Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
The shower should’ve been the reset. That was the point. Steam rising, sweat rinsing down the drain, the ache in her muscles easing under the heat. She stood under the stream longer than necessary, letting the water beat against her collarbone, her shoulders, the nape of her neck.
But the thoughts didn’t wash away with everything else.
Delilah’s arms around her. The smell of her. Sweat and sunblock and something underneath that Cassie couldn’t identify. Something sweet.
She closed her eyes. Pressed her forehead to the tile. Stupid. It had been a thank-you hug. That was all. She’d helped, and Delilah was grateful. It didn’t mean anything.
Cassie reached for the soap, then changed her mind. Her hand drifted lower. She tried not to picture anything.
As she crept closer to the peak of it, the lie fell away. Her mind was full of Delilah. The arch of her back in clumsy mid-swing. The sound she made when she missed a shot. Her face when the phone call came. And the hug.
When it was over, Cassie stood there in the steam, braced against the tiles. What the hell was she doing?
Delilah was a client, and Cassie had rules. Boundaries. A very good, very long-standing sense of self-control.
She turned off the shower abruptly and stepped out. God, if Delilah knew…
Cassie didn’t want this. Or maybe she did. And that was worse.