he only stood there, glaring at her, Morgan said, “I’m not going anywhere until I get a better look at your back.”

That was followed by a grumble, the sounds of him biting back a pained groan as he toed off his boots, and after a slight hesitation, he shoved his pants off while she made quick work of starting a bath, making sure to throw in an extra handful of Epsom salt for him. When she was done, Morgan grabbed a facecloth and a bar of soap as she listened to him step into the bathtub, and a few seconds later, she heard his relieved groan.

“I’m going to turn around now,” Morgan said, not really sure how she was supposed to act after what just happened on the balcony. When he didn’t say anything, she cleared her throat, shifted nervously, and after realizing that she was being an idiot, she slowly turned around.

With a pained groan, Eric leaned forward while she ran her eyes over him, noting the golden muscles flexing as he grabbed hold of the sides of the tub, the Celtic tattoo on his shoulder that she’d always loved, the shallow kitten scratches, and the large scrape most likely from the tree when he fell.

“How’s it look?” Eric asked, shifting to get comfortable.

“Not that bad,” Morgan said, clearing her throat with a nod as she moved closer, and after a slight hesitation, she dipped the facecloth in the tub.

“Not that bad? I was attacked by a vicious-fucking animal, woman!” Eric said, gasping in outrage as she lathered the facecloth with soap.

“It was terrifying,” Morgan said dryly as she carefully placed the bar of soap on the side of the tub and set to work.

“It really was,” Eric murmured in agreement, only to wince when she moved the facecloth over the scrape on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Morgan said softly as she leaned over and pressed a kiss against his shoulder. “Is that better?”

“My other shoulder hurts now,” Eric grumbled, making her smile as she leaned over and kissed his other shoulder.

“Where else?” Morgan asked as she ran the facecloth over his back.

“Here,” he said, pointing to the back of his neck.

“Better?” Morgan asked as she pressed her lips against the back of his neck.

“Mmmhmmm,” Eric moaned.

“Where else?” she asked, running the facecloth back over his shoulders and down his arms.

“Here,” he said softly as he pointed to his jaw.

Moving around the tub, Morgan leaned over and pressed her lips against his jaw. “Better?”

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