The Proposal (The Proposition #2)(30)

His chuckle echoed off the bathroom walls. Sticking his hand in the shower, he gave her the body wash. “I already put your shampoo in there.” He closed the shower door behind him. Emma didn’t dare glance back to see if he’d dropped his boxers or not. “Want me to wash your hair?”

“You seriously want to do that?”

“Of course. Besides it’s not like you’re going to let me wash the good parts anyway.”

A giggle escaped her lips. “I thought you were going to behave,” she protested.

“I am. That’s why I want to keep my hands busy with your hair.”

“Fine then.”

Taking the shower nozzle, he brought it to her head, soaking her hair. Once it was fully wet, he squirted the peach smelling shampoo in one hand and then worked up a lather.

She couldn’t help moaning as his fingers massaged her scalp. “Oh God, that feels so good.”

“I’m glad you like it. If I end up getting fired for taking this time off, maybe I have a future in cosmetology.”

Emma laughed. “I can’t quite see you doing hair for a living.”

“Me either.”

“You know, you washing my hair like this reminds me of Out of Africa when Robert Redford washes Meryl Streep’s hair,” Emma remarked.

“My mom loved that movie.”

“Really?”

Aidan laughed as he started rinsing her hair. “Yeah, she loved anything with Robert Redford. She used to say he reminded her of a blonde haired version of Pop.”

“Oh my God, now that I think of it, Patrick does look a little like Robert Redford!”

“I can’t believe he hasn’t already mentioned it to you. It used to give him a big head.”

“Hmm, an inflated ego? Sounds like a Fitzgerald family trait.”

“Ha, ha,” he replied. When Aidan’s fingers ran over the ridge of her scar, she tensed. “Em, what’s this?”

The sponge she had been bathing with fell from her hands and onto the tile floor. “It’s nothing. Just an old war wound.”

“It doesn’t feel like nothing.” Aidan’s hand left her head and came to rest on her shoulder. “Tell me.”

She hugged her arms around her chest. “It’s a reminder of a very painful time in my life when I did something very stupid.” When Aidan’s hand remained frozen on her shoulder, she sighed. “After my mother died, I was so alone. My grief for Travis was still very fresh. There was no husband, no father, no mother...I couldn’t see through the dark clouds that I still had Grammy and Granddaddy.”

A tremble ran through her body as she let the skeletons of her past dance precariously around her. “One night when I was in the mountains, I got up in the middle of the night and got into the car. I started flying over those curvy roads, hoping another car would come along, and I could end it all.”

“Oh God,” Aidan muttered, his hands squeezed her shoulders tight.

She glanced back at him. “I slammed into a tree instead. And even though it totaled the car and gave me that horrific scar, I walked away.”

“Was that the only time you tried to…” She could tell he couldn’t bear to say the words.

Emma gave a quick nod. “After that night, I knew it was meant for me to stay alive—to try to live a happy life for my parents and for Travis. I found a really good therapist, and she, along with my family and my faith, helped me through it.”

“Thank you for sharing that with me.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on the crown of her wet head. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“You really are.”

“What I did was really stupid and selfish and —”

Aidan shook his head. “I’m not going to judge you, Em. I’ve never had to go through the hell that you have. I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Thank you.”

He turned off the water. Glancing back at her, he asked, “All clean?”

She laughed. “Yes, all clean.”

He opened the shower door and went over to get her a towel and her robe. She was glad to see he still had on his underwear. Although with it soaked through, she had a very fine view of the imprint of his ass.

Rolling her eyes at her out-of-control hormones, she turned her gaze back to the tile. When he handed her the towel, she started drying off her arms and legs. He pulled her hair up and wrapped another towel around her head.

“Are you getting hungry?”

“Umm, hmm,” she murmured as she slid into her robe.

“What sounds good?”

She arched her brows in surprise. “You’ll fix anything I want?”

“Yep. Or go out and pick it up.”

“How about some of your shrimp scampi?”

Aidan nodded. “While you’re drying your hair, I’ll fix it and bring it to you.”

“Are you going to bring it on a silver tray with a rose bud in a crystal vase?” she asked, with a grin.

“Always that mouth,” he muttered as he headed out of the bathroom.

Emma giggled as she got out her hair dryer. She eased down on the toilet seat before Aidan could order her to do it. Once her hair was dry, she slid into a pair of pajamas and got into the bed. Beau happily climbed up beside her.