“Follow me.”

He leads me into the bathroom.

“Oh my God.”

“All you have to do is get undressed and into the bath.”

But I can’t move. The room is lit only with candles, about a dozen of them, scattered about. The tub is full of steaming water and I can smell my favorite orange oil coming from it.

On a stool next to the tub is my Kindle. He sets my wineglass on the stool and turns to me, pulling me in for a tight hug. “Are you okay with this?”

“Only a moron wouldn’t be okay with this,” I reply, and cling to him tightly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. But I think you’ll love it better once you’re in the tub.”

He smiles as he pulls away and begins to help me undress, then helps me into the tub.

“Oh God, this is heaven.”

“Not too hot?”

“It’s perfect.” I sink down and close my eyes, feeling most of the stress slide right off of me. “I might fall asleep here.”

“I’d rather you didn’t drown,” he replies, and begins to tug the pins from my hair. He brushes it gently over the side of the freestanding soaker tub, then twists it into a knot on top of my head so it doesn’t get wet.

“You’re good at this.”

“I enjoy taking care of you once in a while. You’re so independent that these moments are a treat.”

I’m quiet for a moment as he lays my bathtub tray across the tub, sets my wine and Kindle there, and kisses my forehead.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“You’re welcome. I’ll be out in the living room if you need anything.”

He smiles and leaves the room, and all I can do is stare at the glass of wine and the way the golden liquid sparkles in the candlelight. I’d love to read for a bit, but my arms are tired, and the hot water is like a cocoon. I don’t want to lift my arms out of it.

So I lie here and stare at the wine, and think back over tonight, and why seeing an old boyfriend, someone I haven’t seen or thought about in more than two years, would throw me off my game.

Sam wasn’t the nicest guy in the world. The sex was fun, but he was critical and moody, and didn’t like my sense of style. It didn’t take long for me to realize that he wasn’t the one for me, and leaving was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I haven’t been in a relationship since that one, until Mac.

“And Mac is everything that Sam wasn’t,” I whisper aloud, watching the water cascade off my hands as I lift them in and out of the water. “Sam would have never done something this nice for me.”

Mac is gentle and kind. Hell, from the moment I met him on that godforsaken plane, he’s comforted and soothed me like no one ever has before. I don’t know how, but he always knows what I need.

He calms me.

I can sleep with him, for fuck sake.

“Sometimes you don’t know how bad the previous relationships were until you’re in a healthy one,” I remind myself quietly, and I smile. For the first time in my life, I’ve met someone who knows without asking me how to soothe me. How to calm my brain.

How to love me.

He may not say it, but my God, he shows me that he loves me every single day. And I love him too.

I love him so much I hurt with it.

And I want him. Right now.

I slide the tray down and stand, the water sliding off my body and leaving me a bit cold, but I don’t care. I walk out of the tub, and without a towel, into the living room to find him.

Water is running down my body in rivers, leaving goose bumps and my nipples puckered. I don’t care that I’m dripping all over the place.

I just want him.

And I find him, in my chair, reading a book of his own. He looks up when he hears me approach; his eyes flare as they wander down my naked and wet body.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

Without answering him, I slip into his lap, wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him. Long, wet, passionate kisses that leave us both breathless.

“Kat?”

“I need you,” I reply, and straddle him. “I need you right now.”

“I’m yours, baby.” He cups my cheeks in his hands as I unzip his pants, pull him free, and slide over him, making us both sigh. “I’m yours.”

“Thank God because I’m yours too.”

“Good night,” Mia says with a wave as she walks out through the front of the house just two nights later.

“Bye.” I’m the last one here, and I’m about finished as well. Today was a good day. I hired a new employee, much faster than I expected. She’ll start tomorrow, and I’m excited to work with her. She has plenty of experience, and if first impressions are accurate, she seems like she’ll be fun to have around here.

I toss the dirty bar rag into the laundry bucket under the sink and turn to find Mac walking in.

“Mia let me in,” he says with a grin.

“I figured.”

I’m not surprised to see him in the least. Ever since the other night after my bath, he hasn’t been able to keep his hands off me.

I’m not complaining.

And I’m not just talking about sex, although there’s been a lot of that. Whenever he’s near, his hand is on me. Holding mine, resting on my back, my thigh, playing with my hair.

He’s a very affectionate man, and I didn’t realize until now that affection is something I’ve been lacking in my life.