Page 109 of Here & Now

“Um-hmm.”

He opened the screen door of the lanai and motioned her through. She winced, and he felt her pain. Now that he knew she was safe, his fear had been replaced by the need to take care of her.

They crossed the lawn to his lanai, and he held the door open again while she went inside.

“I take it you have aloe,” she said drily.

“Yes, even though I haven’t been burnt that bad since I was a kid.”

“Thanks. That makes me feel much better.”

He chuckled. “Sorry.”

She flapped her hand. “I deserve it for being so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid. It could happen to anyone.”

“Except you.”

“I grew up here. Applying sunscreen is second nature.”

He unlocked his back door and led her through the house to the master bathroom. There he opened the cupboard under the sink and started rummaging around for the bottle of aloe.

“You still didn’t tell me what you were doing in my bedroom,” she reminded him. Thankfully, she sounded more curious than angry.

“I know what it looked like, but I wasn’t snooping. I was worried about you.” He found the aloe and stood with it in his hand. “I kept calling, and you never answered.”

“I forgot my phone,” she said unnecessarily.

“I know that now.” He set the bottle of aloe on the counter. “I’m going to take off your cover-up.”

She scrunched up her face. “Be careful. It hurt like a bitch putting it on.”

“I bet.”

She held her arms away from her body and grimaced.

“You’ll feel better once I put on the aloe. Where’d you go, anyway?” he asked partly to distract her as he gently pulled the cover-up off her shoulders and down her arms.

“Ow, ow, ow. Bowman’s Beach.”

He flinched at the sight of her inflamed skin.

“If you’d have waited, I would have gone there with you.”

“I needed to clear my head.”

“Oh.”

He set the cover-up on the counter, and now she stood there in her bikini. He felt a surge of jealousy, thinking about all the guys at the beach who’d seen her like this, burnt or not.

“Turn around,” he said. Her back was pink but not red like the front.

“I fell asleep on my back,” she said.

He uncapped the aloe and poured some into his palm. “This is going to feel cold.”

“I know.” She squeezed her eyes shut as though bracing for impact.