Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
B lue lay on the bed, legs tangled with Christian’s, lazily running her fingers over his chest. The muscles were addictive, truly. As could be the sex. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d called what had just passed between them epic, she had never been that aroused, that out of herself, yet so completely aware of every molecule in her body.
Amazing. Plain and simple.
Now she just wanted to yawn and laze on the bed like a satiated cat, but somehow she already knew that she had about thirty seconds before Christian started talking. He was a verbal guy, something she wasn’t really used to, but found she liked. There was something about his constant chatter that made her feel like he was a genuinely well-adjusted guy happy with his life.
What a concept.
“You know, if you’re really, really nice to me I won’t make you wear the antlers,” he said.
“Well, forget it then. I’ll wear the antlers.” Blue grinned as she nuzzled closer to him.
He chuckled softly. “Then you don’t want me to fuck you again in a little while? Because that’s what I meant by being really nice to me. Letting me touch and taste and pleasure you all over again. You deserve it after your no-good terrible day.”
Christian had a way of taking her standard sarcasm and turning it so that she didn’t immediately have a quippy response. She had expected him to make a crack about getting him a drink or the chips and not only hadn’t he done that, he’d referenced pleasuring her. She could honestly say never in her entire life had a man say anything like that to her. But it seemed . . . natural. Sexy. Endlessly appealing.
That thing was happening again.
That weird swelling bubbly kind of feeling in her chest, like indigestion, but in a good way.
“Oh, hell yeah,” she said, without an ounce of cool. “I definitely want to do that again later.”
“Good.” He kissed the top of her head and shifted on the bed. “God, I’m starving. I need to eat something. You want a drink, gorgeous?”
“Sure.” Blue leaned down and pulled on her bikini bottoms. For some reason, lounging topless was totally acceptable, but having a margarita on top of the bedspread totally naked was too much for her.
Christian didn’t seem to have the same reservations. He strolled around the room completely bare-assed, which was fine by her, because it was a damn good ass.
While he dug his hand into the Doritos bag and helped himself to a fistful, he said, “I wonder if there’s an ice machine? These margaritas would taste better with ice. I should look.”
“You should probably get dressed first,” Blue said, rolling onto her side and propping her head up with her hand.
He made a face at her mock innocent tone. “It’s a good thing I have you around, otherwise I’d be strolling outside into a blizzard naked.”
Blue laughed. “You should try sarcasm more often. That was pretty good.”
“Why, thank you.” Retrieving their cups from the nightstand, he poured more liquor into them, followed by the mixer. Then taking the two bottles he opened the motel room door and plunked them down out in the snowdrift that had accumulated outside. “That will cool them down for later.”
Giving an involuntary yelp as the cold air wafted over her, Blue grabbed a bed pillow and plunked it down over her mostly naked body. “Are you crazy? Close the door! It’s cold and you’re naked! Someone will see you!”
He turned his head and shrugged. “Who the hell is going to see me? There is no one else here, Roy is asleep I’m sure, and there isn’t a single car out on the road. Besides, you said this room was too hot.”
All of which made total sense. “Nothing phases you, does it? You’re just chill all the time. That kind of freaks me out.”
Christian cocked a brow and slammed his fists together to crack all his knuckles. “It freaks me out that that freaks you out.”
“So we’re just a couple of freaks?”
“Seems that way.”
“Are you going to close the door?”
“Eventually. After I’ve proved my point that no one will ever see me?—”
Christian’s words cut off and he started laughing.
“What?” Blue sat up and tried to look out the open door. Not that she wanted to get too close to it. It was damn cold and the wind was howling, kicking up snow. Christian actually had snowflakes on his feet.
“Someone just drove past. A female cop. She waved.” With that, he shut the door. “That was funny.”
“You’re lucky she didn’t ticket you for indecent exposure.”
He just shrugged, rubbing his arms. “Man, it’s cold out there.”
Really? Men could be just totally baffling. Blue balled up his T-shirt and threw it at him. “No kidding, Einstein.”
Catching the shirt, he said, “I’m not going to wear a shirt with no pants. That would really toss me into the pervert-at-the-door category. Besides, it’s just hard to feel sexy with a shirt on and no boxers.”
“Then put on your boxers,” she drawled. “That seems a little obvious.”
He did step into his boxer briefs then took a swig of his drink. “I’m too sexy for my shirt.” Then he did an impromptu strut, a sort of macho frat boy version of the catwalk, swinging his T-shirt.
Blue didn’t want to laugh. She really didn’t. But by the second pass when he had stuck his hand out and switched to singing some made up song about his general sexiness, she totally lost it.
“Oh, my God, you’re ridiculous.” She was laughing so hard it hurt, especially when he morphed into doing the sprinkler dance move, then did some hip thrusting in his boxers. “Stop.”
He did, then pulled an innocent expression. “Stop what?” He handed over her drink and took another sip of his. “Want any of this food?”
“Sure. Bring the chips to bed and we can get under the covers since this room is, ahem, freezing now from having the door open for what felt like twenty minutes. Maybe there’s something on TV we can watch.”
They settled back into bed, Christian propped up against the headboard, pulling her against him. It was a nice position, all that warm naked man chest behind her, strong enough and broad enough that she just felt relaxed, not like she was crushing the life out of him.
“The temperature’s just right in here,” he told her in a teasing voice as he started channel surfing.
“Uh-huh.” Actually it was, but she wasn’t going to admit it.
“Cool. It’s a Wonderful Life is on.” Christian set down the remote on the bed.
Blue sat up and turned to search his face. “Are you serious? I am not watching this schmaltzy crap.”
“Of course I’m serious. This is a great flick. I mean, the dude changes his life and gets a grip on what really matters.”
“That never happens in real life.”
The minute the words were out of her mouth, Blue wanted to retrieve them with a fish hook. Damn it. Now he was going to psychoanalyze her. Or worse, not even care that she’d said something so boo-hiss.
But all he said was, “Sure it does. Happens all the time. And the point of the movie is not to make a totally lost soul find himself, but to remind people who are mostly doing it right to keep on doing it right.”
Blue folded her arms over her bare chest as she frowned at the TV, leaning on his chest. “I still don’t want to watch it.”
“Fine. But if Charlie Brown's Christmas is on we’re watching it.”
“You do realize that all those Christmas specials are horrible? I mean, something awful happens in every single one. The island of misfit toys, Charlie Brown’s pathetic little tree, Cindy Lou Who watching the Grinch steal all her presents, Frosty melting . . . they’re depressing.”
“They all have happy endings.”
Blue snorted. “Yeah, after everything sucked, anything even remotely okay seems brilliant.”
“You’ve put a lot of thought into it.”
Blue picked up the remote, but somehow found herself not pushing the buttons, just staring blankly at Jimmy Stewart. “So have you, obviously.”
Christian brushed her hair off her shoulder.
She shrugged.
“Was Christmas really that awful for you?” he asked in a soft voice that made her shoulders stiffen.
Her throat felt tight and she wanted to laugh it off, blow him off, deflect the question with wit or sarcasm. But she couldn’t. She nodded. “Yeah. For most kids, aside from the religious aspect, Christmas was about them. For me, it was like the one day that made it really, really clear that I was an afterthought in my parents’ lives.”
She was glad he was behind her so he couldn’t see her face. She knew she didn’t mask her emotions well and she was feeling really vulnerable. But at the same time, she was actually relieved she’d spoken the truth. She had never admitted that out loud to anyone in her entire life and she instinctively knew that she could trust Christian with something so personal. Maybe it was even easier because she’d just met him. She didn’t know exactly what it was about him that instilled such confidence, but her heart did pound a little faster than normal as she waited for his response.
He kissed the top of her head. She’d never really had a man do that, and Christian had already done it more than once. It made her feel . . . protected.
“I’m sorry, Blue,” he said, brushing his lips across her temple. “That’s a raw deal and you deserved better than that.”
She turned her head slightly, trying to see his expression. “You’re not going to tell me that I’m whining? To suck it up. That everyone’s family is dysfunctional and I should get over it?”
“Of course not. Those things hurt when you’re a kid and you carry it with you to adulthood. What was Christmas at your house like? Describe a typical day.”
Blue chewed her lip and leaned forward a little so she could see him. “Are you sure you want to listen to all this? It’s not like I was actually abused or anything.”
But he just nodded. “Yes, I want to hear it. Get it out. Rant if you want. You’re entitled to your feelings.”
She hesitated, but then she leaned back against his chest and played with the edge of the bedsheet. “Well. My dad only saw me a few times a year, and he never wanted me for Christmas. He always went skiing. Sometimes he would send me a present, sometimes he would forget altogether, and most years I got a five dollar bill in the mail. Which, let me tell you, five bucks didn’t go very far even twenty years ago, and it’s not like my dad was hurting for cash. But it wasn’t the dollar amount, it was like I said, being an afterthought. He’d never even call.”
Christian laced his fingers through hers and squeezed.
“My mother was all into social justice and charity, which was great. I mean, I think it’s awesome that she’s dedicated her life to helping others, but when you’re six and your friends are all getting Barbies, being told your mother donated money in your name to the Red Cross just makes you resentful. She’d lecture me about starvation in Africa and I’d just wonder why it was me who had to give up toys so they could eat when no one else had to. It wasn’t like my mom gave up buying clothes or spending a ton of money on airfare to exotic locales or on her yoga classes. She was, and is, a hypocrite. Which makes me feel terrible saying out loud, but it’s true.”
“So she didn’t give you presents at all?”
His voice sounded so appalled, Blue instantly felt better.
“Not unless you count hemp mittens as a legit Christmas gift.”
“That’s it? That’s all you got?”
“One year, yeah. Some years I got nada. Or the time when I was twelve that I got a handwritten note from all about all the ways I had let her down the previous year and how I could improve myself spiritually.”
Christian’s jaw dropped. “What the fuck ?”
“We didn’t have a Christmas tree either. Environmentally unsound, obviously. Like the gas-guzzling SUV she drove.”
“That is fucking horrible.”
Christian’s vehemence amused her. “So now you know why I don’t dig Christmas. It was something everyone else had and I envied them at first, then just resented the holiday altogether. For other kids, it was the best day of the year. For me, it was...lonely.”
“That sucks. And your parents should be ashamed of themselves. They were both selfish. And your mother has wonderful ideals in theory but she did you wrong. I bet my ass when she was six she wanted a damn Barbie too. She expected you to be a mini-adult and that was cruel. And she was a hypocrite and you’re allowed to say that out loud if it’s true. Which it clearly was. Is.”
Hearing someone else say the things Blue had always felt lifted a gigantic weight off of her shoulders. She’d always felt like she was the one lacking, like she was horrible and petty to feel the way she had as a kid, when she knew in her heart her feelings were legitimate. And somehow, having spoken them out loud and having them validated by Christian, she felt decidedly less bitter.
“Thanks,” she said softly, turning and giving him a kiss. “I appreciate that.”
“Did you ever get a good gift? Anything at all?”
She didn’t even hesitate on that one. “Yes. Just once. I was eight, and my dad had been to New York for Thanksgiving and he bought me a glass snow globe. He gave it to me for Christmas, and it was even wrapped and everything. And I loved it...it was like magic. You shook it and the beautiful little flakes danced around the high rise buildings. They had wreaths on them for Christmas and I imagined that in a big city like that, with all those people, you would walk down the sidewalk in the snow and never feel lonely ever...”
The image of the cityscape dissipated in her mind and Blue cleared her throat, wondering what the hell she was doing. She was just going to shut up now.
“Have you been to New York?”
“No.” Because what if she walked down the sidewalk in the snow at Christmas time and still felt lonely? She didn’t want to ruin the magic, the hope.
“You should...it would be like embracing Christmas, hope, a different life for yourself than what your parents created.”
Or be crushed. One or the other. It freaked her out that he had used the word hope as well, that he could somehow pinpoint her emotions, that he hadn’t just shut this whole conversation down with an ill-timed joke five minutes ago.
She didn’t know how to deal with him, with any of this, so she just said, “You’re quite the philosopher, you know that? Not what I expected.”
“Nah. Just a guy who is content and wants amazing people he knows to feel the same way. And you have a choice now, you know. You can keep Christmas as a time of year that makes you unhappy, or you can decide to let it in and make some of your own traditions.”
“Like margaritas in bed in a cheap motel?” she said, mustering up a sassy smirk. This was all too raw. She needed to retreat.
Part of her figured he would argue or sigh that she was ditching the serious tone of the conversation. But he didn’t. After a second, where he searched her face with an intensity that was unnerving, he nodded.
“Exactly. Margaritas in bed on Christmas Eve. I like it.”
“Then I’ll get you another one.” Blue popped up out of bed and took their empty cups off of the nightstand. She went to pour them refills, but first she lifted the lid of her suitcase and pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants, and not because it was cold outside and she was about to open the door.
She wanted to be covered up.
C hristian watched Blue dragging on a shirt and cotton pajama pants and tried to make some sense of his complicated thoughts and emotions. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear to God he had fallen head over ass for this woman.
He liked everything about her, from the sound of her voice to the way she tilted her head, to the vulnerability she buried beneath sassiness. The way she had readily agreed to breakfast with Roy, the ancient motel owner, said a lot about her heart, and he liked her sense of humor, the way she was determined to remain aloof and always cracked.
When they left this motel, he didn’t want to never see her again.
He wanted to date Blue out in the real world and everything about that stunned and excited and scared the shit out of him. Never having had this instantaneous response to a woman, he had no freaking clue what to do with it.
So he tossed back the bedding and got out of bed. The one thing he could do was brave the cold himself instead of having her do it. “No, Blue, I’ll get the bottles. I’m the one who stuck them out there. And you’re a freeze baby, while I’m clearly not.”
“A freeze baby?” She stopped with her hand on the doorknob and smiled at him in amusement. “I’ve never heard that expression before.”
“Where the hell have you been hiding?” Christian didn’t bother to put his shirt on, and he was already wearing his boxers. Good enough. Two seconds of cold wasn’t going to kill him. A glance behind the curtain of the window to the parking lot showed it had actually stopped snowing. “Stand back, miss,” he joked in a country drawl. “This is man’s work.”
The eye roll from her was expected, but she did back up and ripped open a pack of peanuts on the table.
“I do have one Christmas tradition,” she said unexpectedly.
“Yeah?” He threw open the door and waited for her to elaborate as he grabbed the tequila and the mixer, ignoring the biting wind that cut into his flesh. He couldn’t exactly complain that the cold hurt after pulling the tough guy act.
“Before the big Christmas party at the nursing home, I go and do the ladies’ hair for free.”
Christian paused, half bent over, touched beyond belief, and forgetting all about the icy chill seeping into his feet. God, he was falling hard for Blue. Crazy, out of control, illogical, wanted to write a goddamn love poem falling for this gorgeous woman.
“I mean, it’s not a big deal, it’s just they like to feel good about themselves when their families show up for the party and I...I like to talk to them. They’re very sweet.”
He could almost hear the blush on her and as he stood up, Christian turned slowly with the bottles in his hands. “I think that tradition rocks, Blue.”
She put her hands on her hips and she nodded in conviction. “You know what? It does. It totally does.”
Christian kicked the door closed with his foot. “You rock.”
She took the tequila out of his hands and grinned. “I do, don’t I?”
It was that moment that he lost himself in a haze of tequila, lust, off the chart attraction, and the spirit of Christmas giving.
Plunking the mixer down on the table, Christian grabbed Blue and kissed her, a wild, tongue plunging sweep of domination and desperation, wanting to show her how completely awesome he thought she was and how she rocked all right. She’d rocked his world to the very foundation in one night.
Christian lifted Blue right off her feet, his hands on her ass as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Yes,” he managed between kisses, the feel of her body so close to his electrifying. “You definitely rock.”
“You're really strong,” she murmured between kisses.
Christian ground her hips against his and breathed in the fresh scent of her skin. “You’re tiny, it’s not hard to hold you. And I’m hopped up on adrenaline. I could probably lift a car right now.”
Or have sex again after not much of a break to refuel.
That definitely wasn’t going to be a problem. His erection was knocking on her door already and he turned and sat on the edge of the bed, Blue still in his lap.
They kissed each other with a wild abandon, her nails digging into his back, his fingers tangling in her dark hair. Christian yanked up her T-shirt to her armpits and covered her breast with his mouth, tugging at the taut nipple.
How he was so frantic after they’d already had sex, he had no idea, but he was. Nothing made sense about the fact that every inch of his body was desperate, compelled, irrational to be against Blue, to possess her, claim her, fill her.
“Get on your knees,” he urged her, skimming his palms down into the waistband of her pajama pants.
“What?” she asked breathlessly, her head lolling back, nipples displayed invitingly in front of him.
“On your knees. Now.” The tone was rougher than he intended but he wasn’t going to wait.
She did, her eyes hooded, lips cherry red and glistening from his kisses.
When he yanked her bottoms down, panties included, she gasped.
A little determination and some hard tugs had them off both ankles and Christian freed his erection from his boxer briefs and shoved on a condom right before she settled her thighs on either side of his. Her warm flesh collided with him.
He was willing to say the hell with foreplay and just slam her down onto him, but Blue took his cock in her hand and slowly stroked it. It was Christian’s turn to groan, and he dug his fingers into her hips. She moved her lithe touch over him up and down, a feathery tease of a touch, her lips brushing against his neck in a similar barely there contact.
That was only damaging his control, but when she took him and slid him up and down in her wetness, using the tip of his cock to stimulate her clit, he was almost destroyed. “Oh, damn,” he said, teeth gritted, grip on her so tight that he could see the whiteness of his fingers. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“You know what I’m doing,” she whispered in his ear, her tongue flickering out to lick his lobe. “I’m getting off with your cock.”
Oh, yeah, he definitely knew that’s what she was doing. Christian tried to breathe, realizing she had turned the tease around on him. This was torture.
“You like that, don’t you?” he asked her, enjoying each slick slide up and down her, almost being allowed access to push into her, then being denied as she pulled him back up again. Definitely torture.
“Uh-huh.” Blue’s breath came in short staccato bursts and she was concentrating intently, her free hand on his shoulder to brace herself.
He realized she was actually going to be able to come and he stared at her in fascination, amazed that she was so gorgeous, so sensual, so in tune with her own body.
“That’s it,” he told her. “Take it, take what you want.”
She did. She moved him into position and let her hips drop so that he filled her in one motion.
Christian exhaled sharply, his grip on her waist brutal. It was a tantalizing position, her body resting on his, her breasts teasingly close, her hands on his shoulders, her hair falling in her face as she leaned forward and kissed him.
He knew she couldn’t really get the leverage to set the rhythm like this, so he did, pumping his hips so that he went deep inside her. The way she enclosed him, her slick sweetness stroking at his cock, was insanely good.
Obviously she felt the same way, because he was barely in her and Blue was coming, her lips parted, eyes wide in shocked ecstasy, her orgasm the result of all that teasing she had done with his cock. It had the same reaction on him. Christian gave one last thrust then gave in and exploded with her.
Being there together increased his intensity, both of them shuddering and pulsating together, sexy and intimate and exciting.
They stared at each other, gazes locked, and Christian saw something in Blue’s eyes that he knew was in his, a hope, a surprise, a depth of emotion that was illogical but was there.
He wanted to say something brilliant and poetic that would sweep her off her feet and make her certain that she wanted to be with him.
But he didn’t have those words, didn’t know how to be that guy.
So he just said, “I’m having a Blue Christmas and damn, it’s good.”
She laughed softly. “Don’t start singing.”
He cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her slowly, savoring the taste of her. “No singing, I promise.”
Blue gave a satisfied sigh and extracted herself from him, untangling her legs from his and crawling up the bed.
“Where are you going?” Christian couldn’t resist running his hand over her bare ass since it was presented so enticingly in front of him.
“To lay down under the covers. You wore me out.”
He grinned. “You did do a lot of work this time, all that using my?—”
She cut him off with a fake prim expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And if you don’t stop, I’m not going to let you cuddle with me.”
“Oh, cuddling was on the table?” He’d already figured out Blue wasn’t much of a cuddler, so if she was offering, he was going to take it. Hopefully he could convince her to sleep naked too. “Then I’m on it. I’ll shut up.”
He could move fast when he wanted to and he was up next to her, settled under the covers, in a blink. Hauling her onto his chest, he sighed in contentment. “Don’t let me fall asleep.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” she murmured, her own voice lazy and slumberous.
“Talk to me.”
But she didn’t, just gave a yawn, her fingers tracing a pattern over his chest in a soothing manner that had Christian’s eyes drifting closed.
He fell asleep in less than two minutes, comfortable and content with Blue in his arms.
B lue woke up warm and cozy, momentarily disoriented as to why her bed was so comfortable and the bedding so soft on her skin, until she remembered she was in a motel room with Christian. Sometime during the night she had slid off of him, just her leg still over his, her hand on his chest. His naked, very hard chest.
The muscles were nice. She was amazed at how nice they really were.
And how nice Christian was.
So nice it scared her. She was waiting for the minute it turned and his asshole nature finally revealed itself. For the moment when he proved he was as selfish as the next person.
His hand covered hers and he yawned. “Merry Christmas, Blue.”
Her heart squeezed in a way she both liked and was terrified by. His voice was scratchy and still sleepy.
“Merry Christmas,” she managed, even though she had the sudden urge to bolt out of bed, get dressed, and run as far from him as she possibly could.
This man had the power to hurt her when he finally disappointed her and that was scarier than any snowstorm.
“Mmm,” he said, turning and kissing her forehead. “I would give anything for bacon and eggs and some big old pancakes.”
“Maybe Roy can hook you up.”
“Maybe. But that would mean I have to get up and I’m comfortable just lying here forever.”
She was too, which was precisely what had her unfurling herself from him and throwing back the covers.
“Ahh,” Christian said. “It’s cold out there. Where are you going?”
“The bathroom.” Without looking at him, knowing if she did, she might just embarrass herself and wrap her arms around him, or worse, get weepy, Blue picked up her discarded pajama pants and pulled them on, along with her T-shirt.
A peek out the window showed that it had stopped snowing and it looked like the plow had made at least one pass on the main road, though the parking lot was buried. With any luck, she could get a tow arranged and then...do what?
She wasn’t sure. Getting a rental car on Christmas was bound to be dicey, but if Christian could take her to the airport in Lexington, she would have options. Fly south, rent a car, get a hotel. She could do something.
Which would be better than staying here feeling like she might hyperventilate from emotions she didn’t altogether understand.
Rummaging through her suitcase, she found a pair of jeans and the only shirt she’d packed that had sleeves. Along with undergarments and her toiletries bag, she headed for the bathroom to take a shower. Well aware of Christian’s eyes following her, she didn’t dare look at him.
“Is there a fire?” he asked.
Yes. “What do you mean?” she asked nonchalantly.
“What’s the hurry? I doubt we’re going to be able to find a tow truck this morning and the longer we linger, the easier our drive to Lexington will be. Give them time to clear the roads. We don’t even know if the highway has been reopened.”
“Well, we’re not going to know if we stay in bed, are we?”
She dared a glance at him and he was sitting up, studying her carefully. “Is something wrong?”
“No, of course not. I just can’t fix the problem and get to Miami if I don’t get out of bed.”
He threw back the covers and revealed his naked body, his cock partially hard in what she hoped was just a sleep erection. She couldn’t handle another round of amazing sex without saying something stupid or needy or vulnerable. She’d already blathered on too much last night, telling him about her family.
“What are you doing?” she asked, fighting the urge to back up. That much muscular man was more than she could resist if he came on to her.
“I’m getting out of bed so we can see what’s going on out there. Fix the problem. Get you out of here.”
He didn’t sound belligerent or upset. He looked calm, like he always did. But there was something in his expression that told her he wasn’t entirely pleased with the situation. Neither was she.
“I figure at least if I miss the cruise I can hang out for a few days in the sunshine, right?” Not that she could afford either a plane ticket to Miami or a hotel, but that’s what a credit card was for. She just couldn’t face driving back to Cincinnati in a rental car and spending the night alone in her empty apartment.
“Or you could spend the night in Lexington with me. Have dinner with my family. Then tomorrow you can go to Miami. You don’t want to spend Christmas at the airport.”
No, she didn’t. But it didn’t matter. Why should Christmas be any different now than it had been her whole life? Part of her wanted to say yes, she’d love to spend the night with Christian and his family, but it would be like playing house. He wasn’t hers and his family was going to think it was weird as hell for her to be there.
And she didn’t think she could sit there in that kind of family togetherness knowing she wasn’t part of it, knowing that she didn’t belong. “I seriously doubt your family wants a total stranger invading their Christmas.”
He scoffed, standing up. “Please. They’re always telling me to bring someone, and there are so many people there, one more will hardly be noticed.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
There was a long pause where he stared at her so intently she wanted to squirm, but she stood her ground, head up.
Then he just said, “Alright.”
Part of her was relieved. Part of her was disappointed. Maybe in some way she had wanted him to try a little harder to coax her. Not that there was anything fair about that. He had offered, it had been a generous offer, and she had refused. Why would he twist her arm?
Because he wanted to be with her, that’s why. That’s what she wanted him to say. But that was a stupid expectation. Christian had a family to go to and he had just met her.
Blue beat a path to the bathroom before she rid anything else and before he offered to join her in the shower. Any more intimacy would undo her.
She locked the door and turned on the water. She would shower alone. Be alone.
Just like she was every day.