Gray gritted his teeth at his body’s reaction to Suzy’s intense gaze. He didn’t even think she was aware that she was staring and had been for what seemed like hours. He slowly reached out to grasp the hem of her gown to pull it up over her head and jerked her out of her dream-like trance. She averted her gaze and asked him to hand her a towel. As he lifted her gown, she put the towel in its place. It was probably just as well, he wasn’t sure he could handle being in such a confined space with her nude. He picked her up and placed her on the shower seat. “Are you ready to get started?”
“Oh, yes, hit me, baby.” Gray handed her a bar of soap and directed the water towards her chest. OK, so maybe that wasn’t the best target area. Suzy’s breasts and nipples were clearly outlined through the towel. He tried his best to avert his gaze as she soaped the parts of her body that she could reach. He shifted her to the side and tilted her head so that he could wash her hair. By this time, his heart rate had picked up considerably, and he was trying his best not to pant. Suzy had her eyes closed and had moaned in bliss a few times as he massaged the shampoo into her hair. With every moan she made, his boxers got a little tighter. There was no way he was making it through her recovery without a serious case of blue-ball. He quickly finished her hair and washed his own. When she handed him the bar of soap and asked him to wash her legs since she couldn’t reach them, he thought he’d pass out.
In probably one of the most cowardly acts of his life, he put the bar of soap down and picked up the shampoo bottle. He aimed it at her legs and squirted a stream onto both of them. He then turned the spray of water towards them and washed the shampoo off. Suzy was staring at him, her eyes blinking at him like an owl. Holding up his hand, he said, “Don’t ask. I’m only a man, baby, and not a very strong one right now.” Gray reached around and turned the water off. Suddenly, a thought almost sent him into panic. I have to pick her up, and she’s wet and naked. I’m going to embarrass myself. No sooner had Gray finished that thought than he heard a knock at the bedroom door.
“Suzy, Gray, can I help you guys with anything?”
Gray had never been more grateful to hear Beth’s voice. He told Suzy to stay put and jumped out of the shower. He stuck his head out of the bathroom door and yelled for her to give him a moment. He quickly dried off and dressed. He knew Suzy thought he’d lost his mind. He practically ran to the door and pulled Beth inside. “Perfect timing. Suzy just had a shower, and we could really use your help. Maybe you can her dry off and put a towel around her and I’ll lift her out.”
Beth tried to stifle the smile that threatened to overtake her face. This was the first time she’d seen Gray look anything other than poised. Even when Suzy was in the hospital, he still had an air of authority, a can-do, take-charge attitude. Now, he looked visibly disheveled. Apparently, one day of taking care of her sister had brought the poor man to his knees. Beth decided to take sympathy on him and briskly walked into the bathroom and retrieved a towel. She carefully stepped into the wet shower and smiled at her sister. Suzy had a smirk on her face and held her finger up to her lips. “Beth, I still have some soap on my legs and breasts, could you turn the water on and wash it off, please? You may need to use a wash-cloth to get it all.”
Suddenly, something crashed and the sound of the bedroom door opening and slamming could clearly be heard. Beth looked at her with wide eyes, obviously wondering what was going on. “Um, ok, sure,” she said.
Suzy burst into laughter, knowing she was an evil person but still unable to resist the temptation to torture Gray. She waved her hand to stop Beth from turning on the water and took a deep breath trying to control her laughter. “I’m fine Beth, just help me dry off.”
Realization dawned in Beth’s eyes as she too started laughing. “You’re a bad person, you know that, right? That poor man has gone to hell and back for you. Between fits of laughter, she continued, “Let it be known that I object.”
“So, evil one, how are you feeling today? You look better; the spark is back in your eyes. Oh god, you didn’t have sex last night did you?”
Suzy snorted, “Duh, thanks for your faith in me. But even I’d have found that impossible eight hours after getting out of the hospital. I sure wanted to, though. That man sets my underwear on fire anytime he’s near.”
“Um, yeah, thanks for all the sharing. I really need that visual when I look at him. I’d like to at least be able to be in the same room with one of the Merimon brothers. His brother Nick, he gives me the creeps.”
Surprised, Suzy looked at her sister. "Nick, why? I like him. Is he hitting on you or something?”
“Ugh, no. I’m not his type, I’m sure. He’s just always staring at me like I’m some type of science experiment. No doubt, he’s never spent much time around a woman who was bigger than a size three, and he’s probably terrified I’ll eat him or something.”
Not for the first time, Suzy wondered if her sister’s constant fat humor hid a serious problem. She studied her intently as Beth was leaning over to dry her. If possible, she looked even thinner, and despite her joking about women who were a size three, Suzy wondered if Beth was much more than that now. When they were alone without Gray and Nick being in the other room, Suzy vowed to have a serious talk with Beth. She didn’t want to see her sister end up with an eating disorder.
“Bro, what’re you getting yourself into here.” Gray looked over at his brother leaning against a kitchen counter and walked over to pour a cup of coffee. “In little more than twenty-four hours you have set up house. “
“What’s your point, Nick?”
“No point really, just hope you know what you’re doing. I know how you feel about her, but your life is a little complicated right now. If you plan to continue, you need to come clean with her about Reva before she finds out on her own.”
Gray’s head jerked sharply up and he turned a steely gaze on his brother. “How would she find out; I know you aren’t threatening to tell her.”
“Chill out, of course I’m not. I’m nervous though because we are no closer to finding out how Reva keeps finding your number than we were. I just have a bad feeling about this, man. I don’t think that woman is dealing with a full deck. I think we should get the police involved before this gets out of hand.”
“Nick, what’re the police going to do? She hasn’t done anything other than make a nuisance of herself. Just keep at it and see if you can find out anything.” Walking over to his brother, he laid a hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate the concern, but it’s going to be ok.”
Nick still looked like he wanted to argue, but wisely changed the subject. “Declan Stone is flying in today. Jason wanted to know if you could possibly get away for a few hours this afternoon so that the three of us could meet with him.”
“If Beth is free to stay with Suzy, I should be able to. I need to pick up some papers at the office anyway. I’d like to see Declan in person. I think it’s important to close the deal with him and bring him onboard. He’s more likely to do that if I’m there.”
The merger of Danvers International with Mericom had created a communications giant. Both he and Nick had been pulled away from their base in Charleston, South Carolina and were relocating to the corporate headquarters of Danvers in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Even with the promotion of key personnel in both Charleston and Myrtle Beach, the company was still short staffed and he, Nick and Jason were constantly being pulled in a million directions. The addition of Declan would be huge. He and Declan went way back. They had been college roommates and even though Declan had made California his base for the last several years, they still remained in touch.
Declan had served two tours with the Air Force. Gray knew he’d spent a lot of that time in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Declan who came out of the military was a much darker and harder man than the friend he remembered from their younger days. He came from power and money, and after he left the military, he’d used both as a base to launch his own consulting business. His specialty was mergers and acquisitions. He could smell a weak company a mile away and knew when it was prime for a take-over. He rarely considered a long-term assignment, and the fact that he was even willing to talk with Danvers about a permanent position was a testament to their friendship. With someone like him in place, Danvers would continue to grow and prosper beyond their wildest dreams.
Gray jolted as Nick said, “Hey, I think the princess is calling you.”
Gray quickly sat his coffee cup down on the counter and grabbed a chair from the kitchen table. He hurried back towards bathroom and prayed that Suzy would be covered from head to foot now. Gray walked in the bathroom and sat the chair down in front of the vanity. He stepped over to the shower and said a prayer of thanks that Suzy was indeed sufficiently covered for his peace of mind. He stepped into the shower and, almost as if by habit, dropped a quick kiss on her mouth as he put his arms underneath to lift her. “Hey there, beautiful, you from around here?” he joked.
Suzy smiled, grateful to Gray for lightening the mood since her sister Beth was standing not two feet away. “Sorry, babe, I’m way out of your league so save the charm for someone else.”
Gray looked down into her eyes, his expression growing serious and said, “It’s all for you, Suzanna, everything I am is yours.” Suzy stared back at him for a moment, surprised by the change from teasing to seriousness. Gray sat her down on the seat he’d brought into the bathroom with him, and the moment was gone so quickly Suzy had to wonder if she’d imagined the whole thing. One looked into the sappy expression on Beth’s face, though, convinced her that it had been real.
Beth cleared her throat and said, “Gray, my sister needs something for pain, could you get it for her?” Suzy looked at her in surprise. She thought she’d been hiding the misery she was feeling pretty well but apparently her sister read her better than she thought.
Gray frowned down at her. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me you were in pain? I should have known this shower would be too much for you. I’ll be right back with the medication. Just stay here.”
Both she and Beth laughed as he hurried out. “Um, exactly where did he think you were going to go?” They both tried their best to hide their smiles as Gray rushed back in with a glass of water and her medication. He shook one out into his palm and handed it to her. He absently rubbed her leg through her towel while he waited for her to finish and hand him the glass of water back.
“Gray, I’m going to dry Suzy’s hair and help her get dressed.” As he started to protest, Beth said, “I’ll call you if we need your help. Go have some male bonding time or whatever it is that men do when they’re together.”
With one last look at Suzy, Gray reluctantly left the bathroom, and the bedroom door closed quietly behind him. Beth looked at her sister when he left and said, “You know he loves you. Is there any doubt left in your mind after all this? I’ve never seen a man look at a woman the way he looks at you. I love you, sis, and I know you better than anyone else so I’m saying this with nothing but love, ‘don’t screw this up.’ Don’t run away from him or try to chase him away. He’s the best thing that ever entered your life so grab onto him with both hands and don’t let him go. He’s not Jeff, he’s a good man.”
“You’re forgetting, Beth, Jeff was a good man, too, and look how that turned out. Maybe I turn good men into bad people. “
With an unladylike snort, Beth said, “Jeff was a spineless weasel, and I have no idea what you ever saw in him. I’m all for equal rights, but wouldn’t you like to be with a man who actually wears the pants in the relationship at least part of the time? Jeff never seemed to have an opinion of his own; he was always in your shadow. I’m surprised he had enough ambition to cheat on you without someone advising him to.” Suddenly, as if realizing she’d said too much, Beth’s hand flew to her mouth, “Oh God, I’m sorry. Oh crap, I was just running off at the mouth. Please forget I said all of that.”
At first, Suzy was surprised, Beth rarely said anything negative about anyone and she’d no idea that she viewed Jeff in this light. Now that the wounds were less raw, she could actually admit that Beth was right. Jeff had always deferred to her, and sometimes she’d felt more like his mother than his lover. If they had ever been equals in their relationship, it had been long ago. Maybe she just couldn’t let anyone take care of her. As soon as she had that thought, she pictured Gray. She’d actually loved having him to lean on the last few days and never once had she felt threatened or annoyed by it.
She smiled at her sister and reached over to squeeze her hand. “You go, girl. I think you have more of me inside you than we either imagined. Never apologize for being honest with me, and by the way, I agree. Now, about these ugly clothes you packed for me, where the hell did they come from?” As they both doubled over in laughter, Beth admitted that they were hers, and she’d just been trying to pack things that would be easier for Suzy for relax in while she was healing. Beth promised she’d go pack some of Suzy’s things that afternoon. Soon Suzy was starting to feel loopy from the pain medication, and Gray came back to carry her to the sofa in the living room where he had a breakfast tray waiting for her.
