Mitch set Shay on her feet and, after flipping a switch that made the water in the tub churn and bubble, he gently removed the rest of her clothes. Then he lowered her into the wondrously warm, welcoming water.

Shay shuddered violently as her cold-numbed body adjusted itself to the change of temperature. “F-feels go-good,” she said.

Mitch sat on his heels beside the tub and reached out to touch her hair. “You look like a lady in need of a glass of brandy and a good meal. Are you hungry?”

Shay felt guilty surprise. “Yes,” she marveled. “That’s awful, isn’t it?”

“Awful? I don’t follow your logic, princess.” His hand lingered in her hair, and it felt as good to her as the surging warmth of the hot tub.

“I just left my mother’s funeral. I shouldn’t be here.”

Mitch shook his head in exasperation, but his eyes were gentle and so was his voice. “Next you’ll be asking for a hair shirt. You belong here, with me. Especially now.”

“But Hank—”

“If you want Hank, I’ll go and get him.”

Shay bit her lower lip. “You’d do that?”

“Of course I would.”

“I—I’d like to call him later, to make sure he’s okay.”

“Fine.” Mitch bent, kissed her forehead and then left the room. He returned several minutes later carrying a tray of food, two crystal snifters and a bottle of brandy.

Shay ate without leaving the hot tub and then slid the tray away. Mitch was sitting on the tiled edge, wearing a blue terry-cloth bathrobe and dangling his hairy legs in the water.

Having finished her dinner and a hefty dose of brandy, the warm water soothing her further, Shay began to yawn. With a tender light in his dark eyes, Mitch helped her from the tub, dried her gently with a soft towel and bundled her into a bathrobe much like the one he was wearing. That done, he guided Shay to the bed and tucked her in.

He kissed her forehead and then turned away. Shay watched, half-awake, as he shed his blue bathrobe and flung it back toward the bed, just missing the target, and then lowered himself into the hot tub, his tanned and muscled body hidden from view.

Shay was disappointed. “Did you know that you’re beautiful?” she yawned.

Mitch chuckled and braced himself against the edge of the tub, his arms folded on the tiles, his brandy glass in one hand. “Am I?”

“Ummm-hmmm.”

“Sleep, princess.”

Shay stretched, warm in Mitch’s bathrobe and his bed, her mind floating. “I wished for you…and you were there…just like a prince in a fairy tale. You won’t…you won’t leave me, will you?”

“I won’t leave you.” The words were gruff, and they seemed to come from a great distance. “Go to sleep, my love.”

“Come here. Hold me.”

She heard a splashing sound as Mitch got out of the hot tub, and watched as he dried himself with a huge green towel. And then he was there, beside her, strong and warm, his flesh a hard wall that kept the rest of the world at bay.