Page 57 of Escape
“Yeah, you look like you’re enjoying yourself,” I teased her, loving that I was doing something to make her feel good.
I did my best to keep my focus on what I was here to do—wash her hair and take care of her—but there was no question I had moments throughout when my eyes drifted to her bare legs or to where my T-shirt was molded to her breasts.
I rinsed the shampoo from her hair, moved on to the conditioner, and combed my fingers through her strands with it. Once I had it in, I shifted her hair to one side of her back while I moved to the opposite side.
While I gave the conditioner some time to sit in her hair, I leaned my arms against the edge of the tub and asked, “How are you feeling?”
Josie looked in my direction, opened her eyes, and smiled at me. “I feel like I’m going to have to find a way to do something really nice for you, eventually.”
I let out a laugh. “Oh yeah?”
She offered a nod in response. “I’ve been out of the hospital for maybe two hours now, and I already feel like a million bucks.”
Unable to resist the urge, I brought one hand to the back of her head, massaged lightly, and said, “That’s what I was hoping to hear. I’m glad we’re heading in the right direction.”
“You better be careful, though,” Josie warned me.
“Why is that?”
“I could get used to this. And if that happens, I may never want to leave.”
It was clear based on Josie’s tone that she was joking around with me—something I was grateful for, considering she could have been feeling down in the dumps about her whole situation. But even if she wasn’t being serious, I couldn’t ignore the fact that I would have been more than prepared for her to stay with me permanently.
Not wanting to come on too strong and tell her precisely what I thought about her idea, I said, “I can’t promise I won’t do my best to take care of you. But I’m sure when the time is right and you’re all healed up and back on your feet, you’ll be ready to get away from me for a bit.”
Concern washed over her, but she didn’t share whatever was on her mind.
Wanting to avoid an awkward situation, I said, “Let’s get the conditioner rinsed out before you start pruning in this water.”
Josie gave me a quick nod and turned her head to grant me better access to her hair. I rinsed out the conditioner, squeezed the excess water out of her hair, and used the towel to soak up the additional moisture.
Afterward, I helped Josie up, making sure she got out of the tub without hurting herself and was steady on the bathmat.
“How do you feel about your ability to get out of the T-shirt on your own?” I asked her.
She glanced down at the mat beneath her feet. “It’s sopping wet, and I’m dripping all over the place.”
“Don’t worry about that. Everything will dry,” I assured her. “Do you think you can take the shirt off on your own, or do you want me to try to help?”
Josie’s eyes went to the shirt that was stuck to her body and considered it. I had a feeling it had been one thing to get out of her dry clothes, but with the added weight of the water in the shirt, it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.
She returned her attention to my face and sighed. “This is not very romantic.”
My brows shot up. Had she been looking for romance?
I wasn’t sure there was anything I wanted more in the world right now than to romance Josie. Well, other than justice for what had been done to her. But in this situation, I truly just wanted her to be comfortable and to trust me to do right by her.
“Josie, honey, if you need my help, we’ll figure out a way to do it that doesn’t involve me seeing everything,” I promised.
She gave me a quick nod and said, “Maybe if you could help me get my good arm back through the armhole, I might be able to maneuver myself out of the shirt.”
“Okay. And I’ll stand in front of you holding the towel up. This way, you’ll be covered, but I’ll still be here if you need any assistance.”
“That sounds like a plan.”
I quickly grabbed the towel so it was ready, then I held open the armhole of the shirt. Josie pulled her good arm through before focusing her attention on stripping herself out of the shirt behind the towel. I kept my eyes on her face, committing every feature of her concentrated expression to memory.
For as long as I lived, I never wanted to forget a single second of the time I spent with her. All I could do in that moment was watch and be grateful for the opportunity to have her in my life again, however it came.