Page 37 of Reluctant to Love

“Yes, I did. Jesus, Eleanor, I’m a man not a monk.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. Just…surprised.”

He runs his hands across my soaked skin. It feels heavenly having him touch me like this. I watch him trace the Aquarius tattoo on my thigh before his fingers make their way across the words across my ribcage and then to my upper arm.

“She’s desperate,” he says softly. “Her family money is running out and she’s not very happy I’m succeeding, especially when she thought I’d fail. When I first told her about my idea to reboot the Tristan and Yseut legend, she laughed in my face.”

My hands find their way up to his face. My fingers burrow deep in his beard and caress his cheek. “How can I help?”

“Just let me love you,” he answers before burying his face in my neck.

The water in the shower has turned lukewarm but Roderick’s breath against my skin is hot. His hands skim my waist as he walks us back to the far wall of the shower.

When he lifts his head slightly to look me in the eye, I see the need and desire all bubbling together.

“My heart has always been open for you,” I say. “How can it not be when I see your face every day? I’ve never stopped loving you, Roderick. I’ve just been waiting for you to come back.”