Page 53 of Protecting Kelli
“Don’t. I get first dibs on the room service, remember?” Flash joked.
He was rewarded with her smile. “Well, don’t eat it all. Save some for me.”
In response, Flash dropped his arms and shifted to her side. He kissed her temple, ran his hand lightly over the back of her head, then backed toward the door.
“I will,” he reassured her, shutting the door as he left,her gentle smile burned into his brain as he lost sight of her.
It took a few moments for him to regain some control over his emotions. She was right there, on the other side of the door. Even so, he had to remind himself that she was fine. No one was going to break into the room through the wall and hurt her, or steal her away from him.
Forcing himself to step away from the door, Flash went into the bedroom and saw his own suitcase on the bed. He opened it and grabbed his toiletries and some clean clothes. In the kitchen, he brushed his teeth for what seemed like five minutes straight. That was one of his favorite things to do when he returned from missions. Cleaning his teeth properly. Tonight was no exception.
When he was done, he didn’t dare sit on the couch in his dirty, smelly swim trunks and T-shirt. So he paced.
He couldn’t stop himself from imagining what Kelli looked like in the shower. The memory of her in that black bathing suit, perched on his lap as they floated down the river in the same inner tube, struck him hard. The woman trulywasa goddess, and she had no idea.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, and Flash was glad for it. He needed to stop thinking about Kelli’s body…and what it would look likewithoutthe suit.
When he opened the door, his vision filled with three carts covered with as many dishes as would fit on them. The attendants wheeled them in and put everything on the table and kitchen counter. The room filled with the most delicious-smelling food. It made Flash’s belly clench painfully. He wanted to uncover every dish and stuff whatever was on each into his mouth, like an uncivilizedheathen. But he restrained himself. Barely. He couldn’t stand to eat without Kelli.
As if she could smell the food from inside the bathroom, the water shut off. Moments later, the door opened and her head appeared.
“Oh my God, that smells so good. I could smell it in the shower!”
Steam wafted around her as she peeked out the door, and Flash could see she was wrapped in one of the huge towels the resort was known for, swathed from chest to calves. Aside from her naked shoulders, she was more covered than she’d been in the last two days, and yet to him, she was even sexier. Her skin was clean and flushed from the heat of the water, and the smile on her face seemed brighter.
This was a woman who wasn’t currently thinking about how her body compared to anyone else’s, how vulnerable she was in a room, naked under her towel with a man she’d met only a few days before. She was living in the moment. Focused on food and only the food.
“Get dressed and get out here, woman, and we can check out what MacGyver ordered for us.”
Her head disappeared and the door shut behind her.
Flash grinned. He made a mental note that when his woman was hungry, nothing got in her way.
His woman.
Yeah, he liked that. A lot.
Kelli reappeared minutes later, skin still flushed, wearing a pair of loose cotton pants and a sweatshirt. She inhaled deeply and another happy smile broke out across her face.
“I’ll never take food for granted again,” she said. Then she turned to him. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
Flash reached for the nearest dish to uncover it, but Kelli stepped toward him, shaking her head. “No! I meant, it’s your turn in the shower. It’ll be slight torture waiting for you to get done, but it probably was for you too, me being in the shower when all this food came.”
“You don’t have to wait for me. Go ahead and start while I’m showering.”
Kelli stubbornly shook her head. “No. There’s no way I’m going to eat without you.”
Damn. This woman. She slayed him. “I’ll be fast.”
“Take your time. The shower is awesome. The pressure is perfect.”
That reminded him. “I need to check your head wound.”
“After. Shower, Flash. It feels amazing. I would never deny anyone else feeling the way I do right now, especially you. The food will be here when you’re done. I’m not going to die of starvation if I have to wait another twenty minutes or so to eat.”
It wasn’t going to take him twenty minutes to shower. That was a given. Still, Flash wanted to hug her. Wanted to bend her over his arm as he’d done in that damn bus and kiss her the way he ached to. But now that she was squeaky clean, he didn’t want to touch her with his disgusting self.
Knowing if he opened his mouth, he’d say something that was too intense, he simply smiled, then turned and headed for the bathroom.
