Persuading Spring: A Sexy New Zealand Romance (The Four Seasons Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

stepped
in, and turned it up to scalding. The hot water covered her, and she ducked her
head under it and stood there for a long, long time, letting the warmth sink
into her bones, feeling the tension leaving her shoulders. It was like a
baptism of fire, she thought, as she tipped back her face and let the water run
over it. She was washing away the old Birdie, and when she stepped out, she’d
be reborn. For too long she’d waited for Mal—breaking up with him to try to get
him to commit. Old Birdie disgusted her. She didn’t ever want to be that woman
again.
    When her fingers started to turn into
prunes, she washed her face with a bar of hotel soap then finally turned off
the hot water. Stepping out, she dried herself and wrapped the towel around her
hair before surveying the products next to the sink. She picked up the can of
man’s deodorant and used it, then shyly lifted the bottle of aftershave,
removed the stopper, and sniffed it. Warm tones of cinnamon and sandalwood
filtered to her nose with a touch of lemon, making her mouth water. Feeling as
if she was intruding, she replaced the stopper and put it down.
    Luckily, the hotel supplied makeup remover
pads, so she used a couple to get rid of the last remnants of her panda eyes
and threw the pads in the bin. There was no brush though, and she didn’t want
to use Aaron’s comb, so she just braided her hair and tore one of the ribbons
from the torsolette and used it to tie the bottom of the braid.
    Lastly, she had to consider clothing. She
studied the underwear Aaron had supplied with amusement. She’d never worn men’s
boxers before. It felt a bit weird to put on clothing he’d worn next to his…
skin. But what other option did she have? Her own panties were soaked, and the
only other option was going commando in his track pants, and that hardly seemed
fair to the dude.
    Stepping into the boxer-briefs, she pulled
them up her legs and over her butt. They were too big but comfortable enough.
The socks were miles too large, but her feet were cold so she turned the tops
down a few times and left them on. Her lips twisting, she pulled on the track
pants. Even when she pulled the tie tight, they were still too big, but beggars
couldn’t be choosers, so she left them on and tugged the T-shirt over her head.
It fell to her thighs, the short sleeves reaching to her elbows, but at least
she was dry and clothed, so she couldn’t complain.
    She observed herself in the mirror,
somewhat nervously. She looked exhausted and pale, but more composed. She would
rather have stayed in the bathroom while she thought about what to do next, but
it seemed rude, especially when they’d been so kind to her, so she took a deep
breath and opened the door.
    The two of them were on the bed nearest the
window. The boy lay on his front, half watching the TV while he fitted together
a Lego set. Aaron sat next to him, leaning against the pillows, his eyes
closed. As she walked into the room, though, he opened them and surveyed her.
    “Hi,” she said, folding her arms across her
breasts, conscious she wasn’t wearing a bra.
    “Hello, Bridget.” Mateo sat up. “I’m making
a digger, look.”
    She approached the bed and glanced down at
the box of pieces. “Are you following those instructions? That’s clever of
you.”
    “I’m making this one, but you can also make
this one too.” He turned the page to show her. “I’ll do that one when I’ve
finished.”
    “I’d like to see that.”
    “Daddy was going to eat all the ice cream
but I made him save some for you.”
    “Is that so?” She glanced at Aaron. He was
watching her, a small smile on his face. He’d changed out of his wet shirt into
an All Blacks rugby shirt, the home jersey that clung to men’s bodies in all
the right places. Wow. The guy had some serious muscles going on.
    “How are you feeling?” he asked.
    “I’m better, thank you.” She was unable to
suppress a little shiver, still chilled in spite of the hot