My Remedy (Open Door Love Story Book 3) by Stacey Wallace Benefiel Page B

another.
    “We should shower,” Duncan says, tucking his chin and smelling himself. “I’d like to at least start off clean before we get all sweaty again.”
    “Oh yeah?” I say, trying to be coy. I tuck my chin, wince because it’s for sure bruised to hell, and then smell myself. Ripe. “Oh. Yeah.”
    Duncan takes my hand and leads me to the bathroom. He turns on the water and we peel our sweaty workout clothes off.
    I start pulling my sports bra over my head and it rolls up, getting stuck under my arms. “Um, I’m completely mortified because I usually go through this process in the privacy of my own home, but I’m either going to have to contort my body into several unattractive positions or you’re going to have to help me take this bra off.”
    Duncan stands there, completely naked, in all of his tan and rippled glory, with his hands on his hips, smirking. “I’d love to help. I mean, it’s not every day a beautiful woman asks me to take her bra off, but you have to get over this idea that your being trapped with your arms over your head, naked, is unattractive. And I think the best way to overcome this is for me to stand here and watch you work it out yourself.”
    “Pull this bra off of me, or you’re not getting any,” I say. I’m such a liar.
    “Yup. I’m gonna call your bluff.” He reaches down and starts stroking himself. “Because now you’re naked, with your arms trapped above your head, and you’re a little bit pissed off. This might just be enough for me.”
    “Fine!” I bend over.
    “Uh-huh.”
    “You suck.” I inch the fingers on my right hand down my back until I can get a hold of the bra and then, like Harry Houdini before me, I practically touch my shoulders together in front and I pull with all of my might, raking the stupid thing over my head. Freed, I throw it in Duncan’s face and step into the shower.
    Duncan follows me in and shuts the glass door. I stand underneath the water, facing him, not letting him get in the stream, furiously lathering my hair.
    He takes my hands away from my head and starts gently washing my hair. “You’re beautiful when you have shampoo in your hair, you’re beautiful when you’re trapped in your sports bra, you’re beautiful when your chin is all bruised and turning blue. I like everything about you. Even the messy and confused and awkward parts. Even the selfish, self-preserving parts. I have made a searching and fearless inventory of how I feel about you, and while I’m still working this step, I think it’s safe to say that I’m falling in love with you.”
    I slide my arms around his waist and pull him to me, letting him feel the warmth I’m feeling. “I’m falling in love with you, too.”
    I rinse my hair and switch places with him so he can wash his. I soap up with some body wash from a small fancy spa bottle – discovering that’s the smell I always associate with him.
    “One of my buddies in the Army turned me on to that stuff.” He holds a finger up in front of his lips. “Shh. Don’t tell.”
    “Was this buddy a woman?” I ask. Interested, uh, curious, uh, kind of jealous of the person he’s talked about freaking fancy body wash with.
    “Nope.” Duncan grins. “But his wife who works at that spa is.” He palms some of the suds from my breasts and rubs them on his chest.
    I squirt a little more from the bottle into my hand and lather myself up everywhere.
    We “clean” ourselves and each other off until the water begins to run cold, which is just about the time things between us are running really hot.
    “Let’s get out,” I breathe as Duncan nips at my shoulder.
    He reaches behind himself and shuts the water off. He gets out of the shower first, grabs a towel from the hook on the wall and hands it to me before getting one for himself.
    Duncan dries off quickly and then takes my towel from my hands, and kneels down, drying my legs and feet. He hangs the towel back on the hook and then turns to me. “I