Page 97 of Stripping Bare

In retrospect, it was silly and nearsighted. After all, he’d been tilting her world foryears.

“C’mon, King B. You’re amess.”

Her pup flattened his ears back at the prospect of getting under thespray.

“There’s a cookie in it foryou.”

Those were the magic words. He let her place him inside the tub and he backed into acorner.

The shower water felt like heaven on Tessa’s skin, easing the gut-wrenching fear that she hadn’t been able to allow herself to feel while she and Jonah had been racing around town. She slid down the tile to sit, letting everything rain over her. When Badger let out a low whine, she picked him up and held him close. “I was so scared. Were youscared?”

He licked her ear and she rested her forehead against his slickfur.

“So many people in danger and they didn’t have a clue. And when Jonah ran inside the house, I thought he might not come back out. If I’d lost you and him, Iwould’ve…”

She didn’t know what she would’ve done, because her mind wouldn’t allow her to fully form a picture of a world without Jonah in it. It was a vacuum she couldn’t imaginefilling.

And afterward in the car, when he saidI may have failed you once, but never again,her heart had cracked into tinypieces.

How could he possibly believe that he’d failed her? If not for him, she might not be alive. She certainly wouldn’t be the woman she was today. Because of him, she’d been able torecover.

To believe she had the strength to build the kind of life shewanted.

It wasn’t until a knock came at the bathroom door, and Jonah called out, “Tessa, let me in. I can’t stand hearing you like that,” that she realized she was making a deep sobbing sound that resembled a wounded animal left on the side of the road todie.

The knob rattled hard. “Talk to me or I’m busting down thisdoor.”

“I’m okay. Just give me a minute,” she called back, her tight throat making the words come out creaky. “Go to bed and I’ll be theresoon.”

“Tess…” Something thudded against the door as if he’d dropped his head against the wood. “Let me helpyou.”

“I’ve got it under control. I’m serious, just leave me be a littlelonger.”

“If you’re not out in five minutes, I’m comingback.”

Good. He’d jolted her out of a self-indulgent boo-hoo fest. Yes, feelings needed an outlet, but her little breakdown was something else. Something that made her feel raw and incredibly vulnerable. She turned off the water and dried herself and Badger. When she turned to study herself in the mirror, the foggy surface couldn’t hide her swollen, pink-rimmedeyes.

Good thing Jonah liked thedark.

But when she walked across the hall to the bedroom, the overhead light was still on. Jonah was sprawled on top of the covers, his chest bare and the towel unwound but covering theessentials.

He nodded toward the corner. “Brynne found a kennel for Badger, and I put a kitchen towel in there. Thought he might sleep betterif…”

If he couldburrow.

Tessa’s chest felt as if it had been cracked wide open. This man was so much more complex than he looked from the outside. He was insightful and thoughtful and so damn caring, but he rarely let it show, preferring to mask it all behind a dismissive shrug.Why?

“Kennel, King B,” she said, and although Badger gave one longing look at the people bed, he trotted inside the new kennel and scratched at the dishcloth until he’d formed it into a suitablenest.

After giving him the promised treat, Tessa rummaged through the bag of clothes to find a soft cotton chemise and matching yellow panties. She casually dropped the towel to slip on the gown and step into the undies as if she did this in front of Jonah every night. With steadier hands than she’d had earlier, she reached for her hair to pull it out of herface.

“Leave it down,” Jonah demanded, his gaze locked onher.

She shivered at his tone, but released her hair and let it fall down her back. She padded over to the wall switch, but before she could flip off the lights, Jonah spoke again. “I want them on. I want to seeyou.”

But did he want her to seehim?

A lick of awareness went through her, but the red splotches on his body reminded her that he was in pain. He hadn’t followed the instructions he’d been given at the hospital. “You need ointment andbandages.”