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Holy shit, it felt good.
The clean scent of his shampoo filled his nostrils as she lathered, going from root to end, around his hairline and moving her hands to the back.
His body went hot and relaxed all at once. It felt so damn good. A thousand times better than whatever the barber did, though it may have been because the dude who cut his hair was, well, a dude, and easily in his sixties.
And this was Claire. His mouthy, sexy roommate, leaning over him and arousing every nerve ending within reach.
In this moment he was completely at her mercy. He wasn’t even capable of washing his own hair, which was nothing if not a weakness. And yet he was strangely satisfied letting her do this for him. He’d asked her to, and took pleasure in how it felt as she performed this simple, basic task that he should be able to do himself.
Without thinking, he lifted his left hand and reached up to grip her waist. Her T-shirt rode up with the movement of her arms, revealing a thin strip of skin, and his thumb immediately went there. She felt soft, warm, and smooth against his own skin, which was weathered and rough from his constant outdoor activities.
She stilled her body, but kept her hands in his hair.
“Graham...” she chided lightly.
He squeezed his eyelids tight, dreading her next words, asking him to stop touching her. He waited, and she simply sighed and resumed the delicious massaging before rinsing his hair out.
As she went for the bottle of conditioner, he made a mental note to thank his barber for convincing him to use separate shampoo and conditioner rather than the combination products he’d always used before.
He sighed with pleasure as she went for round two, rubbing the thick cream through the strands. He moved his thumb back and forth across her hip bone, relishing the way his palm spanned the entire side of her hip.
Her breath hitched.
Graham’s eyes snapped open to find hers focused below his waist.
He just stared at her, unashamed of the situation he had going on down there. What man wouldn’t get hot while a woman he was attracted to attended to him like this? With his fingers mere inches away from her ass, no less?
Claire’s eyes slid upward to meet his gaze, pink staining her cheeks. She pursed her lips, but just before she leaned forward to turn off the water and grab a clean towel, he could have sworn he saw them curve up in a smile.
11
Twenty-four hours had passed and Claire still couldn’t stop thinking about washing Graham’s hair.
It had been a basic hygiene request, and at the time she’d thought nothing of it. But now, the image of his large, shirtless body stretched out, long legs splayed and head back in a position that almost felt like surrender, would be forever burned in her brain.
She could still feel the gentle rub of his thumb across her hip, his fingers burning her through her clothes. She also wasn’t likely to forget how very obviously he’d enjoyed the work of her hands through his hair, though as a woman who would give away half her savings for someone to constantly run their fingers through her hair, she couldn’t really blame him. Few things in life felt that good.
After she’d finished up, an air of awkwardness descended, and she’d escaped to hide in her room for a few hours. She considered sleeping in her own room that night, but in the end decided she wasn’t comfortable leaving him alone all night until his voice had returned.
The relief she glimpsed on his face when she padded into his room last night—wearing the frumpiest, most concealing set of pajamas she owned—told her he felt the same.
She had to go back to work tomorrow, and while he’d be fine and Noah would be here for several hours, she still wasn’t thrilled about leaving Graham. They’d fallen into a nice little routine over the last few days. Get up, have breakfast and coffee, then he exercised while she showered. Watch television, text back and forth a little when Graham got bored. She’d even guilted him into playing gin rummy with her a few times when she told him it had been her dad’s favorite card game and she missed playing it.
She enjoyed the routine, steady companionship of a man who appreciated her company. Things were a little quieter than she liked, but the desire to settle down with someone she could banter with, watch TV and play cards with, and sleep next to was more potent than ever.
Once again she remembered Mia’s suggestion to try a dating site, and a voice in her head said now was as good a time as ever, because having Graham around wasn’t a long-term solution.
Graham had fallen asleep after lunch, so she sneaked out with her laptop and settled onto the couch with a bag of chips. One of her coworkers had met her husband online, so she sent her a quick text asking what site she’d used.
Steph: TrueChemistry.com. You finally gonna sign up?
Claire: Thinking about it.
Steph: YES let me know how it goes
Claire went to the site and opted for the two-week free trial. She wasn’t about to shell out any cash before she knew if it was worth it.
After selecting she was a woman hoping to connect with a man, she created an account and downloaded the app to her phone.
