“No.” Tex hissed like he was in pain. “You’re really not.”
Ignoring him, I left my bra on and pulled down my jeans. Bra and underwear were safe, right? Without speaking I started pulling his clothes from his body. First his shirt, or what was left of it since it was so stained with blood. What was once white looked red and horrifying.
He winced when I pulled it over his head.
Damn the man. It would be impossible to get used to the way Tex’s muscles freaking hugged his midsection like they were too swollen to do anything else but stick out and be sexy.
Clenching my teeth I moved my hands to his jeans and slowly undid the button. Tex looked away quickly. Right, no eye contact. Like a prostitute. Or did they make eye contact and just not kiss?
Yeah I was so out of my league.
I could do this. I could help.
I slowly unzipped his jeans, the sound turning me on way more than a simple noise should, and whispered, “I need you to lift a bit.”
“‘K.” His voice was barely audible as he pushed against the countertop on each side and lifted his body up so I could slide the jeans off. The minute I slid them past where the shot grazed him, he swore.
“Sorry.”
“Not—” he heaved. “—your fault, Mo.”
“Boxers.” I licked my lips.
His gaze finally met mine. “Boxers?”
“We need to take them off.”
He nodded three times before lifting himself up again. I jerked them off as quickly as possible and turned away. The last thing I needed to be doing was attacking him with my eyes while he was injured.
“I’m ready.” His deep voice ripped me to shreds, made me want to push him against the wall and demand he love me. Demand he never leave me. Ask him to stay…
“Okay.” I turned and looked.
And immediately wished I had never fallen for Tex.
Because no man would ever compare to the broken one in front of me.
My heart beat to fix him. My soul yearned to join him.
“Alright.” I saluted. “Just think of me as your grumpy old nurse.”
Tex eyed me up and down. “Yeah you look nothing like a grumpy old nurse. In fact, I’d probably purposely walk in the line of fire in order to get patched up by you.”
My lungs were paralyzed.
Air didn’t come.
Words ceased.
So I nodded as I helped him to his feet and then stepped into the shower with him, leading him to the bench and pointing the shower head towards his body.
“I feel like a child.” Tex smiled wide. “Do I look helpless? Be honest, Mo. I can always tell when you’re lying. You avert your eyes and put your hands behind your back like your hiding cookies.”
“I do not!” I rubbed my hands and put them behind my back without realizing it. Tex pressed his lips together and nodded his head towards me.
“Really? You don’t?”
I unleashed my hands and returned his smile. “It all started with that first stolen cookie when I was six.”
“Liar.” Tex stretched out his legs and winced. “It started when you were five… with the piece of chocolate I told you to steal.”
I gasped. “I forgot about that!”
“The girl’s got a weakness for the dark side, don’t you, Mo? Your grubby little hands stole Nixon’s dark chocolate and then you didn’t want to have to give it back, so what did you do?”
I folded my arms across my wet chest. “I ate it.”
“Not it.”
“I ate them.”
“How many? I forget?” He chuckled.
“Ten mini candy bars and then I threw up all over my church shoes.”
Still laughing Tex reached for the soap. “One of my top ten Mo moments.”
“Ten?” I joked. “You have a top ten list?”
“Hell yeah I do.” Tex soaped up his body but cringed when he hit the sliced skin on his leg, so I bent down and started slowly cleaning the blood away with a wash rag and the soap.
“So…” My hands moved seamlessly across his leg. “Name a few.”
“Hmm…” Tex leaned his head back against the tiled wall. “The day you wore that kick-ass swimsuit.”
“The white one?”
“Yeah.” Tex’s voice lowered. “I wanted you so badly that day but I knew it was too soon, so I waited. Good things come to those who wait they say.”
“And did they?” I asked.
“Did they what?”
“Did the good things come?”
Tex was silent for a few seconds then said, “They come and go… like life.”
“Another moment?” I moved to his other leg and washed up and down.
“When you smiled.”
“What?”
“Each time you smile.” Tex shrugged. “It’s a new moment, so I always say when you smiled at least that’s how I keep track in my brain. Each time you smile is a new moment so I store it and I tell myself that’s my favorite one right there.”
I smiled.
“See? New moment. Mind blown.”
I shook my head and sucked on my bottom lip before moving the soap up his thigh and across his stomach. With a groan he closed his eyes. “Best nurse ever. We should get you a button.”
“A button?”
“Yeah a button that says number one nurse or something like that. Put it on all your clothes… good plan, right?”