Page 17 of Blake

She swatted him away. “Don’t kiss my greasy sweaty hair, you freak.”

“And on that note, it’s time we left.” Alex’s grin was filled with sympathy.

He walked Alex and Evelyn to the door to see them out.

“Anything you need from us before we go?” Alex asked.

“No, not right now. I’ll call you later with those things we discussed though.”

Alex nodded. “Cool. Good luck with the patient. If she’s anything like Evelyn, she’ll have you pulling your hair out in a week.”

Evelyn punched Alex in the gut at hearing his words which he took as he wrapped her in his big arms laughing and kissing her cheek.

He watched them walk away and thought he had never seen a couple more in love. They lit up for each other. They were the people others wrote or sang about. They completed each other in a way he’d never thought he would have, and he’d been okay with that. But now he wondered if he wanted it and if maybe Pax could be that person for him.

He laughed off the idea of him and Pax having that kind of love. She wanted him yes, but she was in no way catching feelings for him. She was too guarded and prickly but perversely, it made him want to peel back the layers until he got past the prickle and found the soft and sweet peach inside. They would either be mind-blowing together or kill each other. He was eager to find out which one it would be.

Chapter Eight

The last two days, much to her continued surprise, had been uneventful and somewhat relaxed—even pleasant if she didn’t count the continued nagging pain in her ribs. Blake had spent them pottering around her house, fixing things she hadn’t asked him to fix but none the less needed to be done, and she hadn’t gotten around to it. Their evenings had been spent either watching boxsets. One about a gang of outlaw bikers, the leader of which had a strong resemblance to Blake, the other had been a series about nerd scientists who shared an apartment.

Pax had never really watched anything like them but she found herself hooked and eagerly waited for Blake to join her so they could watch a couple of episodes together before he crashed on the sofa and she went to bed alone.

Going to bed alone was something she had done most of her life, but it was getting harder and harder not to invite the sexy man who was intent on looking after her into her bed. Blake was a shock to her system in some ways.

After their talk where he’d said he’d cared and wanted to help her, and the subsequent kiss to her hand where he’d made it clear he would pursue her—he hadn’t. Despite thinking she would find it annoying and she’d be trying to fight him off, he wasn’t even trying. It made her wonder if he had changed his mind about wanting her.

After Alex and Evelyn had left the other day with Evelyn promising not to tell Roz, Blake had handed her two ibuprofen and informed her he was going to help her wash her hair and shower. Despite her initial protestations she had given in.

Blake had told her to kneel on the bathroom floor while he bent her head over the bath and proceeded to wet her hair with the shower head and then massage the shampoo into her scalp until she felt a groan of pleasure slip from her lips.

“You enjoying yourself?” he asked with a chuckle.

“This is like a religious experience,” she returned. “Where the hell did you learn to do this?”

“I spent a summer working a Saturday job at a hair salon when I was sixteen,” he replied as he rinsed the suds away and then worked the conditioner through her long hair right to the very tips.

“You did?” She was thrown by the vision of Blake in a hairdressing salon.

“Yep. One of my buddies worked there. He said that on weekends it was a flood of teenage girls. He was gay so it wasn’t his thing, but I saw the opportunity to pull lots of girls and applied. I got the job and spent a delightful summer washing hair and pulling girls. It was a good summer.”

Pax laughed at the wistfulness of his tone but inwardly felt jealous knowing he probably did this for all the women he had ever been with.

“I haven’t done this in years, probably not since I left the salon,” he said as if reading her mind.

“Yeah, well, anytime you feel the urge…”

“Oh, I know where to come when I feel the urge, Pax. Don’t you worry.”

His chuckle made her blood heat. It had been sensual and intimate, and she had thought he would take things further but after helping her wrap her hair in a towel, he had run her a cool bath and left her alone, telling her to shout if she needed help.

She hadn’t and every day her ribs felt a little better and although her bruises were now turning a sickly green colour, they also felt a lot better. But Blake hadn’t touched her or been in any way flirtatious with her and she found she was disappointed.

“You want anything before I sit down?” he asked as he walked in the room fresh from his shower with his hair still wet, wearing gym shorts and a wife beater top that made his arm muscles look huge.

“Do we have any of that birthday cake ice-cream left?”

He nodded and went to fetch it. Returning with the tub and two spoons he settled beside her and handed her a spoon as he grabbed the remote. “What do you want to watch?”