was found while he slept, he’d be gearing back up at first light. That was only nine hours away now. The night was full dark around them. It had taken too long to walk back, and without the tension of the search, they’d probably lost what little adrenaline was keeping them warm.
It was just enough time to get his body temp up and sleep. He didn’t want to waste half an hour driving her home. And he really didn’t want to hear that she was sick—or worse—because he’d dropped off the new firefighter alone at her apartment and she’d fallen asleep before she was healthy enough.
So Leo asked again and waited for her answer.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“I'm not getting naked,” Jo protested, feeling the fight in her voice, even though it shouldn't be there.
Leo shook his head as though she was being ridiculous. She was.
“I didn't ask you to. Get in with your clothes on for all I care. I have to scrub the tub later anyway.”
She stood at the side of the huge old tub thinking what she wouldn’t give to close the door and fill it with bubbles and fall asleep. It was, however, not her tub, and locking him out of his own bathroom was incredibly poor form. Especially when his body temperature had registered just as low as hers.
He was not going to try anything. He wasn’t in any shape to.
That’s what she told herself.
They’d taken off their raincoats and left their muddy shoes near the back door. She would have liked to have admired the house, but it was dark and she didn’t have the energy to spare. The night had fallen around them as they walked Jason back to where the ambulance waited. In the end, they’d taken turns carrying the child.
But Jo pushed that out of her thoughts and admired what she could see. The place was gorgeous. An old Victorian on the outside, it seemed modern on the inside with a few touches of country, including the huge clawfoot bath in front of her.
She wanted to tell Leo Thank you. Her apartment was high end with a wonderful standing shower with multiple streams and a sauna feature. But it wasn’t a tub, and the thought of standing right now was clearly beyond both of them. Hence why the two of them were now staring at the water level as it rose in front of them.
The house, for all that had been remodeled, was small and had only the one bathroom.
Beside her, Leo must have declared the water high enough because he began peeling his shirt. The long sleeve, sports fabric pulled away and revealed what Jo had known she would see and wished she hadn't. It didn't help that Leo Evans was damn fine.
She stood still while he undid the buckle on his pants. And he must have seen her tense up. She'd signed up to monitor him and him her. They’d already checked their temperatures and both of them were woefully low. The tub was necessary. So was the water that was barely ninety degrees. It was going to feel like it was burning them both.
Leo stood on one foot, though whether he was wobbly because he was impaired or because he was normally bad at that, she didn’t know. Now he stood there in a pair of unexpectedly bright green boxer briefs with smiley faces.
“You have smilies on your ass,” she told him.
Leo shook his head at her, his hands planted on his hips. “You don't get to make fun of my underwear unless you're showing your own.”
But that was all he did before turning away and slowly stepping one bare foot into the water as he cringed at the feeling.
Jo knew. She peeled her own shirt and stepped out of her pants, grateful that he wasn't watching her. She joined him on the side of the tub, but she plunged both of her own feet in and clenched her jaw against the growl that wanted to emerge.
It felt like sticking her feet into fire. But she sat forcefully still and waited for the burn to pass. She'd been here before—you knew you were cold when the cold water felt like it was burning. It was just going to hurt, so she leaned over and plunged her hands in as well. Though it felt bad, it shouldn't cause any actual damage. The water wasn't warm enough to do that.
Leo, it seemed, was more of a slow goer. After a moment of watching