Amusement played at the corners of his lips. “Then no shower for you.”
“That’s hardly your decision!”
“Two of us in this house and you’ve been given into my care. I’m following doctor’s orders.”
Gabby had enough of this conversation and the rancid taste in her mouth. She edged her way past the looming presence in front of her (was he really this tall before?) and scooted into the bathroom. He followed her closely but kept a respectable distance. After freshening up with a toothbrush and mouthwash, she stared at his reflection in the mirror. His face was impassive.
“You can sit there.” She nodded to the toilet. “And wait until I finish. Is that acceptable?”
She took his shrug as agreement. She grabbed the edge of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it to the hamper in the linen closet. Her bra followed and she walked to the shower to turn it on. As she let the water steam up the glass enclosure, she inhaled deeply. Her whole body was tingling.
She turned to face him. Declan’s chest rose and fell as if he was having difficulty breathing. His face was still expressionless, but there was an all too familiar heat in his eyes.
“You changed your tune fairly quickly.” His voice was rough.
This time it was Gabby who shrugged as she removed her sleeping shorts and panties. She had to get within a foot of him to throw the rest of her clothes into the hamper. She also grabbed a towel, but she didn’t wrap it around her even when she felt her nipples hardening.
“I work with men. We’re a special division down on seventy-seventh. Only one locker room. Can’t suffer modesty now, can I?” There was actually a sectioned-off area in the locker room for women.
“You’re saying you’re treating me like one of the guys. Is that it?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
His eyes glittered ominously as he stepped closer. She held her ground, chin tilted up in challenge and forced herself not to shiver at his proximity. Their gazes locked in challenge. His hand came up and it took all her willpower not to flinch. A finger tucked a stray curl behind her ear before it made its way down the line of her chin, her neck, flirting on the skin above the swell of her breasts.
“Do the guys do this, too?”
“Stop with your games, Dec. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove.”
She spun away from him. As dizziness hit her, his hands caught her under her armpits, brushing against her breasts.
“Stop being so reckless,” he hissed in her ear. “Or I’ll think you’re doing this on purpose just to feel my hands on you.”
“In your dreams,” she snapped. “Let go.”
“You got it?” he asked tightly.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be right here.” He sat on the closed toilet lid as she stepped into the glass enclosure.
“Try not to slip, okay?” he added sarcastically.
She had the oddest urge to stick out her tongue, but she didn’t. The hot water spray instantly soothed her poor banged up body.
“This feels so good …” she groaned as she began to lather her hair, and then reached for the soap to get rid of the last traces of the hospital smell. She loved her peaches and vanilla shampoo, some of the last luxuries from her old life she couldn’t give up. She mentally regrouped, reminding herself that it took real strength to become a detective in LAPD’s toughest division, and hell would freeze over before she let her ex-husband rattle her. For three years she was that broken woman, marrying Nick on the rebound, thinking another baby would fill the hole inside her. But she lost that one, too and that last miscarriage took with it her desire to become a mother. She had to find a new purpose.
“You all right in there?”
“Yes! Almost done.”
“Don’t shrivel up into a prune, okay?”
“Ugh, stop rushing me. The water just feels so good.”
“Yeah, I heard you.”
When she washed up the last of the soapy residue and wrung out her hair, she stepped out of the shower and a towel was immediately wrapped around her.
“You’re gonna get your shirt wet,” she warned.
“Don’t care.” He dried her brusquely, yet carefully.
“Seriously, Dec, I’m not helpless.”
“Fine!” he muttered and let go.
“I don’t know why you’re”—her eyes dropped to the bulge behind his shorts—“Oh, my.”
“Ignore it.”
“It’s hard to ignore because it’s staring right at me.” She laughed.
His eyes narrowed. “Haven’t you learned that it’s insulting to laugh at a man’s erection?”