Out of Left Field by Morgan Kearns Page A

When the loud thwack of rubber against wood resonated through the room, he was glad she hadn’t been on the receiving end of that protest. She annoyed him, but he didn’t want to see her hurt. Especially by his idiotic attempts of defiance.
    “ Sorry.”
    An eye roll was all the answer he got. “Would you still like to work with some weights?”
    He grinned, feeling the first tingle of happiness since… Well, it’d been a long time. “Yeah.”
    “ I don’t want you working your arms. Legs only.”
    And wasn’t that like a bucket of ice water to his flicker of cheerful.
    She laughed lightly. “Don’t look so sad. One step at a time, big guy. How about tomorrow we head down to the gym and work out there?”
    Xavier liked the idea with one tiny exception. “The band stays here.”
    “ X—”
    “ No. I don’t want to look like a weakling in front of those guys.”
    One strand of blond hair fought its boundaries, but she was all over it, tucking it behind her ear. Ruby lips pursed and she shook her head. Deep sigh. Long breath.
    “ Okay. Fine. The band stays here.” She turned to untie the band from the doorknob. “You hungry?”
    “ Starved.” He tilted his head and groaned at the pungent scent wafting off him. “But I seriously need to get clean.”
    Understanding radiated in her kind eyes and gentle smile. “Do you need help?”
    Over the last week, she’d helped him with everything and he’d not entertained a sexual thought during the process. Probably because he was too busy being humiliated by the mother/infant act. But right now, her being a mother or him being a child was definitely not on his mind.
    He glanced at her strong, yet delicate hands and envisioned them moving over his skin, spreading soap and seduction in their wake. His body reacted. How could it not? He was a guy for hell’s sake! He dropped his hands to hide which part of him definitely, most insistently wanted her help.
    “ I’m not hard. I mean, it’s not hard.” He shook his head and felt heat rise in his cheeks at her giggle. “No, thanks. I can handle it.”
    Another giggle accompanied her departure, and he did curse then. He let all those words from earlier fly, in living color, right out into the middle of his room. Yeah, he could handle taking a shower, it seemed to be his mouth—and his brain—he couldn’t control.

10
     
    Xavier guessed he shouldn’t have been surprised to find Frankie making lunch in his kitchen. She’d made herself at home and, dammit, he kinda liked having her around.
    She stood at the counter, slathering mayonnaise onto slices of bread. Her quiet hum revealed her tranquility. The knife banged against the glass of the jar. She pulled the utensil out and looked into the bottle like the sound lied and it was full.
    Xavier smiled as she wiped the knife on the edge of the bread, placed it in the sink and wrote mayonnaise on an impromptu list she’d started on a piece of paper attached to the fridge with a magnet.
    Feelings rose and warred at that knowledge. He liked having her here, but she wasn’t staying. Eventually she would leave and he…
    Well, he didn’t give a shit. The sooner she got her big nose out of his business, the better.
    “ Hey, big guy. You hungry?”
    He hadn’t realized he stared at her. Scowled at her actually. “Yeah.”
    “ I’ll make a run to the grocery store for you this afternoon.”
    He nearly bit his tongue clean off to keep himself from snapping at her again. He’d been doing a lot of that lately, and, deep down, he felt bad for it. She was only trying to help. Because it’s her job.
    Shit.
    “ Xavier.”
    His scowl deepened. “What?”
    She smiled. “Have a seat.” At his grunt, she motioned to the table. “After we eat, we’ll work on your shoulder again.”
    “ I’m not using that damned band twice in one day. I think I had to give up a corner on my mancard this morning.”
    She laughed. “I promise you’ll enjoy what I have in mind.”
    His