Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lara

Sighing, I melt further into the hot water. Even after what must have been a good thirty minutes, the hot bath still soothes.

I hadn't even realized how cold I was until I lay down. Bubbles up to my chin, I'm slowly losing the fight to stay awake. Even the pain in my shoulder, ribs, and ankle has receded.

"How're you doing in there?" A voice sounds through the door, disturbing our peace.

Rolling her eyes, Helen lifts her head from the magazine she's been flicking through, sitting just a few feet away.

After the first few embarrassing moments of a stranger helping me undress, where I prayed the floor would collapse and take me with it, having Helen in here hasn't been so bad. Plus, it somehow helped when she told me she'd helped Charlie, her daughter-in-law, bathe after she'd given birth to their first grandchild.

"No, I drowned her in the bathtub, Michael. I'm just cleaning up the crime scene."

The door immediately opens, showing a panicked Michael. Concern is etched all over his face as his wide eyes frantically take in the room.

His face darkens when he sees his mother perched on the closed toilet lid and me almost entirely submerged.

"You're not funny." He glares.

"I'm also not incompetent." Helen tuts, going back to her magazine.

Suitably chastised, Michael gives a cute smile. One that tells me Kaleb isn't the only charmer in the family.

Glancing up, Helen scrunches her nose at her son, returning his smile. "You can leave us alone now, dear."

"She should get out now. She'll prune soon."

Helen glances at her watch. "You go on and head to bed. I'll help Lara."

Michael hesitates, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I . . ." He struggles before dropping his hand. "I want to tuck her in."

My stomach flutters at his words .

"You're a sweet boy, Michael," Helen whispers, ducking her head, but it's not hard to see the way she blinks quickly.

"So?" Michael asks, tilting his head back toward his bedroom.

Helen doesn't bother to look up from where she's reading her article. "When she's good and ready. Not a moment before." This time, she does raise her head, her emotional gaze finding mine. "You ready, dear?"

"Nope." I smile at her. Lifting my injured ankle out of the water, I wiggle my toes and roll my foot.

The room stays quiet, so I lift my head. Helen has gotten lost in her reading, while Michael's eyes are fixed to where my leg just disappeared.

"What?" I blush.

"Nothing." He grins. "Well, nothing I'm going to say in front of my mother."

"Michael!" Helen and I chastise him at the same time, not so lost in her reading, I guess.

The three of us are smiling as he squeezes his large body out of the bathroom without opening the door any more than he has to.

Kaleb's probably still with him.

I bite my lip. Maybe it is time to get out.

"I should probably get out," I say, sitting up.

"You sure? Don't let him rush you. Besides, it never hurts to make a man wait." She grins.

I laugh at her words. "I'll try to remember that."

Standing, she moves, the towel waiting on the vanity. "He always has been a charmer, that boy. Had to be, I guess." Her last few words barely float over to me, muttered so low.

In the mirror, I catch sight of her wiping away a stray tear.

"I'm so glad he found you." Her voice wavers, and our eyes lock in the reflection. "He's the baby I always worried about. Sam is social and outgoing. Kaleb, well, he was a troubled teen, but he was older than Michael and Daniel had been when they first arrived, and he knows people. He's cheeky and charming. Daniel doesn't need that kind of love, at least not before he met Charlie. But Michael . . ." She shakes her head.

Sniffling, Helen wets her lips. "Michael's whole world is his brother. He loves us, and I know that, but Michael's whole life has been about filling a debt and caring for Daniel however he could."

She turns, giving me the same soft look as when she cradled my face earlier. "I just wanted more for him."

Just like earlier, I tell her, "We're not like that."

"You will be."

I don't argue because I'm not sure what Michael and I will be after tonight.

"Let's get you out of that bath so your man can tuck you into bed, huh?" she asks, shaking out a large bath towel.

Her words nudge at me until I can't help but say, "I'm not sure he wants to be my man."

Leaning my hip on the counter, I slowly dry off one-handed while Helen rubs the end of my hair, gently running her fingers through the damp strands as she goes. "He's never brought a girl home before."

"He didn't bring me. Sam did."

"True." She nods. "Something her father and I are punishing her for," she adds quickly.

And Kaleb will. But I keep the thought to myself.

"I have known Michael since he was seven years old, yet I've never seen him look at someone the way he just did. Never heard one of his brothers refer to someone as his girl either."

"That was just Kaleb joking." I shrug.

"Maybe," she agrees, helping me step into some red pajama bottoms.

"Why else would he ask Kaleb to carry me up here and not do it himself?"

Pulling the tank top over my head, I don't sense the shift in the room until I see Helen's face.

Her lips have thinned, and she won't look at me. Instead, she fusses with the towel, releases the tub plug, and lets the water out.

"Helen?"

Her whole body stills, her back facing me. "It's not my place."

"Is it something I need to know?" I ask, panicked. This woman was just insisting her son was interested. Why has she clammed up now?

Wrapping her arm around my waist, we slowly make our way to the door. Just as she's about to open it, Helen pauses. "Michael doesn't like to be touched. "

I frown. "He touched me." Hearing how that sounds, I rush to add, "Before I mean, outside."

Helen shrugs. "He can give small touches but nothing big, except with Daniel. Those two have a bond like it was forged in hell. And I guess it was."

He didn't carry me because he couldn't. My heart breaks at the idea of what could cause a man to be that way. And I'd taunted him.

We step out of the steamed bathroom. Michael and Kaleb are instantly on their feet, like they've been worried we couldn't manage.

Michael stands a few inches taller than his brother, but the width of his body catches my breath. Michael is broad. His biceps strain against his jacket, and the T-shirt does nothing to hide his muscled chest. Everything about his body is evenly proportioned to match his height.

The man is perfect.

My eyes dip lower, my mind bringing back the feel of his body looming over mine. I can't help but wonder if it really is proportioned everywhere. From what I saw earlier, I don't think that will be an issue.

God bless gray sweats.

Kaleb is muscular but somehow still slim, like some of the other runners I see. He might be smaller than his brothers, but he is still above average height. His bulk might not hit you in the face like his brothers', but I felt his strength earlier when he carried me. Kaleb hadn't struggled, and it was hard to ignore how his abs rippled as he brought me into the house .

"All warm and clean." Helen smiles.

"Perfect," Michael says, his possessive gaze rolls over me, scanning my face first. His eyes drop to my breasts, down over my good leg, to my bare toes, and back up to my chest. His attraction is clear, so why does he keep pulling back?

Helen's words ring through my head.

Michael's watchful eyes take me in again.

My body reacts to his appraisal. My breasts grow heavy, my nipples beading fast. The thin cotton does nothing to hide them.

Worrying his lip, Michael gestures for Kaleb to help. Lifting me off my feet, he carries me across the room, placing me gently on the bed next to where the covers have been folded back.

"I'll leave you kids to it, but the pair of you get to bed soon," Helen tells her boys. "We've all had enough for tonight. Breakfast will be at noon, so sleep in."

"Thank you," I tell her.

Her eyes flicker between myself and Michael. "You're very welcome. Anything for family. That's our motto."

I blush at her words.

Turning, I slide my feet under the covers, careful not to catch my tender ankle. Kaleb leans over to pull the covers farther up the bed.

"I got it," Michael tells him, pushing off the set of drawers and walking over .

"Night, sis." Kaleb grins, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Kaleb," Michael warns, but then turns his furious gaze to me, and his face softens immediately. "Lie back."

Turning away from Kaleb's retreating back, I do as I'm told.

"How are you feeling?" Michael kneels beside me. The fingers of his left hand skim my shoulder, making me shiver.

"Better."

His large hands squeeze my hips before tucking the covers tight to my body. "As snug as a bug."

Satisfied I'm not going anywhere, he folds the top of the cover so that it sits under my chin.

My eyes drop to his mouth, my breath coming quicker.

Softly, the back of his fingers brush over my cheek, the same cheeky smile as earlier taking over his face. His thumb wipes over the skin of my forehead where Kaleb kissed me a few moments ago.

My heart flutters when he replaces Kaleb's kiss with one of his own.

"Good night, princess. I'll be next door in Daniel's room. If you need me, just shout."

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I just nod, unable to speak.

His large body stills in the doorway, illuminated by the hall light. I can just make out his sad expression when his face turns back into the dark room. "I wish I was different. That I was better, but I'm just not."

Somehow, I know he's talking about more than just a good night kiss. Disappointment consumes me, and for the first time tonight, I cry.