Oh my. She took a deep breath to try to steady herself. “I guess I can try.”
He brushed a lock of hair from her eyes, once again seeing more deeply than she wanted him to. “Is it because that’s where I found you? In the bathtub?”
If she had been stronger, if she had felt less safe cradled in Gabe’s strong arms, if he were anyone else, she might have tried to deny it.
But how could she lie to this man?
“I thought we were going to die in there. In the bathtub.”
“I never would have let that happen.”
She couldn’t stop herself from saying the one question that had played over and over in her head for the past two months. “But what if you hadn’t come in time?”
“No what-ifs.” He took one of her hands and laid it over his heart. “Not tonight.” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Don’t let the fire take any more from you than it already has, sweetheart.”
But didn’t he see that she felt caught in an endless loop of what-ifs? Not just about the fire, but about the two of them, about Summer and her future, and—
She scrunched her eyes up tight, hating those what-ifs, every last one of them. “You know what?”
“Tell me, Megan.”
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “It’s a new year. Time for a new start. To wash the past clean.”
She was old enough, wise enough, to know she couldn’t change who she was, the way her brain and heart were wired, in one short night. But she could take a baby step toward pushing the weight of all those fears off her shoulders.
Especially if the step involved getting into the bathtub with a man whose eyes were promising her such incredible pleasure.
“Run the bath, Gabe.”
He continued to hold tightly to her with one hand while he reached for the taps with the other. While the tub was filling with warm water, Megan turned to stare in wonder at the man holding her on his lap and had to reach up to run her fingertips over the slightly raised scar on his forehead.
“I wish you hadn’t been hurt.” His eyes closed for a moment as she feathered her fingers over his forehead.
“That day in the hospital—” He looked at her, the depth of emotion in his eyes shaking her, all the way through to her core. “I’m sorry I was such a jerk.” He reached for her hand, pulled it to his lips, and pressed a soft kiss into her palm. “That moment when you walked in and I saw you without all the smoke, without the flames, I knew you were special.”
“You nearly died saving us,” she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. “You had the right to behave however you wanted.”
He shook his head. “I was stunned by how strong my feelings for you already were. But that was no excuse for my behavior.”
Megan had warmed up in his house, but now that he was talking about feelings and fear, she felt herself go cold again, shivering at all the things she didn’t want to face. Not yet, anyway.
Knowing he must be able to see how uncomfortable their conversation was making her, she could feel Gabe shift gears as he lifted her palm to his mouth again and nipped gently at the sensitive flesh. “I didn’t take the time to undress you properly up there,” he said as he began to peel back the blanket.
“I’d say you did just fine,” she murmured as she leaned forward to press a kiss to the top of his sinfully gorgeous chest. She was half relieved at the way he was letting her stay out of the deep end of emotion, but, strangely, half disappointed, too.
“Only fine?” His voice was husky as he curved his palm around her breast and skimmed over the tip of one nipple with his thumb. The same thumb she’d been sucking and biting up on the roof.
“Mmm,” was all she could manage by way of a response, and then he was pushing the blanket all the way off and stepping into the tub with her in his arms.
Nothing had ever felt so romantic, so sexy, as this shared bath. They’d done exciting and risky outside beneath the fireworks, but as she sank into the warm water and rested her back and head against Gabe’s chest, she sighed at the pleasure of getting to fulfill all the sides of her desires in one sweet night.
He cupped his hands so they filled with water and poured them over her skin, wetting every inch of her body, even her hair. It felt so luxurious to be pampered like this, felt like more than just sex, more than just need.
He’d just had her, and had to know he didn’t need to do all this to have her again. But he was doing it anyway.
She had to nuzzle into his bicep, had to press a kiss against it as he moved to pick up the soap.
“Trying to distract me, sweetheart?”
“No,” she replied honestly. “I just had to kiss you.”
Using her hair wrapped around his fist, he gently but firmly turned her face to his and captured her lips in a shockingly sweet kiss.
It was a long while before he let her up for air.
“Same here.”
The soap had slipped from his fingers during the kiss and he had to search for it under the water, his hands moving along the outside of her hips.
“It’s not here.” He moved his feet at the bottom of the tub searching for the soap. “Not here, either.”
“I think I know where it is.”
His eyes were on her mouth as he asked, “Where?”
She picked up one of his hands and put it on her stomach. “You’re getting closer.” He slid down only a little bit, teasing her. “Almost there.”