“Josie, I’m disappointed in your bedside manner. That’s usually your strength.”
“We’re not at the hospital, Houston, and you’re not a sweet little old lady.”
He went for another bite of the crab, the fingers of his left hand rolling the piece around the plate first before pinching it. “No, not exactly.”
She sighed, feeling like she was going to really regret coming to his condo in the first place. Her determination was no match for the complex and alluring Houston Hayes. “So what do you want?”
“No enthusiasm there, Josie. Now I feel like I have to beg for it.” He was enjoying this altogether too much.
“Of course you don’t have to beg.”
“Okay.” He rolled his shoulders. “After we’re done eating, could you give me a massage? Because of my leg. I’m sleeping onmy back, which I never do, and now my neck and shoulders are killing me.”
Josie swallowed hard. Oh, sure, she could slather her hands all over his bare skin, no problem. She wouldn’t even need to use lotion because her drool would be puddling down his back.
“Sure thing,” she said in a squeaky voice normally only used by animated mice.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Houston chewed his crab, feeling quite a bit better than he had before Josie had shown up. He’d spent the day reading, watching TV, and trying to ignore his bundled and nearly numb hand. Which was impossible since almost everything he did involved the use of his right hand. He couldn’t even take a leak without switching his methods of unzip-and-lift to his left hand.
But Josie was a nice, healthy, sexy little distraction. And if she thought she was going to show up here day after day and they were going to be platonic friends, she was naive and kidding herself.
All the reasons to either ignore Josie or stay just casual coworkers still applied, but he no longer cared. Right now his life was a wreck, his career hanging by a repaired tendon, and at the very least he was going to allow himself to indulge in a juicy passionate affair with Josie Adkins. He already knew how explosive they could be together.
Exhausting himself with pleasure a couple nights a week might distract him from his so-called recovery and the inevitable day when he had to peel his splint off and see if his damaged hand worked.
But if Josie was going to insist on a no-touching rule, well, hewas up for the challenge. He’d give it three days before she was agreeing with him that it would be much more fun to nurse him back to health naked.
Josie cast him a suspicious look and adjusted herself in the chair. “So I heard your sister wasn’t so thrilled with changing your bandage.”
That was an understatement. Kori had gone ashy gray under her tan. “My sister always was a huge wimp. It was easy to tease her with bugs and blood when we were kids.”
Not that he had done that a lot. He had always felt more protective of Kori than annoyed by her. He’d spent a lot of time reading to her and playing games with her to distract her from their parents’ fighting. Or rather from their father screaming at their mother in a rage while she pleaded with him to be reasonable.
“So who changed your dressing today?”
“Me.” In a painful and sloppy job that had taken a solid thirty minutes.
Josie sat next to him, fiddling with her food, and she did it again. Gave him one of those tender looks that meant she felt sorry for him and wanted to cosset him. Wrap him up in a blanket and spoon-feed him soup.
“I can do it for you next time.”
“I got it, don’t worry about it.” He didn’t need help, didn’t want help. He’d struggle through everything on his own, avoiding shirts with buttons and eating with his left hand like an ogre if he had to, just so he wouldn’t have the humiliation of having to depend on someone.
He didn’t want to be weak, to need to be taken care of, and the pleasure of the moment before dissolved. Pushing back his chair he stood up. Refusing to wince, he limped to refill his glass of water.
Holding it under the water flow on the refrigerator door, he balanced on his good leg. “So what else did I say when I was drugged up by you?”
Josie gave an indignant snort. “You weren’t drugged up. I gaveyou what I would have given any patient. But let’s see, you said I was pretty, and that you love my hair.”
Houston took a sip of his water and felt something that could be a goddamn blush rushing up his neck. He did kind of have a thing about her wispy and adorable hair. Had enjoyed the way it brushed against his gut when she had sucked him, but hell, he hadn’t meant to tell her that.
“And you called me, if I remember correctly, an absolute goddess.”
His head snapped up, mortification catching him in its grip and leaving him jaw open, speechless. Josie licked butter off her fingers and laughed.
“I’m kidding. I made the last one up.”