Reaching out, I grab her by the chin, forcing it up slightly so I can see her face. “I think you know what my favorite kind of workout is, Counselor.”
Heat flares between the two of us, but when she reaches out to grab my waist, I flinch.
“Are you okay, Sully?”
“Went down hard fighting Tank for the basketball. Knew I’d feel it either tonight or tomorrow.”
She lifts up my tank top, whistling as she sees my sides. “You’re gonna have a nasty bruise in the morning.” Her fingers lightly graze the skin, causing me to shiver.
“Part of the game.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, but right now it surely feels like one.
“Why don’t you come up to my apartment? I have that huge soaking tub. It’ll do you good to relax those muscles.”
“If I come up to your apartment is relaxing all I’m gonna do?” I raise an eyebrow at her, aware of how often we’ve been alone and how often we’ve ended up undressed.
“Your virtue is safe with me, Sully,” she giggles, reaching out to take my hand in hers.
“I was worried.” I lean down, kissing her softly on the lips. “Let me go get some clothes to change into, and then I will gladly use your soaker tub.”
We walk in comfortable silence, holding hands until we get to her apartment. She drops my fingers and fishes around for her keys. “Don’t take too long.”
“Trust me, I want to get back to you as soon as possible.”
Both the cop in me, and the man who’s finding himself caring deeply for her, wait until she gets inside and hears the lock put back into place before I take the stairs to my apartment. Even I’m surprised at how quickly I’m taking them; I can feel just how bruised I am, but I want to get back to Shelby. It’s a need I’m not able to explain – this feeling of wanting to be close to her. I’ve never had it before.
In my past relationships I’ve not been the guy so caught up on his girl he wasn’t able to have a life outside of her. But with Shelby? I find myself wanting to talk to her throughout the day. A phone call to ask how it’s going, to see if anyone has displeased her.
This is all new territory for me, and it’s scary. Because no matter how bad I thought my heart was broken before.
Shelby Bruce could ruin me.
“How often do you soak in this thing?” I ask as I’m waiting for the water to fill the tub.
She shrugs. “Not nearly enough. It was honestly a big perk when I moved in, one of the plusses that had me picking out this apartment.”
“I’m sure the cop car in the parking lot was one too.” I smirk.
Reaching into the tub, she flicks water at me. “You didn’t live here then, thank you very much. Anyway,” - she rolls her eyes - “I had grand visions of buying one of those tray things, sitting in here every night after a long day and catching up on my computer work in complete relaxation.”
“How many times have you used it?”
She grins bashfully, a tiny dimple popping out in her right check. It’s almost so small I can’t see it, and I’m not sure I’ve noticed it before.
“Three times.”
“Three times? Counselor, we gotta work on that. Sure you don’t wanna take a dip with me tonight?”
Her eyes meet mine before they move down to my waist where I’m bunching up my shirt in my fingers, getting ready to pull it up and over my head. She’s still watching and I raise an eyebrow. “Little privacy, huh?”
“Sorry,” she mumbles before turning away.
“Just kidding, Shelby, you can look all you want.”
And look she does. She turns back to me, letting her eyes roam my body. She makes a visual feast out of me, and damn do I wish I had the energy to put the chemistry between us to good use.
“Anybody ever told you, you look too good to be true?”
I laugh, reaching down to take my shorts off. “No.” I lean against the cabinet, pulling my socks off. “Can’t say they have.”
“Someone should have told you,” she whispers.
“Someone did.” I walk over to her. “You.”
The moment between us ends with smiles on our faces.
“Get in,” she instructs. “I’ll wash your back.”
It’s heaven as I dip down into the bordering on hot water, but it’s exactly what my sore muscles need. This tub is big enough for me to stretch out in. The steam rising up around me creates a hazy kind of dream-like state. Leaning forward, I let Shelby wash off my back, moaning when she presses hard to get the knots out of the muscles.
“You carry a lot of tension in your shoulders.” Her breath tickles my ear.
“Always have, probably always will.”
For what feels like hours she works on my shoulders and upper back. When she finishes, I’m jelly. “God, what did you do to me?”
“Hopefully made you feel good.” She stands up from where she’s kneeling beside the tub. “You take your time in here. I’ll go fix us something to eat.”
Reaching out, I grab hold of her hand. “That’s not why I came here, Shelby.”
“I know.” She smiles softly. “I didn’t want to be alone tonight either. Eating dinner by yourself sucks, especially when you’ve found someone you like to eat with.”
I didn’t have to say a word, but somehow she understood. “Thank you.” I pull her hand up to my lips, kissing it softly.
“No need to thank me, I like having you around.”
“I like having you around too.”
As I watch her leave the bathroom, I wonder how quick is too quick. When I decide I don’t want to answer, I lay my head back against the tub, close my eyes, and relax with a smile on my face.
Chapter 16
Shelby
As I leave the bathroom, I chance another look back at Sully. He’s already rested his head against the tub, and seems to be deep in his thoughts. I can’t help but wonder who takes care of him, after he takes care of the rest of the world.
My heart speeds up to scary levels when I realize I want to be that person for him. It’s the first time I’ve ever had those thoughts about someone else. I would have to have them during one of the most transitional points of my life.
Shaking my head, I walk to the kitchen, trying to figure out what I can make him for dinner. I haven’t been grocery shopping in a while. I’m very much content with cereal and a banana for dinner more often than not, but I know that won’t do for the man in my bathroom.
Rifling through the cabinets, I spot some rice. Pulling it out, I check the expiration date, because I’m pretty sure I brought this from my old apartment. Sweet, two months to go.
“He’ll want something to off-set the carbs.” I look behind me toward the bathroom. “A man who looks like that doesn’t eat many carbs.”
Throwing the freezer door open, I find one lone bag of broccoli I bought sometime when I planned on losing the ten pounds I gained when I moved here. “Hopefully it’s not freezer burnt. God, Shelby, you have nothing here to impress anyone.”
I’d be laughing if it wasn’t the truth. At least I know I have chicken marinating in the fridge. It’s what I was going to fix myself. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s marinate and bake chicken.