“Is this your first hot shower since you moved to Perl Island?”
Vera huffed a laugh. “No one moves to Perl. I was placed there. And yes, this is my first hot shower. It feels heavenly.”
“And you’re spending it washing me?”
“It’s not just washing you, Tobias. I’m getting to know you.” Heat flooded her cheeks again, and she wondered what the hell was wrong with her skin. She wasn’t a blusher.
“I don’t know anything about girls.”
“I could tell that from the weird-ass compliment you gave me.”
Tobias chuckled and took the rag from her fingertips. He rinsed it under the water, then lathered it up and turned her. Gently, he washed around her new bite mark, already half-healed thanks to her shifter abilities.
“What do girls like? Or specifically, what do you like?”
The question caught her off-guard. Partly because she was relaxing by the moment under his soft touch, and partly because no one had ever asked her what she liked before. Not that she could remember, anyway.
“Vanilla scented shampoo and conditioner,” she teased.
“You joke a lot. You never let a conversation get serious. Why?”
Observant bear, already digging at her roots. She joked and smiled to cope with the hard stuff. To take away the sting of having to think about things she didn’t want to. It was a survival mechanism. She couldn’t admit that part out loud to him, though, because he would see how messed up she was. Tobias Silver’s opinion meant more to her than anything else right now. No, it didn’t make sense, but there it was. She liked him, and she wanted him to like her, too. “I like painting my nails, doing my make-up, getting my hair done, and wearing sundresses. I like shaving my legs and looking put-together. Perhaps that sounds silly and super girly to a man like you, but you have to realize I was deep in the wilderness with all men for a long time, and sometimes it felt like I was drowning. Like I was losing myself completely. Perl is no easy place to live, and I was fine getting my hands dirty. But every once in a while, I want to look in the mirror and feel like a woman.” Her voice shook at the end, so she swallowed hard.
Tobias turned her slowly and dragged the washcloth over the length of her collar bone, his face carefully blank.
“I did things to survive,” she whispered.
Tobias’s shoulders lifted with a long inhalation, then he sighed. “I suppose you would’ve had to. There’s nothing wrong with being a survivor, Vera.”
“The girly stuff is a good escape. It makes me feel like before.”
“You mean before you had to become a rugged mountain woman?”
She huffed a laugh and nodded, happy that he wasn’t giving her grief for her admissions.
“You want to go to dinner with me?”
“Are you asking me on a date, McBeefcake?
“Maybe. We can go anywhere you choose.”
“Which, in this tiny town, is the taco place or the hamburger diner.”
He nodded and grinned. “Exactly.”
“Can we do both? Oh, and find somewhere that serves pie. And ice cream. And you aren’t allowed to make fun of how many french fries I eat. And maybe we can get one of those giant pickles from the gas station? And nachos. Do you think the diner serves pizza, too?”
Tobias gave a sexy, deep laugh that stretched his mouth into the biggest grin she’d seen on him. Stunning. “I guess you were deprived on Perl.”
“If I never have to eat another muskrat, it’ll be too soon.”
Tobias shocked her when he pulled her against him. They were such a contrast. Her soft to his steel. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him and muttered, “You’re stabbing me with your boner.”
“Lady, you smell like pheromones, and you look sexy as hell. I like my mark on you, my bear approves of whatever animal you’re hiding. The boner is here to stay. Might as well stop pointing it out.”
“You want to pollinate me,” she teased, snuggling her cheek against his chest.
“You fancy me a bee and yourself a flower, but flowers are delicate and their petals are frail. You’re no flower, Vera. You’re a thistle instead.”
Vera opened her eyes and frowned at the white shower curtain. “What do you mean?”
Rubbing his chin over the top of her hair, he murmured, “Beautiful but dangerous.”
Huh. Tobias might not know a lot about woman, but he sure knew enough about her. One day with the man, and he’d gifted her with the most meaningful compliment anyone had ever given her. He’d rewarded her for holding the serious conversation instead of skittering away from it.
And suddenly, Tobias felt like the dangerous one because, slowly but surely, her heart was tethering itself to him.
Tobias Silver wasn’t just some mate for hire anymore.
Now, he had the power to hurt her.
Chapter Five
“I can’t believe how much you can eat,” Vera joked.