come upstairs. Now he looked horrified, and Dash scrambled upright. “I’m sorry. I was going to ask, but you were on the phone, and I didn’t want to disturb you when I’ve taken up so much of your time and I was careful not—”
Jensen put his finger over Dash’s lips to silence them. “Hush. I’m not angry. I’m just worried when you’re supposed to be relaxing and recovering, you’re cleaning the bath.”
Dash swallowed. “I—”
“You don’t have to do this.” Jensen took the cloth out of Dash’s hand. “You don’t have to pay me back or any such nonsense. I’m happy if you have your feet up all day.”
“But I like helping,” Dash said quietly. “And while you’re working, it seemed the least I could do.”
Jensen scraped a finger along Dash’s jawline, seeming fascinated by the stubble. Dash winced—he hated not being able to shave—and Jensen dropped his hand quickly. “Sorry.” He looked troubled, and Dash knew he thought Dash’s reaction was because Jensen had touched him when nothing could be further from the truth.
“I haven’t been able to shave, and I hate it,” Dash burst out.
Jensen’s lips parted in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I had an electric one Gran bought me, but I couldn’t use it and I think I lost it somewhere between the store or the house. It’s not with my clothes, and the boxes have been packed for weeks, so I know it’s not in there. I had a bag I think I might have left at the hospital.” Jensen nodded.
“I use a razor. I don’t have an electric.”
“I’ve tried disposables. They hurt,” Dash admitted.
“I’m not surprised,” Jensen agreed. “Your skin is way too soft for a disposable.”
Dash paused, worry forgotten because Jensen had said he thought his skin was soft. He wished he would touch his cheek again, but he daren’t so much as lean forward. “How often do you shave?”
“Every other day. Any more and my skin gets red.”
Jensen nodded. “I may have something that will help that I bought at the market, but supper is nearly ready, so let’s go down and you can choose what we might want to watch on TV.”
Dash smiled and happily followed Jensen down. He looked out of the window at the bottom of the stairs and saw the huge garden. His gran would have loved something so large to grow her vegetables and fruit in. She made the best apple pies. In fact, he was sure the tree in the corner was an apple tree.
“What sort of movies do you like?”
Dash shrugged. Gran had liked action films. She was a James Bond addict, and he was happy to let her watch whatever she wanted.
Jensen eyed him almost speculatively. “Well, judging from the book we are reading, I bet you loved all the Lord of the Ring films.”
Dash bit his lip, and Jensen immediately picked up on it. “You haven’t watched them?”
Dash shook his head. Anything you couldn’t get for free he wasn’t allowed to watch, and Steven hadn’t allowed a TV in his room.
Jensen rubbed his hands. “You might have worked out by the books I read I’m a bit of a fantasy geek, and I freely admit to enjoying some other people might consider I’m too old for. Let’s eat, and then we’ll settle in and watch at least one of them.” He paused. “If that’s okay?”
Jensen looked so hopeful Dash wanted to hug him, but he just smiled and agreed.
They ate quietly. Jensen had done a fabulous salad with more fruit, fresh crusty bread, and his parsnip soup that Dash dared to ask for seconds of. He’d also made a plate of snacks for later while they watched the movie. He got dragged away on another telephone call about a café that had an oven that had caught fire. After he dealt with that, Ellie called wanting to know how they were, so it was well after seven when they settled down. Dash had cleared everything away, and the kitchen was sparkling when Jensen came back in.
“Thank you,” he said gratefully. “And now I’m going to turn my phone off.”
The evening was perfect. Jensen had got some popcorn, and Dash was yawning as the movie finished. “It’s only nine thirty, but I kind of trained my body to fit in with getting up early for the store.”
Jensen stretched. “Me too. How about I make us a hot drink while you get in the shower and we’ll tackle the next chapter?”
Dash nodded eagerly and practically skipped upstairs.