London Calling by Karen Booth, Karen Stivali Page A

could play something now, if you’d like.”
    “I’d love that.” She paused the movie while he got his
guitar.
    He settled in beside her, plucking the strings and turning
the tuning pegs. “Any requests?”
    “Surprise me.”
    He thought a moment, then chose a ballad, soulful and
heartfelt. His eyes closed as he began to play. The music and lyrics flowed
from him. As he strummed the last notes he opened his eyes to find Jenna
staring, breathless.
    “That was beautiful. You’re going to be famous.”
    He chuckled and reached for her forehead. “How high is that
fever?”
    “I’m serious. You forget, I grew up in the music business.
You’re amazing.”
    He set his guitar down and pulled Jenna’s legs back onto his
lap. “And you’re very kind.” He hit play on the remote and went back to work on
Jenna’s feet.
    The movie was predictable and silly, but it made her giggle.
When it was nearly over he excused himself and headed into the bathroom. He
turned the water on to run a bath, sprinkling in some of the bath salts he’d
picked up at the drugstore.
    “Movie over yet?” he called.
    “Yes.” She got up and wandered into the kitchen. “What are
you doing in there?”
    “Drawing you a bath. It’s almost ready.” He wasn’t sure how
to read the look on her face, somewhere between shock and tears. “Are you
okay?”
    She nodded, moving slowly toward him. Her head tilted to the
side as she craned her neck to look at the tub. “You’re serious.”
    “Of course.” He didn’t understand. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing. It’s just no one’s ever run a bath for me before.”
    “Seriously?”
    Her head bobbed again.
    “Well, then I’m happy to be your first.” He pulled her
closer, kissing the top of her head, happy that she wasn’t squirming away from
him. His fingers went to work on the buttons of her shirt and he kissed her
shoulders, slipping off her bra straps before undoing the hook. He noticed the
tub was full. “Hang on, before I cause a flood.” He turned off the faucet,
dragging his fingers through the water to test the temperature. “You’d better
do the rest or I’ll never be able to let go of you long enough to allow you to
get in the tub.”
    She smiled as she stepped out of her pants. Watching her
ease into the bath was enough to drive him completely mad. He wanted to run his
hands over every inch of her. Instead he settled himself alongside the tub,
resting his head against the wall, unable to keep his eyes off her.
    “You’re really incredible, you know,” she said, the half-teary
look on her face again.
    “It’s just a bath.” He ran his fingers along the edge of the
tub, dipping them into the water enough to gently skim her thigh.
    “No, it’s everything,” she paused, her voice cracking. “I
can’t remember the last time anyone did anything to take care of me.”
    His chest tightened as he heard the emotion in her words.
“What about when you were a kid?”
    She shook her head wistfully. “Not really. I mean my brother
and I had a nanny, but she was more to keep us out of trouble than anything
else. My dad was always busy with work. Sleeping around took up a bit of his
time as well.”
    “And your mum?”
    “She spent most of her time at spas either ‘de-stressing’ or
recovering from having de-stressed with too much booze. Not a lot of
nurturing.”
    “That’s awful.” It pained him to think about her growing up
that way. Such a stark difference from the warm memories he had of his own
childhood.
    She shrugged. “Could have been worse. It just made me really
independent. I’m not used to having people doing things for me.”
    “Well, try to adapt, because I rather like taking care of
you. Though I have to admit the bath was largely a ploy to see you naked.”
    She laughed, but a tear rolled down her cheek.
    He reached over and swept it away, the tugging in his chest
so strong it nearly took his breath away. Apart from his sisters, he’d never
felt