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He moved across to her other foot. This time he didn’t put it on his thigh. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?”
“It’s fine. Riley did the base coat and I didn’t feel a thing.”
He painted her nails in quick succession, once again avoiding getting any on her skin. “I’ll let the first coat dry for a minute before I put the second on.” He replaced the lid on the polish. “That’s if you want a second coat.”
“Of course.” She grinned at him. “I expect full service in this salon.”
“As long as you’re a generous tipper, you’ll get all the service I can give.”
He touched her good foot again. It was all she could do not to curl her toes in response. He was gentle, yet every time his fingers brushed her skin it sent electricity up her leg.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” he asked, testing the polish with the pad of his finger to see if it was touch dry. Yeah, he’d definitely done this more than a few times. Was it possible to like him even more?
“Apart from saving the world?” she asked. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, if the world can live without you for one day, do you want to join me on a little trip?” He had the same expression he’d worn when he was showing her how to make coffee the day when he first trained her. His eyes were alert, as though he was willing her to say yes.
“What kind of trip?”
“I need to visit a couple of places. There’s a store just south of LA that the company took over a few months ago and I want to show my face. Plus I’m looking at buying another beach café and I want to check the town out.”
“Another beach café?” Ally repeated. “Should we be worried?”
“Nope. You should be pleased. It’s a testament to how well the Angel Sands acquisition is going. It’s our first non-city location and it’s doing better than we expected.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on expanding any more this year, but this building is going for a song and it’s too good not to take a look.” He pulled out the brush and started to put on the second coat of polish. “So what do you think? It might do you some good to have a change of scenery. Plus you’re the expert on beach towns. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.”
She tried to ignore the shivers snaking up and down her spine. “Yeah, sounds like a nice change,” she said. “I was getting bored of saving the world anyway.”
He looked up, his gaze meeting hers, and the smile that was crinkling his eyes spread down to his lips. “Well tomorrow you can save me instead.” He’d finished the second coat. Tightening the lid back into the bottle, he reached forward to put it on her bedside table, grabbing the bottle of top coat. His arm brushed hers, sending a fresh pulse of energy through her body.
“Okay,” she agreed, taking a deep breath. “It’s a deal.”
14
“You took the roof off the car.”
Nate looked up to see Ally standing at the top of the stairs that led down to the driveway. She was wearing a grey skirt that was fitted at the hips and flared out to her mid thighs, complementing her toned, tanned legs that seemed to stretch on forever. She’d teamed it with a simple white t-shirt that skimmed her curves. But it was her hair that drew his eye. In the coffee shop she mostly wore it up in a twisted bun, and for the past few days she’d had it in either a ponytail or braids.
But not today. Today she was wearing it down, golden waves tumbling over her shoulders. Looking at her was like looking into the sun. He was almost certain he was going to get burned.
“It’s the right kind of day for it,” he said, looking up at the cloudless sky. “Though we might regret it when we’re sitting in traffic for an hour in LA. It’ll probably turn into an oven.”
“Every day’s the right day for it.” Her eyes twinkled. “You’re not in Seattle anymore.”
And didn’t he know it. You only had to take one look at Ally to know she wasn’t from the Pacific North West. She was a California girl through and through. She looked tan and outdoorsy. It took all the strength he had to pull his eyes away from her.
“Stay there,” he said. “I’ll come and help you down.”
“No need. I’ve been practicing.” With the help of her crutches she made it to the top step. “It’s easy when you know how.”
He watched as she slowly made it down to the driveway. And yeah, maybe there was a part of him that wanted to carry her. Not because she was some kind of damsel in distress, but because he wanted some contact – any contact – with her.
“When did you learn to do that?”
“After I saved the world, I had a thought that I might need to save myself in an emergency. What if I needed to evacuate and you and Riley weren’t here?”
He glanced to his left. “You could leave by the back door and come through the gate,” he said. “I thought you knew that.”
Her face fell, and he immediately felt bad. “Not that you need to now,” he added. “And anyway, now that you can navigate steps it should make today a lot easier.”
