Page 67 of One Kind Soul

She’d hugged him. “You make it feel like a second home.”

“That’s how I want it to feel.” Christian had released her. “And when that grandson of yours is old enough for an after-school job, I’ve got work for him.”

Rada had cried some more. “You are truly a lovely soul, Christian Henley.” She’d patted his cheek, bid everyone good night, and left the farm.

The others had followed after her, Donovan promising to keep the patrol on Christian’s road going and keep them posted if he found out anything regarding Lynda . . . or whoever had trashed the store.

Nicole knew though. She knew it like she knew her own name. She could almost hear Lynda’s voice saying, You destroyed my life. Now it’s your turn, Princess Uggers.

She shivered though the water was piping hot, steam curling around her. It wasn’t hard to remember how scared she’d been of Lynda as a kid. She never knew when her sister would barge into her bedroom and explode, either in words or deeds. Sometimes Nicole actually preferred the physical stuff. It was rare, but at least after a few slaps, kicks, or hair pulls, Lynda would have gotten it out of her system and moved on to something else.

The words though . . . the words were relentless, cutting into Nicole worse than any physical blow. The words lingered and replayed and grew in potency the more they echoed between Nicole’s ears. She should have told her parents about all of it, but she hadn’t known better. She was the little sister and thought that was the way having an older sister worked. Lynda was older, bigger, wiser. She was clearly the one who was supposed to be in charge.

So Nicole had let her be in charge. How stupid she’d been to allow that. She’d been weak—just as Lynda had said she was.

Hot tears mixed with the spray of water from the showerhead. If she’d stood up to Lynda all those years ago—if she’d at least told her parents about Lynda’s bullying—maybe they could have gotten her sister some help. Perhaps Lynda could have turned her life around. She never would have met Tim Broaks and gotten involved in serious crimes. She would have stayed out of jail.

She wouldn’t be driven to destroy Nicole’s happiness now.

“Is there room in there for me?” Christian’s voice startled her and she sucked in a breath. She didn’t want him to see her crying. She wanted to be stronger than this.

“Sure.” She ran her face under the water, hoping to rinse away evidence of her tears.

A few seconds later, a naked, gorgeous Christian opened the shower door and stepped inside. The moment his gaze landed on her face, he gripped her by the biceps.

“Are you crying?”

She shook her head. “Soap in my eyes.”

He narrowed his blue eyes, but he accepted her lousy lie and pushed her wet hair off her shoulders to rest his hands there. “Good news on the display case glass. They have it in stock and someone will be by tomorrow to install it.”

“Great. Rada is eager to get that case filled.”

“Everything is back on schedule.” He kissed her nose. “So I don’t want you to feel bad, okay? First, none of it was your fault, and second, it’s made no impact on our reopening plans.”

“It cost you money though. In inventory and supplies to repair things.”

“Remember I said I inherited this place. I didn’t have to buy it so there’s extra money.”

“Extra money that was supposed to be for the farmhouse.”

Christian switched places with her so he could get his hair wet. He grabbed the shampoo bottle and squirted some into his palm. Sudsing up, he said, “Everything is fine, Nixen. Don’t worry.”

But she did worry.

She watched him wash his hair, his arm and chest muscles contracting as he moved, and that worry faded a little. Lynda would want her to be unsettled right now. That would be her brand of torment. The only way to not let her win would be to enjoy this man in front of her and not let anything stop her from sharing herself with him.

Nicole stepped closer after Christian leaned his head back to rinse out the shampoo. She ran her fingers down his chest and he recoiled a little.

“Hey, that tickles.” He grabbed her hands and pressed them flat to his ribs.

“Oh, so you don’t want me to touch you? Okay.” She slid her hands free and shifted away to open the shower door.

Christian yanked her back immediately. “I didn’t say that, Nixen.” He pulled her up against him, his big palms cupping her ass. Grinding against her, he let out a low growl that made her insides vibrate with a need so powerful she wouldn’t try to escape again.

“What do you want then, Chrissy?” She lifted her leg and ran it along his thigh.

He caught that leg and pressed her closer so his arousal rubbed against her, promising her a happy ending to this shower. “I want to bury myself deep inside you and make you forget your name.”