I wasn’t sure how long I’d been soaking, but two small taps at the bathroom door made me turn my head. When I pulled myself up, water sloshed against the side of the tub. “You can come in.” My voice was husky in a way that might have been sexy, were it not for all the phlegm.
He stepped into the room, holding up a plastic bag. “I guessed you didn’t pack a lot of lounging clothes, so I picked these up for you, too.” He set the bag on the counter by the sink. “When you’re ready, I got all kinds of medicine.”
“Thank you.” I smiled, slipping back into the water, momentarily submerging all but my head. Where did I find this guy?
When I walked out, he flicked his eyes up from the bed where he was reading something on his phone and smiled. “Beautiful.”
I’d pulled on the clothes he bought—a T-shirt that was a few sizes too large and a pair of sweatpants sporting the Cincinnati football team’s logo. I’d piled my hair on top of my head, and my makeup was scrubbed away. “You’re—” I paused to blow my nose with a tissue I grabbed from the nightstand. “You’re clearly lying.”
“Never.” He flicked his gaze down to my baggy clothes. “Sorry. That’s the best I could do at the drugstore.”
“They’re comfy. Thank you.” I glanced at the desk and brought my hand to my mouth in surprise. Neatly arranged atop it was half a pharmacy.
“I didn’t know what brands you preferred, so I picked up a few different cold and flu treatments, plus some cough syrup . . .” he trailed off. Rising, he slid his hands up and down my arms and then rubbed small circles on my shoulders. The pressure and warmth of him was its own kind of medicine, and his chest was solid against my back.
“This is too much, especially since I am ruining your weekend.” I popped out two gel caps from a package of cold and sinus relief medicine. “And because you might end up on a watch list for meth chemists after buying all of this.”
“You’re not ruining my weekend.” He faced me. “I planned to spend time with you, which I’m doing.”
“Yes, but we planned to be naked and sweaty all weekend.”
He pressed the back of his hand gently to my cheek. “True, but the naked and sweaty was secondary.” His eyes were soft as he brushed my face, tucking a curl that had escaped my messy ponytail behind my ear. Jake slid the side of his thumb along my lower lip at a glacial pace.
“I don’t want to get you sick.”
“Nothing risked, nothing gained.” The kiss was chaste before he pulled back. He held me, and my heart thundered, my body in tune with his and hyperaware of the weight of his hands and the stretch of his fingers.
“I have one more thing.” He stepped back and picked up his laptop from the bed. I sank onto the duvet as he fiddled with his keyboard. I tucked my legs to my chest and shivered, after a chill raced through me.
Jake held up the screen, the browser open to a familiar movie streaming site. I cocked my head to the side and chuckled. The cover images for the original Star Wars trilogy filled the window.
I winced against the ache in my shoulders and the lightness in my head, but my heart swelled at the thoughtful gesture. I snuggled into the pillows as he started the first movie before kicking off his shoes and stretching out beside me on the bed.
“How do you feel?” He glanced down at me as the movie began.
My head was fuzzy, and heat rose on my cheeks. “Guilty.”
He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Instead, pausing the movie and setting the laptop aside, he pulled his wine-colored sweater and undershirt over his head, revealing the light smattering of hair across his chest and the thin trail down his firm stomach.
He moved down the bed to tug at my oversize sweatpants, the thick fabric slipping down my legs under his grip.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re getting naked so you can stop feeling guilty.” Jake grinned and tossed the sweatpants on the floor next to his sweater, reaching to pull the blanket up over my bare legs.
“This would be so erotic if I wasn’t struggling to breathe and keep my eyes open.” My breath hitched as he tucked the blanket around my legs.
Returning to my side, Jake stretched his arm behind me, gently pulling me to him. “Now, c’mon, woman, I’ve waited almost thirty years to see these movies.”
I love you.
It popped into my head out of nowhere, and I bit back the words, if not the feeling. Where the hell did that come from? It was the cold medicine taking effect, of course. It was his body, which I was so drawn to, even in my drugged and achy condition. It was me clinging to something when my job was unsteady, and Davis’s presence was a snake slithering back into my life. It was my inexperienced heart playing tricks on my mind.