“No, she would never spend coins on something so frivolous. She’d put a spot of vanilla behind her ears. Mick brought her an expensive bottle of perfume once. It just sits on her dresser, never used. I think she believes it to be too precious because one of her children gave it to her.”

“She sounds like a remarkable woman, your mother.” With the cloth covering his palm, he glided it over her neck and shoulders, massaging as he went, and she feared she’d never be able to take another bath without reliving these sensations.

He took the cloth only to where the water lapped against her breasts. He didn’t dip there, even though she wouldn’t have objected. He closed his hand around her arm and lifted it from the water. She watched as his jaw momentarily clenched and his eyes shuttered. “You abraded yourself.”

“I scrubbed too hard,” she whispered, “but it made no difference.”

“It’s not harshness that’ll do the trick. It’s tenderness.” He washed her arm with such deliberate care that she nearly wept.

Remarkably, when he was done, she felt as though the skin were pristine. Wherever he touched, she felt renewed, unsullied. Taking the now empty wineglass from her, he proceeded to wash her other arm. “You’re very good at this.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about doing it.”

A jolt of surprise hit her. “You’ve thought about washing me?”

Folding her fingers over his hand, he brought them to his lips and pressed a warm kiss there, all the while holding her gaze, challenging her. “I’ve thought about doing a lot of things with you.”

He’d left her other arm lying along the lip of the tub. Lifting her finger, she grazed the tip of it from his collarbone to the center of his chest and knew victory when his eyes slid closed.

He hated that this strong woman was doubting herself, hated even more that he was having to work so hard not to take advantage of the situation. His true motive had been to make her feel clean again, but when she touched him with little more than the tip of a finger, it was all he could do not to join her in the tub. He’d even keep his trousers on. He just wanted to take her in his arms and hold her close.

Instead he set that lovely hand back on the edge of the tub and moved behind her. “Sit up. I’ll get your back.”

“You’re determined to wash all of me.”