“Ow!” he yells, stumbling backward and grabbing his foot.
I quickly shut off the vacuum and yank the earbuds out. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea you were in here.”
“It’s fine.” He sits down on the edge of his bed. “You really don’t have to vacuum in here, though. I told you I’d take care of my own room.”
“I know, but you’re always cooking for me or paying for takeout. I figured vacuuming your room was the least I could do.” I sit next to him on the bed. “How bad is it?”
He removes his hand, and I see his big toe is bloody, the nail split down the center.
“Oh, God!” I jump up and rush out of the room. I grab some paper towels from the kitchen and run them under cold water before hurrying back to David. “Here,” I say, bending down in front of him. “I can’t believe I did this.” After wrapping the wet towels around his toe, I raise my gaze to see his hand covered in blood. “Stay here. I’ll get more so you can clean your hand.”
I rush from the room again, but this time when I return, David is gone. “David?”
“In the bathroom,” he calls.
I walk in to find him with his foot in the tub. “I figured I should wash it out and put some antibiotic ointment on it.”
I nod and hand him the wet towels to clean his hand. Then I turn on the faucet so he can rinse his toe. Once the blood stops running down the drain, I grab a hand towel and hold it out. “Give me your foot.”
“I can do it myself, you know,” he says.
“I know, but I feel terrible. Please let me help.”
He places his foot on the towel I’m holding. I gently dab the foot dry.
“Sit down on the edge of the tub, and I’ll get the antibacterial ointment.” I open the medicine cabinet, but I can’t find any.
“Check the cabinet under the sink,” he says.
I bend down and open the cabinet. There’s a basket filled with bandages of all sorts, alcohol wipes, and the ointment I’m looking for. I grab it and a Q-tip before turning back to him. After uncapping the ointment, I squeeze a pea-sized amount onto the Q-tip. “Hold still,” I say, the Q-tip poised over his foot. I gently dab the ointment onto the cracked toenail. Then I turn around and grab a Band-Aid from the cabinet.
“Good thing I’m not a flip-flops or sandals kind of guy,” he jokes as I wrap the bandage around his toe.
“If you were, I’d draw a smiley face on it so you could use it as a conversation piece on your date.” I toss the garbage in the trash can and stand up. “I think that should do.”
“Thanks.”
“For helping with the injury I inflicted on you?” I scoff.
“It was an accident.” He stands up, and we’re unusually close to each other. I can smell his body wash.
I step back, hoping he didn’t notice I was breathing in his scent. “Anyway, I should finish vacuuming, and you have a date to get ready for.”
“Right. Do you want me to clean the tub? I doubt you want to take a bath in it without making sure all traces of my blood are gone first.”
“The bathroom is already on my list of things to clean, so don’t worry about it.” I walk out, but I notice him grabbing the bleach from the closet. “If you get bleach on your dress shirt, you’ll only have yourself to blame,” I say, walking back to his room to retrieve the vacuum.
It doesn’t take me too long to finish the vacuuming. I don’t see David during that time, and when I walk into the bathroom I quickly discover why. The place is immaculate.
“I cleaned everything, bleached the tub, and drew you a bubble bath.” He motions to the bathtub behind him. “I hope you like lavender-scented candles. Monica left them behind when she moved out. It’s all I have.”
He drew me a bath? “David, you didn’t have to do this.” I hurt him, and he not only cleans the bathroom for me, he draws me a bubble bath. If he wasn’t about to go out on a date with another woman, I’d be worried he was trying to get back together with me.
“I know, but you’re looking forward to reading tonight. I didn’t want my bloody toe to stop you or cause you any more cleaning.” I start to protest, but he holds his finger to my mouth to stop me. “Despite what you say, it was an accident.” He lowers his finger, and my gaze follows it. “All right. I’m going now. Enjoy your night.” He gives me a smile before walking out of the bathroom.
Once he’s gone, I undress and slip into the warm water. It’s pure heaven. I realize I forgot my book in my room, but I’m too comfortable to get out of the tub to get it. Instead, I lean my head back on the tub pillow and sigh. My mind races with images of David and Lonnie. He deserves a woman who will commit to him and him alone. I hope she is that woman for him. Even if it makes me insanely jealous to think of his hands on her body. Of him touching her the way he used to touch me. David would be the perfect guy if he didn’t believe in marriage. If he could be happy being with me without any promise of what was to come. If he cared just a little less. But I guess he wouldn’t be David then. I refuse to be the woman who changes him.
I close my eyes, drifting off to sleep with thoughts of David on my mind.
Chapter Eighteen
David
Lonnie is a blast. She has a ton of stories about the bar and the people who come in and spill their entire life stories to her. It’s amazing how people confide in bartenders like they’re therapists. Maybe that’s why people feel the need to tip them so well. They deserve it for listening to everyone’s problems and pretending to care.
We finish eating our dinner, and I pay the check. It’s still early, and I’m sure Lonnie is expecting me to ask her to go for drinks or back to my place. The problem is I can’t take her back to my place for obvious reasons. While I want Emily to know I’m dating so she’ll stop acting so strange around me, I can’t bring another woman to our shared apartment and have sex with her. It just wouldn’t feel right. I’m hoping Emily doesn’t bring Sebastian or any other guy to the apartment either.
“So,” Lonnie says once we’re back at my car. “Thank you for dinner. I love Mexican food, and I’ve been meaning to try this place.” The Cantina just opened about a month ago, and I’ve been meaning to try it too, so when Emily suggested I have a place in mind, it popped into my head immediately.
“Same here. The food was great. I’ll definitely be coming back.” I shove my hands into the pockets of my dress pants, not sure what to do or say. Lonnie seems like she’s saying goodnight, but she’s not moving toward her car at all. She wanted to meet here, which made sense to me since it was a first date. It shows she’s careful and smart. I definitely like that about her.
“Well, I guess this is good night.” She steps toward me. “Unless you want to go for a drink?” It comes out as a question.
“Sure, if you’re up for it,” I say.
“Great. Anywhere but Last Call. I like to avoid that place on my days off.”
“I don’t blame you. I don’t like to go to the paper on my days off either.”
Before she can respond, her phone rings. “Sorry. Just a second,” she says, fishing it out of her purse. When she sees the screen, her face falls. “It’s Caleb. That can’t be good.”
“Go ahead and take it,” I say.
She smiles at me and brings the phone to her ear. “Hey, Caleb. Please don’t tell me this is what I think it is.” She pauses as he speaks, and then she rolls her eyes. “Okay. I’m on a date, so you’re going to have to give me time to get there.” Another pause. “Yeah. See you in a few.” She returns the phone to her purse.
“Bad news?” I ask, leaning against my car door.
“Caleb is short-staffed tonight. One of the other bartenders called out sick. He’s new, and Caleb is sure the guy had a date or something. Either way, I need to go bail him out.”
I nod. “No problem. It happens.”
She moves toward me, and I stand up straight. “Rain check on the drinks?” she asks.
I smile. “Absolutely. You have my number, so call
me when you know your work schedule for next week.”
“I will.” She’s standing there, waiting for me to kiss her.
I close the distance between us and dip my head, bringing my lips to hers. I don’t expect her to deepen the kiss so soon. After all, we just met, and with the way she reacted to the drunken men at the bar, I figured she’d prefer to take things slowly. But her tongue is doing sinful things in my mouth. I’m completely breathless when she finally pulls away and smiles at me.
“Good night, David,” she says.
“Night.” I watch her walk around to the driver’s side of her Lexus and get inside. She waves before she pulls out of the spot. I get in my car, not sure what to make of that kiss. Lonnie is incredibly beautiful and a lot of fun, but I’m not sure I feel the same way about her that she feels about me. The irony of the situation isn’t lost on me as I drive back to the apartment. Isn’t it just like fate to throw me into a relationship that’s the complete opposite of the one I’m in with Emily? And like Emily, I don’t want to hurt Lonnie. Suddenly, I want to read Emily’s response to Looking for a Commitment because I need some direction on how to handle this.
I’m still mulling it over when I unlock the door to the apartment and step inside. I toss my keys onto the kitchen table. “Emily, I’m home,” I call out.
She’s not in the living room, and it’s way too early for her to have gone to bed. Deciding she must have gone out after all, I head for the bathroom. The door is open, so I walk right in, but the bathroom is already occupied. Emily is asleep in the tub, and all the bubbles have disintegrated. I’m staring at her wet, naked body.
Part of me wants to leave and hope she never finds out I walked in on her like that. But another part of me wonders how she’s still in the tub. The water must be freezing by now. I shield my eyes with my hand and say, “Emily, are you okay?”
She mumbles, and then says, “Ow.”
“Are you okay?” I repeat.
“My God, David, what are you doing in here? I thought you had a date.”
Still covering my eyes, I say, “Sorry. I just got home, and the door was open, so I didn’t know you were in here.”
“I fell asleep.” Water sloshes against the tub, and she cries out in pain.
I lower my hand to see what’s wrong, no longer caring that she’s naked. “What?” I ask her.
“I can’t move my neck,” she says.
It must be stiff since she fell asleep with her head draped over the back of the tub. “What can I do?”
“For starters, cover your eyes! Just because you’ve seen me naked before doesn’t mean I’m okay with you seeing me this way now.”
I turn my back to her this time. “Sorry, but how can I help you if I can’t see you?”
“I’ll be fine. God, this water is freezing. How didn’t I wake up?” By the sounds she’s making, it’s obvious she’s trying to get out of the tub and not having any luck.
“Will you let me help you? Please?” I say, grabbing a towel from the towel bar and holding it out to her.
“I can’t turn my neck at all. Every time I move it’s like someone is trying to take my head off with a really rusty steak knife.”
I smile at her choice of words. “That would take a while.”
“And it’s much more painful than a butcher knife.” She winces in pain again, and I can’t stand here doing nothing.
“Sorry for this, but I have no other choice.” I turn to face her, put the towel on the edge of the tub, and reach into the water.
“David, what are you doing?” she shrieks.
“Getting you out of that tub. Now hold your head still, and apply some pressure to both sides of your neck with your hands. That should steady you as I pull you out.”
She grimaces but does what I tell her.
I reach under her arms and pull her to a standing position. Once she’s on her feet, I wrap the towel around her body. After she’s covered, I loop one arm around her and help her step out of the tub. Then I take another towel and dry off her arms and legs.
“This is crazy. How am I supposed to get dressed or do anything if I can’t move my neck?” she asks as I lead her to her room.
“You’re going to lie down on your bed and let me rub your neck. You need to get the kinks out. You should take some aspirin, too.” I stop in her bedroom doorway. “Stay here for a minute, okay? I’ll get the aspirin and some water.”
“I’d nod, but you know...” she says.
I give her a small smile before rushing to get two aspirin. I grab a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and hurry back to find her trying to get in bed on her own. “You couldn’t wait for me, could you?”
“I’ve been walking since I was ten months old. I figured I could handle it.” She winces as she tries to pull back the bedcovers.
“Stop.” I hand her the aspirin and water before pushing her blankets aside. After taking the aspirin, she hands the bottle of water to me and sits down, slowly lowering herself to a reclined position.
“On your stomach,” I tell her, pushing her pillow aside so it doesn’t prop up her sore neck. “Try to keep your head in that position.”
“How will I breathe?”
“Through your mouth, not your nose. It will work. Trust me.”
She listens, but she whimpers in the process. “This hurts so much.”
“I believe it.”
“Do you have a heating pad?” she asks.
“No, but I’ve been told I have magic hands.”
She swallows so hard I hear it, and then I remember she was the one who told me that when we were dating.
“Okay, I’m going to have to sit on you to massage you properly.”
“Sure. You’ve already seen me naked tonight. Might as well jump on top of me now.” She’s quiet for a second, and I’m not sure if she’s angry, but then she says, “You can’t see, but I’m rolling my eyes right now.”
“Just tell me if I’m hurting you,” I say before carefully climbing onto the bed, positioning one knee on each side of her body. I gently lower myself so I’m sitting on her ass. Her back is still wet since I only wrapped the towel around her and didn’t actually dry her off. Each drop of water looks good enough to lick off her, but I force myself to focus on her neck. I reach forward, but she’s still holding her neck, afraid to move it.
“You’re going to have to lower your hands to your sides,” I tell her.
She lets go of her neck and winces again. I immediately place my hands where hers were, hoping to relieve the pressure.
“Thanks,” she says. “That helps.” She places her arms down at her sides, and I lightly start massaging her neck, running my thumbs up and down the back of it, tracing her spine.
“How’s the pressure?” I ask, not wanting to hurt her.
“You can go a little harder,” she says.
I apply more pressure, and this time the moan that escapes her mouth is more of pleasure than pain.
“Sorry. That feels good, though.”
I stifle a laugh. “No worries.” I’ve missed hearing that moan. Knowing I can elicit that sound by only touching her neck brings a huge smile to my face.
“How was your date?” she asks. “You’re home kind of early.”
“She got called in to work, so we said good night after dinner.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
I’m not. Truthfully, I’d rather be here massaging Emily’s neck than out drinking with Lonnie. Nothing against Lonnie, but Emily has this hold on my heart. Despite my efforts, I can’t shake her. “It’s fine,” I say.
“Do you like her?” she asks, and I’m sure she’s hoping I’ll say yes.
“Lonnie’s great.” It’s not a lie. She is a great woman. She’s just not for me.
“So you’re going to see her again?”
I haven’t given it much thought. I agreed to a rain check on the drinks though, so I guess I should honor that. “Yeah, we’re having drinks one night this week.”
“That’s great. I’m happy for you, David.”
I decide to take a risk, hoping if she thinks I’ve changed my view on relationships, she might be open to the idea of us dating again. “I think you had the right idea after all. Keeping things casual. We have enough on our plates with work right now. No need to complicate things by getting into a serious relationship.”
“So you’re planning to date instead of getting into a relationship with just one woman?” she asks.
“Yeah, I am.” If I have drinks with Lonnie one night and hang out with Emily another night, that’s sort of like dating different women, right? I try to rationalize it in my mind, but since this is new to me, I’m not sure of anything.
I keep massaging her neck, and after about twenty minutes, she turns her head to the side. “I think you did it,” she says. “I’m pretty sure I can move again.”
I slide off her so she can try, but I sit on the edge of the bed so I’m close enough to help her if she’s not ready yet. She turns over and carefully moves to a sitting position. Then she smiles at me as she twists her neck from side to side.
“I was right about your magic hands,” she says.
I’m pretty sure that constitutes as flirting, so I flirt back with, “Well, they’re at your disposal any time you need them.”
Her eyes widen, and then she laughs. “That was such a line.”
“It was. I won’t deny it.” I smile and shrug. “What can I say? I think I’m enjoying this newfound freedom dating has given me.”
“It’s been one day since you started ‘dating.’” She makes air quotes. “You’re hardly an expert.”
“Fine. Then teach me.”
“Teach you? How do you propose I do that?”
“Well, you already told me to have a suggestion of where to take Lonnie for dinner tonight, and that worked like a charm, so what else do you have for me?” I hold my arms out at my sides. “I’m all yours.”
I Belong With You Page 12