Page 116 of Faking the Pass
Rosie’s face crumpled in disappointment, and her body sagged.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she said in a morose tone. “Would you help me back to the bed?”
A warm, ticklish feeling tugged at my heart, sympathy softening it and my voice along with it.
“Rosie… it’s not like I haven’t seen you naked. And we’ve showered together before.”
Her gaze dropped to her knees, which pressed together tightly. “I know. But this is different.”
“Yeah, it is. You need help, and I’m going to help you,” I said. “Now lift your arms. I’ll help you get the t-shirt off.”
Though her voice was weak, her tone was like steel. She clamped her elbows to her sides.
“We’renotgoing to shower together, Presley.”
She attempted to stand, but then sat back down hard, obviously off-balance. That’s when I saw the tears on her cheeks.
“Why are you crying?”
I went down on one knee in front of her so I could see her face. “Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?”
“No.” Rosie shook her head then abruptly brought her hand up to her forehead.
“I’m not nauseous—or I wasn’t until I did that,” she said. “I just wanted a shower really badly. I feel so grimy, and I thought it would make me feel better.”
Her voice broke, not sobbing but thoroughly miserable as her words came out strung tightly together.
“But I can’t seem to doanythingwithout being a total pain in the ass. And you’re having to do every little thing for me, andyou need to go in to work with the team, but you’re having to stay here with me because I’ve got no one else, and I just don’t know how my life has come to this.”
There was a woeful sob as she dropped her face into the cradle of her hands. “And my hair is dirty.”
She was so adorable in her misery, I almost smiled. But I bit my lip and ran my hand over the back of her downturned head.
“It’s really not that bad. And you’renota pain, Rosie. Everybody gets sick and needs help sometimes. What are husbands for, right?”
She sobbed again. “But you’re not… really.”
“Today I am. Hey, can you look at me?”
She lifted her face to show sorrowful eyes that pulled at my heartstrings and made me want to wrap her in layers of bubble wrap and build a moat around her to protect her from the whole damn world.
“I don’t reallyneedto go in for practice, not every day anyway,” I confessed. “I think they asked me to come in to make me feel better—because they know I want to contribute. This is actually the one perfect time in my life for me to be home,notgoing in to work with the team. It’s fine. Okay? Do you believe me?”
She gave a little nod. Her lower lip still protruded slightly, and I was possessed by the ferocious urge to lean forward and kiss that beautiful pout.
Instead, I rose and stripped off my shirt.
“What are you doing?” Rosie sounded panicked.
“Don’t worry. My shorts are staying on. I’ve got an idea.”
I offered her my hand and pulled her to a standing position then guided her into the back corner of the shower.
“Hold onto the walls here for just a sec, okay? I’m going to move the bench under the spray. You can shower sitting down.”
Dragging the heavy bench under the showerheads, I went back and led Rosie to it, helping her to sit carefully on it again. I set the washcloth and shower gel and shampoo beside her on the bench.
“I’ll stand behind you,” I promised. “And I won’t look. I’ll just be here in case you need me.”
