I turned away from him and headed to the bathroom door. “Actually, I’m calling an Uber. I just wanted to say goodbye first, so you didn’t wonder what happened to me.”
“No, don’t go,” he yelled and shut the water. Then he reached his arm outside the shower curtain and grabbed the towel from the rod. He emerged from the shower-tub combo seconds later dripping water with the fluffy white towel wrapped around his waist. “You startled me, that’s all. I’d love to take a shower with you.”
“But you already shut off the water.” It was all I could think of to say.
“Then I’ll turn it back on.” Daniel reached inside the shower and turned the knobs. The water immediately started gushing out of the showerhead again.
But he forgot to close the shower curtain and a puddle started forming beside him. “You’re getting the floor all wet.”
He turned around and pulled the shower curtain, so it was flush with the wall. “Anything else?”
I stared at his taut, glistening body and my heart started to race. I closed the lid on the toilet and sat down. I wanted to blame my lightheadedness on the steamy room, but I knew that wasn’t it. “I’m not sure I can do this,” I whispered as much to myself as to him.
“Now you don’t want to take a shower?” He didn’t sound angry, just confused.
I dropped my head in my hands and sighed. “You must think I’m a lunatic.”
“No, not at all,” he said, but his tone was unconvincing.
“I’m not. Usually.” At a minimum he deserved an explanation. “I told you last night I haven’t slept with anyone since my husband died.”
“I remember.”
“Well, I haven’t slept with anyone besides my husband in a really long time. The thought of being with someone new is… daunting.” Terrifying would be more accurate.
He cracked a smile and kneeled down on the bathroom rug in front of me. “I dated someone for five years before I moved back to Santa Veneta. The first time with a new woman was weird for me too. Although maybe not as weird as this.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Nothing could possibly be as weird as this never-ending first date.”
“Technically, I think we’re on our second date. To my mind, the first one ended when you started snoring last night.”
“God no.” I covered my face with my hands. How much worse was this going to get?
“They were very ladylike snores. Totally adorable.” He pulled my hands from my face. “I hope to hear more of them.”
“Sure you do,” I said sarcastically.
“I really do,” he said and lightly kissed my lips. “Now let’s get you out of these clothes before I run out of hot water.”
He lifted my shirt over my head, and I undid my jeans. When I was down to my bra and underwear I turned my back to him, quickly peeled them off and jumped into the shower.
I was still adjusting the water temperature when he stepped in on the far end of the tub. I stayed facing the showerhead, so he only saw me from behind.
“May I wash your hair?” he asked.
“Um, sure. If you want to.” Another question no one had ever asked me before, not that I’d ever showered with anyone other than Jonah.
He reached over my shoulder and pulled the shampoo bottle from the shower caddy. “Lean your head back.”
I doused my head under the water first then did as he asked, and he began massaging shampoo into my scalp. I don’t know how long the scalp massage continued but I was in no hurry for it to end. When he started moving his thumbs in small circles at the base of my skull, I moaned involuntarily. “You could do this for a living.”
He chuckled. “I used to.”
“Seriously?”
“Didn’t I tell you my mom was a hairdresser?”
“No.” He hadn’t told me anything about his parents other than they’d retired and moved to Arizona, and I hadn’t asked.
“She owned a salon on Main near Fifth. I used to work there on the weekends when I was in high school. I started off sweeping floors and washing towels and later she promoted me to shampoo boy.”
He moved his thumbs from the base of my skull to behind my ears while the rest of his fingers pushed down on the top of my scalp. I’d never had a shampoo this good before, not even at the expensive salon in Beverly Hills I used to go to when I’d lived in LA. “You must’ve been very popular.”
“I was. The tips were great. That’s how I bought my first car. Some of the ladies would only make appointments for the days they knew I worked.”
“I would’ve only made an appointment for the days you worked too.”
Eventually, Daniel took his fingers off my scalp and gently turned me around, so I was now facing him instead of the showerhead. “Time to rinse.”
“Do we have to?”
“I’m afraid so. But we can condition if you’d like.”
I agreed, but he only rubbed the conditioner into my ends.
“It’s best to let it soak in for a few minutes then rinse.”
I nodded and reached for the bar of soap.
