Page 35 of Heaven Help Me

She blinks and gives her head a shake before yelling at me again.

“What the fuck, Deuce?”

Her long legs are wet, one is covered in green slime, and dear heavens, her breasts are magnificent. Definitely not the same as when she was seventeen. These breasts are full and heavy and tipped with tight tan nipples. My gaze takes in the hair between her legs that’s perfectly manicured to a landing strip, right before she slams her hands over the area with a gasp.

I slap my own cheek just to bring myself back to the problem at hand. Is there an intruder? Why is Valentina on the floor?

I do one more sweep of the bathroom, reaching into the shower to turn the water off. There’s billows of steam everywhere and it’s making me irritable. I grab a towel off the rack on the wall and throw it at her. She covers herself, but there’s still miles of leg on display.

Valentina lifts one of them and kicks me right in the shin.

“Ow!” I reach down and grab my leg, placing the gun on the counter by the sink. “What the hell is that for?”

“Why are you busting into my shower, you freak?” she shouts right back.

“I heard a thump!”

“I fell!”

“Are you okay?!” I’m still yelling. I clear my throat and try again in a normal voice. “Are you okay?”

She sighs like she’s pissed, but I see her cheeks have taken on the hue of a ripe summer tomato. “Yes. I’m fine. I just dazed myself.”

I’m feeling a little fucking dazed myself. I let go of my shin and lean back against the counter. I have to cross my legs at the ankle and hope she can’t see the erection that’s absolutely inappropriate and yet is still very much there in the small room with us.

“What happened?”

She waves a hand at her green leg. “I was trying out the sugar scrub Lottie gave me and I lost my balance with my foot on the counter.”

Valentina was using sugar scrub? Huh. I didn’t realize mob bosses cared about soft skin.

“Can you do that with clothes on next time?” I whine, thinking about the fact that I now have rated-R visual evidence in my head that’s going to haunt me the rest of the time Valentina lives here with me.

She gets her feet under her and stands, managing to wrap the towel around her and not flash me. “No. The whole point is to scrub your whole body.”

I take her in, the disheveled hair dancing around her strong shoulders, the wet legs, the body barely hidden by the towel. She’s a mess and yet has never looked more beautiful to me. What would it be like to be able to touch her? To unwrap that towel and take her into my arms? Would she go willingly? Would her spine go soft as she melts into me? Or would she dig her nails into my skin, making me work for every inch she gives?

“Did you?” I ask, voice low as I push off the counter. I need to get the hell out of here.

“What?” she rasps back, gaze on my chest.

“Scrub your whole body?” I have to know for some reason.

Valentina bites her bottom lip, and I don’t think it’s part of her usual act. “Yes. Well, all except this one leg.” She holds out her arm, her voice now a whisper. “See?”

My hand is in the air before my brain registers it’s moving. My fingertips skim the top of her arm from wrist to above the elbow, silky-smooth skin the whole way. Goose bumps rise up behind my fingers. My eyes rejoice in seeing them, like it’s a visual tell that she likes my touch. That she’s as desperate for me as I am for her. That this tension between us is not just one-sided.

Her body bends, softens, until she’s leaning into me, a waft of flowers and lime puffing up between us. I’m all too aware of the thin towel between us. How easy it would be to tug it and get it to fall to the floor. She’s soft and warm and smells so fucking good. Reminds me of how overwhelmed I felt when I was seventeen. Everything about her then sent my head into the clouds and now is no different.

Her breasts press against me, a rapid rise and fall that tells me she’s breathing hard. I dip my head ever so slightly, the scent of her shampoo luring me closer. Her head cocks back, her gaze trailing up my chest, my neck, and then to my chin before locking on mine. Her pupils are blown wide. I have a feeling she’s seeing the same in mine.

A loud wail interrupts…whatever this is.

We both jolt. Valentina darts away from me and grabs my gun before lunging out the door. It hits me at once. It’s the smoke alarm.

Fuck!

Dinner.