The Piano Man Project Page 0,51

can’t kill me.’

Honey picked open the seal on the box and slid the razor out into her hands.

‘Is there a trimmer?’ he asked. ‘You’ll need to take off the length with that before using the razor.’ He skimmed his hand over his jaw. ‘It’s too long to go at with a razor right away.’

Honey located the trimmer using the instruction leaflet and slotted it together, then plugged the cord into the socket beside the bathroom mirror. The tiny room felt as if the walls were closing in, pressing her closer to Hal. He turned his head to one side, exposing his neck, and then sighed and dropped his head.

‘Hold on, Honey. There’s something I need to do.’

After a couple of still seconds he lifted his face and reached for his dark glasses. Honey froze, realising what he was going to do a second before he slid them slowly off, folding them and placing them carefully beside the sink. Honey drew in a quiet breath and looked at him, really looked at him. He sat as tense as a man in the dock waiting for judgment. This was the first time he’d allowed her to see him without the protection of his shades, aside from the few seconds when he’d fallen in the hallway when they’d first met.

Hands down, Hal had the world’s most beautiful eyes. Warm brown flecked with golden amber shards, fringed all the way around with long dark lashes. Eyes to melt in, and it hurt her heart to know that such incredible eyes could no longer see.

‘Thank you,’ she breathed, thinking, thank you for trusting me.

He turned his head in profile again. ‘You could hardly do it with them stuck on my face. Start at one side and work your way around.’

Honey buzzed the trimmer into life in her hand, getting a feel for it before putting it anywhere near his face.

‘Are you sure about this, Hal?’ she said, suddenly apprehensive as she moved the razor towards him and then away again.

‘Relax, Honey. It doesn’t really matter if you balls it up. My social calendar is embarrassingly empty,’ he said. ‘Just do it.’

Honey braced her shoulders. She could do this. Stepping around into the tight space between Hal’s denim-clad legs and the bathroom counter and holding his chin lightly with one hand, she touched the trimmer against the dark fuzz at the side of his neck.

‘Like this?’ she said, uncertain and hyper-aware of the heat of his body close to hers.

‘Like that,’ he murmured as she stroked it up the length of his neck towards his jaw. ‘Try to keep your hand steady. You’re shaking.’

Honey watched as the trimmer sliced away the length from his beard in slow methodical strokes, revealing dark stubble in its place. Dark, sexy stubble. ‘Nice and easy,’ he whispered when she tried to go too fast, and then he closed his eyes. His words. Oh his quiet, sexy words.

The urge to kiss him was overwhelming. Stifling. She wanted to hear him murmur those same words when he was naked and hard in her hand. Was he turned on, too? His eyes were still closed as she pressed her fingertips to his jaw and tilted his head the other way.

‘No one’s ever done this for me before,’ he said, his words gravel in his throat. ‘I like it.’ His arm rested along the counter behind her, and her backside grazed his splayed palm when she squeezed around him.

‘I like it too,’ she said simply, no longer sure if she meant she liked shaving his beard or she liked the feel of his hand on her backside. ‘It’s hard to reach the other side of your head from here, the cord isn’t long enough. Do you think you can twist around?’ She cast a critical eye over the small space.

‘I could. Or would it be easier if you …’ He reached out and put his hands on her waist to move her to stand in front of him, then pulled her closer so she had to straddle his knees. ‘Maybe you could sit here?’

Honey held the trimmer away from them for fear of doing him damage, because her whole body felt like it was shaking with awareness of his. Hal’s hands were still on her waist, and he applied gentle pressure, just enough to encourage her down until her backside hit his knees.

‘Better?’ he said, low and teasing.

‘Yes,’ she breathed.

‘Finish the job then,’ he said, and turned his head for her to carry on