Page 51 of Shape Of My Heart
“Yes. I never took you for the poetryreadingtype.”
“My sister could tame the inner beast.” He nodded then glanced down at the book for asecond.
“How was yesterday?” she asked tentatively. She’d worried that being at the cemetery would wear him downagain.
He nodded. “It wasn’t terrible. I talked. I tried to talk to them as if they were still here. And I realized that as long as I remember them they’ll neverleaveme.”
That was beautiful, and she was happyforhim.
“They won’t.” She nodded withreassurance.
“Thanks for being there the other night, and well…for stillbeinghere.”
“You’re welcome. How are youfeeling?”
“I’m sober.” He smiled. “This is my second day without a drink. My hands are shaking, but other than that I think I’llbefine.”
She looked at his hands and noticed a slight tremor as he held them out. She’d heard that shakes were a bad withdrawal symptom when you stopped drinking. She hoped he wouldn’t experience it worse than whatshesaw.
“I may be able to relax you a little.” She beamedathim.
“What do you plan to do?” There was a saucy glint in his eyes that made her nervesscatter.
“Give you a neck rub.” She gave excellentmassages.
He frowned. “Justmyneck?”
She giggled. “I can do a shouldermassage,too.”
“Come on, then, princess, don’t keep me insuspense.”
She moved over to him and went behind him so she could place her hands on his shoulders. The muscles on his neck were equally as firm as his chest. She’d never known anyone with such sharp muscle definition. In New York, she’d seen male models do their photo shoots, but he wasn’t a male model he was an athlete. The muscles were different. And he was verytense.
“You have to relax,” she told him as she tried to work her fingers through hismuscles.
“I don’t know if I can, this feels awfully kinky to me.” He looked up and gave her a cheeky smile as she pressed into hisshoulders.
“Josh, it’s a shoulder massage. How can that feelkinky?”
“It just does. Are you sure this isn’t something we should continue upstairs in a nicesilkybed?”
“Josh.” She smacked his shoulder playfully and he caughtherhand.
“What? I can’t help who I am. Besides, I don’t want Hilda coming in and getting thewrongidea.”
She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him through narrowed eyes. “That makes no sense. Wouldn’t being in bed upstairs give her thewrongidea?”
“No, because if we were in bed upstairs there would be no guessing as to what we’d be doing. If she see’s us like this she’ll just wonder, but never be quite certain if something’s going on between us.” Trust him to say that. She didn’t know how he came up with thesereasonings.
“But there isn’t anything going onbetweenus.”
“Isn’t there?” He raised hisbrows.
She guessed kissing him on the beach tended to negate that statement, and so did not wantingtostop.
Or, thinking about kissinghimnow.
She didn’t know what kind of charm he’d worked on her to completely bamboozle her, but it worked and she needed to get it out of hersystem.
