Jamie Pope - Kissed By Christmas

“It’s okay.” He stroked his hand down her back. “I know you’re in pain.”

“It’s not that. You smell good and your body is so warm and I miss my family. It’s been a long time since I’ve been hugged.”

“It must have been hard to be away from your family on the holiday.”

His parents were a few hours away in New Jersey so it hadn’t been that long since he had been hugged, but he couldn’t think of the last time he’d had a beautiful woman wrapped around him. He dated, frequently. He enjoyed women, but lately it had just been dates. He hadn’t invited anyone back to his place. He hadn’t spent the night at anyone else’s. He could have, but ever since his twin had gotten married he’d felt off. Odd. Like there was something missing in his life. Virginia was so happy. The women that Asa dated didn’t make him happy. They were just someone to pass the time with.

It was strange to be having those kinds of thoughts while he was holding a woman he barely knew, but he couldn’t stop them.

“I’m fine now.” She pulled away from him and he found himself missing her warmth. He should just go back home and forget about her. His mind could be soothed now. She was a little banged up, but he was sure she would be fine.

“You should take a hot bath with Epsom salts. It will make you feel better.”

“That sounds amazing.” She moaned a little and it made him harden just a bit. “But there’s a problem.”

“What?”

“I don’t have either of those things.”

“You don’t have a bathtub?”

“Have you seen the size of this place?”

He looked around him. He really hadn’t paid attention to it before, but it was tiny. Just one long room. He could see the entirety of it from where he stood. But it was cozy. It looked like her. She had a white gauzy curtain around her bed, which was made with a fluffy white-and-black floral-printed comforter. There was a small love seat beside it and a vintage wood desk that had been painted a soft blue. Besides the old fireplace that Asa was sure was no longer functional, there was nothing else to the space. They were standing in her kitchen. He turned around to see that her bathroom only had a shower.

“I have a tub.”

“My place could fit inside of your place three times. How can you afford it? Do paramedics make that much?” She looked pained then. “That’s one of those questions I’m not supposed to ask.”

“I happened to be there when the owner of the building was hit by a livery cab. I stabilized him until the paramedics arrived on scene.”

“You saved his life,” she said softly.

“No. I did what I was supposed to do. But he was grateful and he tracked me down to thank me. When he found out where I was living he told me his son was moving out of this building and offered the apartment to me at the same price his son was paying.”

“Oh. Did you follow him home to check on him, too?”

He grinned at her. “No. But I did visit him in the hospital.”

“Are you sure you’re a real person? No one cares that much.”

“I have a family. If it were my father, I would have wanted somebody who went through medical training to be there with him until help arrived. And you made me think about my sister. I wouldn’t want her hurt and alone in a strange city.”

“I’m not sure that I could ever be that good of a person.”

“I’m sure you’re wrong.” They looked at each other for a long moment, the urge to pull her closer and wrap his arms back around her growing stronger.

“I hate you a little,” she said changing the subject. “You mentioned the word bath and now it’s all I can think of.”

“You can take one at my place. My tub is pretty big.”

Her eyes widened. “With you?”

“Alone. Unless you really want me there. I thought we made it clear that I wasn’t going to try anything. I try to stay away from women with fresh head injuries. You don’t have to take me up on my offer.”

“But I will.” She turned away from him and grabbed a robe out of her closet and some fresh pajamas. He knew that this wasn’t the typical favor that one neighbor did for another but he couldn’t take back the offer. He wasn’t ready to leave her alone just yet and knew his instincts were right when he saw how slowly she moved, like her body was stiff with pain.

A few minutes later they were in his bathroom, which by New York City standards was huge, with a deep tub and a wall with tiles that had been salvaged from old buildings. The shower was separate from the tub and was enclosed in glass.

It was a million times better than his last place and as he sat down on the side of the tub to turn on the water, he knew it would take an act of God to get him to move out of this place.

“I can definitely tell that a man lives here, but this bathroom looks like it has been designed by a woman.”

“It might have been. The guy who lived here before me moved out because his fiancée left him. He moved to LA.”

“Oh, I know that story.”

“Do you?”

“Why do you think I came to New York?” She gave him a small smile. “My fiancé called off our wedding just before I was supposed to walk down the aisle. He wasn’t sure if I was the kind of wife he wanted, or if he loved me enough to spend forever with me.”

“Stupid bastard.” He got up, brushing past her to grab the Epsom salts and lightly scented oil and bubble bath he kept under the sink.

“Why do you think he’s the stupid one? It could be me. You don’t know.”

He looked at her for a long moment. “I know.” Any man who broke up with a woman like that after he asked her to marry him was cruel.

She gave him another soft smile. There was a sweetness about her and he wanted to pull her mouth to his just to see if he could taste it.

“You look like a man who has run a lot of baths for women,” she said as he added everything to the hot water.

“I’ve been known to take a bath from time to time. I was a college football player. I took a lot of hits and last year I did a Spartan Sprint and dislocated my elbow. The hot water usually soothes it when it starts acting up”

“A Spartan Sprint? Is that one of those 5K mud runs?”

He shook his head. “My brother-in-law and I did a long-distance one. Twenty-seven obstacles. There was fire, mud and barbed wire. We would have been the fastest team if I hadn’t slipped.”

“That sounds like my worst nightmare.”

“We’re going to do another one in Miami in March.”

“Crazy. I can barely walk down the street without falling and you sign up for death runs.”

“You sound like my mother.”

They grinned at each other for a moment before he looked back at his tub that seemed inviting. He had never taken a bath with a woman. He liked his private time, but it was something he might like to try with her.

“I’ll leave you alone now. Take as long as you want in here.”

“Thank you, Asa.”

He nodded and left her.

He settled in to read, but he couldn’t concentrate on the words because his thoughts kept returning to the presumably naked woman in his bathroom.

A knock on his door saved him from trying to go back to his book. He found his mother standing there. She was looking fashionably proper, with her hair swept up elegantly and wearing a gray wool coat that would probably never go out of style. Dr. Andersen might have a PhD in advanced mathematics, but she was no absentminded academic. She could intimidate nearly anyone she came across and that was why Asa was uneasy about her unexpected appearance at his door. It had nothing to do with the woman in his bathtub.

“Mom? Hey. What are you doing here?”

She breezed past him with a smile on her face. “Do I need an excuse to see my baby boy?”