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Unable to speak, he simply held out his hand. She was still rubbing her lotion in when he was done.
“Can you get my back for me?” she asked.
Touch her? The thought thrilled and terrified him.
She smiled over her shoulder, and he could have sworn there was a challenge in her eyes as she nonchalantly slid her legs to the other side of her chair and presented him with her back.
He glanced briefly at the boys. If they called his name, if they asked him to play with them, he wouldn’t have to find out if his self-control was up to the task of touching Rosie without dragging her into his arms and kissing her breathless. But Noah and Jorge were having so much fun on their own that, for the moment at least, Gideon and Rosie were forgotten.
He squeezed the lotion onto his hand, spread it out between his palms, taking his time, steeling his nerves.
Then he touched her.
Sweet Lord.
Her skin was so warm. So smooth. With a delicious golden glow. As he glided down, down, down, she was fire beneath his fingertips.
And he was burning up all over.
She made a noise, a hum, almost a moan—but that had to be his lust-filled brain playing tricks on him.
“I think you missed right here.” She reached back to point to the base of her shoulder blades, then held her ponytail out of the way.
His hands were actually shaking as he glided up, rubbed the lotion in circles over smooth skin, then up to her nape, massaging her.
“Oh my gosh.” She made another of those sweet little sounds. “I always get knotted up right there.” This time it was definitely a moan. He felt it deep inside his own chest. “Mmm, that’s perfect.”
As he used his thumb on the knot he could barely feel, could she hear his labored breathing? Could she feel the drumming pulse in his fingertips? Did she have any idea at all how much he wanted her? With every last fiber of his being.
Finally, she turned her head to look at him again. “Thank you, Gideon. I feel so much better. Do you want me to get your back?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said so quickly it was almost one word. He was anything but fine. His blood was still rushing like Niagara Falls as he leaned back in his chair.
“Did you ever try to research the painting?” She went back to her iPad as if nothing had happened.
While he was a mess of ragged nerve endings.
“No.” As he watched the boys splashing and laughing, he wondered how he was supposed to explain about Karmen. “My friend—it belonged to her grandmother.” He’d held so much back from everyone for so long, but in the span of these past few days, his carefully constructed barriers seemed to be crumbling one after the other. His throat constricted. He’d heard boa constrictors could swallow their weight in prey—but he felt like he’d swallowed an elephant. “She said the painting was magical.”
He’d never told anyone about the painting, not even Ari. Though his sister knew he’d met with Karmen’s mother, they’d never discussed what happened over there—the sandbox, the hellhole.
But now that Rosie had not only seen Karmen’s painting—but had also seen his painting that was of everything except Monet’s Water Lilies—he knew he needed to tell Rosie.
And it would be as much a release as talking to the boys about the war, as much as telling Rosie about daily life in the sandbox, as much as letting go last night with Noah. Each word out of his mouth was like a revelation, not only to Rosie or the kids, but to himself.
“Her name was Karmen Sanchez. She was a combat medic working with my unit.”
* * *
Rosie had never felt anything as good as Gideon’s hands on her. His touch had been hotter than lying in the sun, sweeter than feasting on vine-ripened grapes. She never wanted him to stop, and for a few blissful moments, she’d focused on nothing but his touch. And yet, though his fingers no longer glided over her skin, this moment, when he was actually trusting her with his story, with his past, with his pain—this moment was monumental.
“She was a great soldier,” he said in a low voice made raw with emotion. “She wanted to join up right after her cousin died in the Twin Towers, but her parents made her finish college. After that, she was in all the way. She wanted to make a difference.”
“She sounds heroic.” Just like Gideon.
“Too heroic,” he said softly. “I tried to get her to stay inside the wire.”
“Inside the wire?” She didn’t want to interrupt his flow, but she needed to understand.
