Chapter 9 #2
Her eyes flew open at that low, already extremely familiar voice. Sure enough, standing there amid the rising steam of her shower, looking quite pleased with himself, was one hotshot firefighter Griffin Moore.
Far too at ease, he leaned back against the door and let out a slow smile. “Maybe I should just come in closer and take a peek at those roots.”
Her heart had kicked into gear at just the sound of him, but she managed to sound bored. “Sure. Come on in and get a closer peek. In fact, peek all you want, Mr. All-Talk-And-No-Go.”
An eyebrow lifted as he studied her. He wore another pair of wildland firefighter trousers and a plain white T-shirt with a firefighter logo over his left pec. And a nice pec it was. Either he’d gotten more sleep than she had in spite of checking on the fire, or he managed to hide it well.
She lifted one eyebrow right back at him, then nearly swallowed her tongue when he pushed away from the wood and started walking toward her.
“Hey!” She lifted a soapy arm and pointed it at him. “You’re not supposed to take that dare.”
“If you knew me a little better, you’d know I take all dares.”
“Great time for you to open up and tell me such a thing.”
He was still walking toward her, with his long legs and tough, rangy body, and determined, intense expression. His eyes glittered with intent, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. Exactly what kind of intent did he have, and why-oh-why did it make her body hum?
“Okay, stop!” She wanted to wince at how shaky she sounded, how breathless. “Stop right there, Ace.”
Halfway between the door and the shower, and only about two feet from her, he did.
The air seemed to crackle around them, as it had on several occasions now. Griffin smiled, just a little one, with a good amount of wickedness in it as the steam swirled around his head. “What’s the matter?” he asked softly.
“I didn’t expect you to really have the cojones to come in closer for a peek,” she had to admit. “Not after last night at the creek.”
“Surprise.”
“I hate surprises.” She knew he couldn’t see anything, at least not yet, but her entire body was doing the strangest thing in reaction to his invasion.
It was melting. Nipples tight, thighs quivering, stomach dancing, the whole deal. Apparently, it’d been too long. “Okay, show’s over. You can get out now.”
“Funny thing about bathing around here. No privacy. Take, for example, when I was taking my bath.” He said this in a perfectly reasonable tone, as if they were discussing what they were having for breakfast instead of her very naked body.
“In fact, you goaded me into that water, and then never took your eyes off me.”
Yeah, but he’d been something to look at.
It was what had led her to the cold creek only a little while later, needing the cool air and water to soothe her unwelcome aching and yearning.
“In case you haven’t noticed the difference between last night and today,” she said. “I’m completely bare-ass naked here.”
“If you expect that to work as a deterrent…” He let out a soft little laugh that was so incredibly sexy to her. “Think again.”
The water began to cool, a warning she knew all too well. She had less than one minute to get rinsed off and out before it went cold. “Why are you in here?” she asked desperately.
“To brush my teeth.” He brandished a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. With that wicked smile still firmly in place, he sauntered on over to the sink, which put him only a foot from her.
She hugged up close to the tile wall of the shower and glared at him.
“Oh, don’t worry. I can’t see anything you don’t want me to see,” he said all friendly-like, and turning away from her, flipped on the water.
Her water went a surge warmer, only a surge, warning her she was really on borrowed time. “I wouldn’t swallow any of that,” she warned him when he bent over the sink.
“Don’t worry.” His words were a little garbled because of the toothbrush in his mouth. “I have a stomach of iron.” He rinsed, lifted his head, and met her gaze in the reflection of the steaming mirror in front of him.
The water cooled even more.
Lyndie hugged the tile and ignored it while she watched him. She had no idea what was so sexy about him brushing his teeth. She considered herself good at reading people. The gift had come from her grandfather, who claimed he could tell the strength of a person’s soul by the look in their eyes.
Lyndie had no doubt of the strength of Griffin’s soul.
He was here. No matter the reason, he was here volunteering his time, his very life, so far from home.
She’d seen more of his character yesterday when he’d automatically, instinctively, taken over at every turn, wanting to ensure her safety, and everyone else’s, as well.
And then there’d been last night. He could have gone for it, dug into what she’d have been willing to give, but he hadn’t. And that fascinated her. Scared her, too, in a way she didn’t fully understand.
He finished rinsing and met her gaze in the mirror. “What’s going through that head of yours?” he asked.
“I’m just standing here wondering how it is I’m even here this weekend.”
He turned off the water. “Hmmm.”
“I had it off, you know. All I had to do was drop you.” She lifted a shoulder. “Drop you and go. Those were my instructions. Then I was free to fly back to San Diego.”
“And yet you stayed.”
“And yet I stayed,” she agreed, and crossed her arms on the edge of the tile so that she could rest her chin on her hands as the water beat down on her.
Cold water. And she didn’t care. “I stayed when it went against the grain.”
“Why was it against the grain to help a village you love?”
She didn’t know. She wanted everything to be black and white, and in her world she did her best to make it so. Griffin, like San Robledo, wasn’t black or white, but a terrifying mix that she couldn’t put her finger on. “Helping isn’t against the grain,” she said. “Staying is.”
He set down his toothbrush and turned to face her, and though he could have tried to get an eyeful, he kept his baby blues right on hers. “Why’s that?”
“I’m an Army brat. We never slowed down enough to settle in anywhere, much less fall in love with a place. But here…” She shrugged. “I’ve settled a little, and that’s scary.”
“Why?”
“Because once you care, you can get hurt.”
“Did someone hurt you, Lyndie?” His voice was suddenly, terrifyingly gentle.
“Not on purpose, no. But…people eventually go away.” Since that was a shocking admission, she turned away to face the water. “And I have no idea why I just told you that.”
“Because the water has gone cold and you’re freezing your brain, but of course you’re too stubborn to admit such a thing.” He reached in, his arm brushing her shoulder and back as he cranked the handle and turned off the water.
The sudden silence seemed deafening.
As he retrieved his arm, she craned her neck to meet his gaze. She felt surrounded by him and he’d barely touched her.
Oh boy, oh boy. Pulling her towel over the tile wall, she wrapped it around herself, making sure everything was covered on the body that felt startlingly, shockingly, wide awake and ready to play.
Then and only then, did she yank back the curtain and step out of the shower, standing before him, water streaming down her limbs from her hair.
His cocky, naughty smile was long gone.
She was fairly certain she herself couldn’t smile to save her life.
“Lyndie—” His voice sounded hoarse.
“I need to ask,” she whispered into the steamy room. “What your demons are that made you face that fire yesterday, when you didn’t want to, and what will make you face it again today.”
For a long moment he didn’t so much as breathe, then he slowly shook his head. “It’s complicated.” Reaching out, he ran a finger over her wet jaw. This time when he smiled it was a heartbreakingly sad one. “Very complicated.”