her on a message to the private investigators he’d put to work on searching for the people from her past back in Bellside. “Oh, no. Holy mother of the gods. What is wrong with me?”
Gigi quickly typed back, telling him it wasn’t necessary and that she already had help on the way. It was a lie, but the last thing she wanted was for her date to see her looking like a sausage in last year’s yoga clothes. Okay, who was she kidding? They were clothes from five years ago, but he didn’t need to see that either.
After getting an email off to Joy asking her to hightail it over, she waited for another response from Sebastian.
Nothing.
But one came from Joy, apologizing that she was in the car on her way to the dentist and that she’d call Hope or Grace and get one of them to help.
Gigi groaned and then winced when her back complained just from the breathing.
“I’m never going to do yoga again,” she said, her eyes closed and her wrist resting on her forehead.
“I can’t say that I blame you.” Sebastian’s playful tone cut through her self-pity and made her open her eyes to see him staring down at her with an amused smile. “Are you okay?”
“No. I’m just going to die right here. After I’m gone, just throw me into the ocean and let the waves sweep me out to sea,” she said, trying not to wince.
Sebastian crouched down and placed a light hand on her thigh. “What can I do to help?”
There was no moving her. Not yet. She knew that was out of the question. She needed a pain potion first. “Can you go into my office and find a potion for me? It’s on the second shelf from the bottom, on the far right, and it’s labeled Cherry Chamomile.”
“Sure. I’ll be right back.” She watched him stride with ease back into her house and tried not to hate him for it. Here she was trying to get into better shape for a date she had with him, and instead she’d ended up looking like a beached turtle.
Gods, she was bad at dating.
Gigi was lying there, blinking up at the afternoon sun and wishing the earth would open up and swallow her whole when Sebastian returned with the pain potion. “Found it. But wow. That room is packed. Is that what you do most days? Work on potions?”
“Yeah. I use the herbs from my gardens.” She reached for the potion and grunted as pain shot down her leg again.
“Let me help.” He unscrewed the cap and kneeled down to tilt the bottle toward her lips. When the potion spilled down her cheek, he was the one to grimace. “Dammit. Sorry about that. Let me try again.” He slipped his hand under her head and lifted it slightly while pouring some of the potion into her mouth.
Gigi felt like a hopeless idiot, but there was nothing to do but let him help her.
It didn’t take long for the potion to start to work. Not long after she swallowed, her body started to tingle, and although the pain in her back didn’t go away entirely, at least she could breathe without feeling like someone was stabbing her with an ice pick.
Sebastian tilted the bottle, offering her more, but she shook her head. “That’s enough for now. Can you help me up? I think a hot shower might help.”
“Sure.” He recapped the potion, but instead of holding out a hand to her, he bent down and lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. “Upstairs? Or is there a shower downstairs you want to use?”
“Upstairs,” she croaked out. “It’s a walk in… if you recall.”
“Of course.”
The morning after their night together, he’d joined her in the shower. The experience wasn’t something she’d forget anytime soon.
Once they reached the master bathroom, Sebastian put Gigi on her feet and reached over to turn the shower on. He stared at her for a moment before asking, “Do you need help, or do you prefer some privacy?”
“Uh, I’ve got it from here,” she said. If she’d felt sexy in any way shape or form, she might have had another answer. But she was still stuffed in her too tight yoga clothes and hadn’t shaved yet. There was no way she was letting him in the shower with her.
“Got it. I’ll be in the other room if you need me.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and walked