“Come on, Liam. I want to go for a walk.” Restless, I needed to get out and do something. Between performing and regular runs and workouts, I hadn’t been this sedentary in years. My shoulder ached and felt stiff, but my body was healing nicely. My mind just couldn’t stand being cooped up another day.

“Just a minute,” he said, staring into the monitors. “Leo sent over more info on a crazy fan we’ve been tracking.”

I walked to his side and stood over him, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “Okay, I’ll just go and get started. You can catch up.” Tossing my ponytail over my shoulder, I turned to head outside.

“Hey, wait a minute!” He reached out and grabbed my good wrist, pulled me to his side, and slid an arm around my waist while he finished typing with the other hand. “I’ll go with you.”

A warmth filled me as I stood there tucked against him. I draped my left arm over his shoulder and idly played with his hair. We fit. Happiness glowed inside me, spiraled up from my belly, and made me smile.

“Done.” He hit send and stood, absentmindedly keeping me held against him. “You want to try running today?”

“Can we?” I looked up at him, beaming with excitement.

“I think so… if you promise to tell me if your shoulder starts to hurt.”

“Absolutely! I promise!” I clapped my hands. “I have been looking forward to this. Now I just want to know when I can go home.”

“Soon.” The door clicked shut behind us and I started stretching my hamstrings on the porch. I spotted a bald eagle as it soared through the sky above us, held up on the soft breeze of rising air from the valley.

“How soon? Did you find the guy?” I hooked one heel up on the railing and bent over, laying my cheek on my knee and reaching my good hand out to my toes.

“We think so. I dispatched Leo and Ben to pay a visit to our current suspect. I’ll check in with them when we get back.” Liam declined the ballerina stretches and stood on one leg, bending the other up to grasp his toes.

“If it’s him, can I get back on my tour? I’ve missed too many concerts as it is.”

“Very likely.” We stretched together for a few more minutes and then set out. My feet beat a steady rhythm down the dirt road.

It was almost two miles to the access road, and I was toast before I made it halfway there. I bent over, sucking in huge lungfuls of air with hands on my knees. My shoulder shrieked in hot pain.

“Oh my God,” I panted. “I am so out of shape.”

“You okay?” Liam came up next to me, placing a hand on the small of my back. “Let’s sit down a minute.”

“I think I’m going to die.” I straightened up, put my good hand on my chest, and tucked the other close to my ribs.

“Here, take a drink.” He handed me a water bottle from his running pack and guided me over to a rock to sit down. “Maybe this was too soon.”

“Ya think?” I was too winded to filter my thoughts, not that I censored myself very often anyway. “If I can’t even make it to the mailbox, I’ll never make it through a whole concert.”

“You’ll get there.” Liam rubbed slow circles on my back while I caught my breath.

“Maybe we’ll just walk back.”

“I think that might be a good idea.” He was humoring me, but I didn’t care.

I limped into the house after our disastrous run and growled. “I’m taking a bath.” My traitorous body had betrayed me, and I was disgusted with myself. “Dammit,” I shouted as I threw my shoes at the door and listened to them land. “Stupid shoulder!” Thud. “Stupid body!” Thud. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

I couldn’t believe how weak and incapable I’d become. My shoulder hurt for the first time in days. Angry tears streamed from eyes, and I shook as I struggled to peel off my leggings.

Giving up for the moment, I leaned over the lip of the tub to turn on the water. “Ohhh!” I gasped in shock as pain shot through me. I rocked back on my heels and grabbed my shoulder, massaging it gently to calm the spasm.

Liam stood just outside the battered door. Satisfied my anger had run its course, he stepped into the room. “Let me help you." He crouched down and leaned past me, turned the handle and started the water flowing into the big tub.

My frustration rose again at my helplessness. Angry thoughts began to sputter but then relaxd. I still needed Liam’s help. The thought of giving up control to him didn’t make me resent him or panic like it normally did. He had wormed his way into my life, and I was strangely was okay with that.

Steam filled the bathroom, fogging the mirrors as hot water filled the tub. I watched with hooded eyes as Liam opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a bottle of bubble bath, added a capful to the swirling water. Bubbles formed, and he sank his hand through them, checking the temperature. "Is it warm enough?"

“Help me with my shirt,” I purred, rising from my knees to perch on the edge of the tub.

I slowly lifted my arms above my head as far as my shoulder would allow and held his gaze as he grasped the hem of my tank top and lifted it, exposing my skin inch by inch. I heard his quick intake of breath as my breasts came into view, no bra hiding them from his hungry eyes.

“I… uh…” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing convulsively as he let my tank top fall to the floor. Spellbound, his eyes never left me as I stood, straight and tall before him.

“You're not done.” I thrust a hip forward, so he could grasp the waistband of my leggings, baring me completely to his view.

Silently, he complied, peeling the material from me. Finally naked, I stepped one foot and then the other into the fragrant water, completely at home in my skin. “You going to join me?” I asked over my shoulder, flipping my hair until it settled down my back.

The silence stretched between us as he digested my invitation. We had flirted back and forth these last few weeks, neither of us ever crossing that line. I was tired of running, of being scared. I was a grown woman, ready to take charge of my life. I wanted Liam. He made me feel special, safe, and loved. He remembered how I took my coffee. He didn’t resent the time I spent on my music. He supported my career and respected it. Yes, he was paid to be here, but he did so much more than the job required, always going above and beyond to be there for me.

Yes, I was attracted to his lean, muscular frame, his sandy hair, and his brown eyes. But I was also wildly attracted to the man inside, and that was the man that mattered.