Page 45 of Read With Your Heart

Slowly, he breaks the kiss, both of us breathing heavily. He watches as his fingers slide out of me, and I let go of my hold on him.

“Beautiful,” he says, his voice reverent as I look up at him. He leans forward and kisses me again, sweet and tender like when we started, and then he steps back and reaches for something. The tub has been taken over by bottles of shampoo and conditioner along with body washes and two bars of soap plus a mesh sponge. Leon pours body wash on the sponge and scrubs it over my body, taking his time to circle my front with the soapy loofah. He lowers to his knees and lifts my legs, does my feet, and then turns my body to work his way back upward, covering my backside and my shoulder blades before turning me toward the shower. I rinse and reach for the shampoo myself, but he takes it from me. Leaning forward, he whispers, “I did that backward.”

He winks and washes my hair before I give it a final rinse. My thoughts scatter again to how I’ve never done anything like this. Sexy shower time. Washing each other.

“You need to sneak out,” he tells me, keeping his lips at my ear. “I told Lys I was showering, and I’d be down in a bit. Told her you were sleeping.”

I bite my lip. I’m not certain how I feel about sneaking around in my own house, but I do as he says. Stepping out of the tub, I instantly feel a loss. Was it him? Was it me? Do I feel different after having my first orgasm at the hands of someone other than me? Was it different because it wasn’t Trent?

It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t non-existent. I was safe with Leon, truly safe, and for a moment, I felt cherished. It happened from his tender touch, and I might never be the same.

I smile at both the satisfaction and the sinking sensation in my stomach.

What does this mean for Leon and me?

Lesson 17

Fighting words are only words.

[Leon]

The second she leaves the bathroom, I fall against the tile and tip back my head.

What the fuck are you doing, man?

She’s skittish, for one, but once I kissed her, she burst into flames, hot for me, grabbing me like she couldn’t get me close enough. But then what we were doing? All I could think about was entering her and how dangerous that would be, tainting her while wanting her all for me. She’s everything I don’t want.

A woman on the rebound.

I bang my head gently against the tile.

I’m not going to be able to fill the gap for her. I’m a mechanic with two sisters suddenly in my care. I’m renting rooms from her, not even in my own place, and I’m swimming upstream without a paddle to my name.

She is not going to want this shit.

I don’t even want it.

I just want peace.

Strangely, when I was holding Tricia, a sense of tranquility settled over me. Not a current worry. Not a haunting memory. Just her under my arm. How am I going to let that go?

After turning off the faucets with force and yanking back the floral curtain, I exit the shower. There’s not a stitch of masculine touches in this house, but I’d die a happy man surrounded in all this girlie stuff if I could have another moment with her like I did on her bed or in this shower.

I quickly dress and get myself downstairs. We need to keep it together, stay casual and not let on that anything happened to the girls. I don’t need questions and prying eyes. I don’t know what’s next or want to question if that was a one-time thing.

As I enter the kitchen, Lys is doing her homework at the table while Lena stands before an open refrigerator like she expects something to magically appear.

“You’re wasting electricity, chica,” I snap at her. Lena slams the door, and at least something is put to right. She and I are at each other’s throats again.

“What’s for dinner?” she asks, and I stare at the fridge myself. It’s become too easy as Tricia’s been doing the cooking. I know it’s been an adjustment. She went from cooking for one to cooking for four.

“It’s Thursday,” Tricia says, and we all turn to her. Her hair is as wet as mine, but mine dries fast. “I go out to dinner with my family tonight over at Town Tavern.”

No one says a word. “It’s adults only. My siblings and I go up there so they can get away from their kids. We started the tradition when our dad . . . passed away a few years ago.”

Shit.

She smiles weakly at Lys. “So you’ll need to fend for yourselves tonight,” she says, her eyes finally landing on me but quickly looking away.