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“Aero.” Sam sighed, her head lolling back against his chest.
“Sammy,” he breathed, just as the front door swung open and he jumped, whipping around toward it, blocking Sam with his body.
“Hey, sorry,” Molly said, eyeing Aero and taking in his strange reaction.
When he said it was Molly, he relaxed slightly.
“It’s all right,” Sam said, more to Aero than Molly, taking his hand in hers. “You can take a shower if you want. The coffee should be done by then.”
Aero nodded stiffly.
“Come on.” Sam hit the start button on the coffee pot and guided Aero toward the bathroom. Molly watched as they disappeared behind the door.
“Um, I have soap and stuff in the shower you can use.” She’d never had a man use her shower before. “Help yourself.”
“Thank you,” Aero said, tipping her face up so she looked at him. “Sorry about that. I can be sort of jumpy.”
He had been so content and so enraptured by Sam that Molly’s entrance had startled him. Usually, an ant couldn’t sneak up on him. The thought was unsettling.
“It’s okay.” Sam smiled. “Molly can be loud.”
“I’ll be quick,” he said, kissing her forehead.
“Take your time, love,” Sam cooed, turning and leaving the bathroom.
Aero stared at the closed door.
She’d called him love. Her love. He smiled. It was a sweet, sappy name, but he liked it.
Aero turned on the shower, found a fluffy pink towel, and stepped under the water.
It was a shower clearly used by women, with multicolored shower poofs hanging from hooks and various bath products on the shelves, racks, and ledges.
He looked for the plainest one, not sure if it was body wash or some kind of shampoo, and washed himself with his hands, not touching the poofs. It seemed strangely intimate to use someone else’s bath sponge, and he didn’t want to pick one that wasn’t Sam’s.
He rinsed himself off, turned off the water, and got out, wrapping the towel around his waist.
Aero realized then that he didn’t have any clean clothes. He probably had some in his truck, but he wasn’t going to parade through the apartment in just a towel.
A knock came at the door, and Aero jumped.
“Yeah?” he answered, and it cracked open. Sam stuck her head in, her eyes going wide at the sight of him.
“I’m sorry,” she said, unable to take her eyes off his chest.
“It’s okay.” He held out a hand. He was feeling brave, enjoying the way her eyes roamed over his body.
Sam slipped her hand into his and shut the door behind herself.
“You have, um.” She rubbed a hand over her shoulder, and he nodded.
“I know.”
Sam wanted to run her hands over the scarring on his shoulder that ran down over his right pectoral, to press her lips to each mark, and to learn how they felt under her fingertips. Without his shirt, Aero was more stunning than she’d imagined. He was tall and broad, with a strong chest and a defined abdomen. Most surprising was the tattoo just above his heart. From a distance, she couldn’t make it out, but he tugged her closer, and she saw it up close.
It was a realistic human heart with a sword through the top, poking out the bottom, and dripping blood. A ribbon was twined around the heart, with the letters N O R A on it.
Sam swallowed hard. Of course, she knew who Nora was, but Aero didn’t know that.
