Chances Are - By Christy Reece Page 0,45

all.

“I’m not supposed to get my hand wet.”

“I’ll help you.”

She turned and stepped over the rim of the tub. Jake adjusted the nozzle, and grabbed the sponge hanging from a hook on the wall. He poured fragrant liquid soap onto the sponge, recognizing the scent that drove him crazy every time she was near.

“I think I can manage almost everything with one hand but could you stay and prop me up?”

Rivulets of water streamed a caressing path over her shoulders and down her luscious curves. Mesmerized, all Jake could manage was a small grunt of agreement to her request. Then with great difficulty, he pulled the shower curtain closed, shutting out the delectable sight of her soapy body.

Holding her slender, elegant hand in his own, Jake closed his eyes and tortured himself as he imagined the scene behind the curtain. In his mind, her hand became his as he slowly caressed down her body, from soft, beautiful shoulders to her breasts. He swirled the sponge around each ivory globe and then trailed it down her flat stomach toward the soft mound between her legs. His hand moved between her legs and then the sponge was gone. His fingers touched unbelievably hot, smooth flesh and—

“Jake?”

Pulling himself out of his fantasy, Jake managed a thick, raspy, “Yeah?”

“Could you help me wash my hair?”

Oh hell.

Feeling both fragile and powerful at once was an odd combination. She was so disappointed in herself because of her cowardice, a part of her wanted to bury her head beneath the bedcovers and forget reality. But seeing the desire in Jake’s eyes made her feel stronger, more secure. And though she had known Jake was attracted to her, the need she’d seen in his eyes made her realize just how much he wanted her.

And yet, he had done nothing more than look. If she made any advances to him, would that shut him down? His rejection, especially tonight, wasn’t something she was willing to risk. If he turned down her offer, she’d shatter into a billion pieces right in front of him.

She finished her shower, albeit a little awkwardly. How odd to have Jake outside the shower curtain holding her hand. The act was gentlemanly and courteous but also amazingly erotic. The connection of him holding one of her hands while her other one glided over her body was uniquely arousing. Every place she touched, she imagined it was Jake’s hand instead of her own.

Now came the biggest test as she waited for him to respond to her request to help her wash her hair. Though she had been aware of the tenseness of his body outside the curtain, when she asked the question, he went board stiff. Would he say no?

The curtain opened and Jake stood there. If she had thought she saw desire before, it was nothing like what he was experiencing now. Blue fire blazed in his eyes, dark, wicked…knowing.

Angela stood, mesmerized.

He picked up her shampoo bottle. “I’ll pour the shampoo in your hand and then help you massage it in.”

The hoarse growling was barely recognizable as Jake. She did as he asked and then he put her injured hand against the wall, outside the shower. “This will go faster if I can use both of my hands. Keep your hand here.”

When she complied, he said, “Now, bend your head.”

What followed was one of the most erotic moments of her life. Jake’s big, strong hands, along with her much smaller one lathered her hair into a soapy mass of bubbles and foam. Her eyes closed, she swallowed moans of arousal as strong fingers massaged her scalp and the back of her neck. Never had she realized the correlation between her head and her sex. For every strong press of his fingers, a corresponding throb occurred between her legs.

“Rinse.”

Though water gushed over her, she had no problem hearing the husky thickness of his tone.

Standing beneath the spray, she allowed Jake to rinse the soap from her hair. It took an enormous amount of self-control for her not to grab his hand and lead him to other, hidden places aching for his touch.

At last the soap was gone. The water stopped abruptly as Jake turned off the faucet. Angela opened her eyes and watched in agony as Jake turned away. Was he walking out, just leaving her like this?

A large towel covered her head and Angela smiled beneath it as Jake dried her hair. Then, as if it was just another day at the office, he efficiently