Read Online Black Flame by Ruby Laska - Free Book Online Page A

so that the bubbles came up to her chin.
    “Also, if your iPhone is submerged, the odds of irreparable damage are high.” Jimmy grabbed the phone from the tub and placed it on the counter as far away from the tub as possible. His heart was beating irregularly and he found it hard to keep his eyes off the naked woman in the tub.
    “Don’t you knock?” she demanded. “Hand me that washcloth.”
    Jimmy took a folded pink cloth—Jayne’s, no doubt—from the sink and handed it to Deneen, trying to focus his gaze at the top of her head. But the idea of her warm and wet body under all of those suds was making him feel a little dizzy.
    She scrubbed furiously at her face, rubbing the green goo off.
    “What is that substance?” Jimmy asked, mostly to make conversation and distract himself from his thoughts.
    “It’s a kelp masque, if you must know. Air travel is very hard on the skin.”
    “Ah, yes. Kelp is an excellent source of potassium and iodine. I occasionally eat it.” Jimmy was aware that he was wandering from the topic. Babbling, some might say, but when nervous it was his habit to focus on the scientific, and he had done some research into alternative plant nutrients last year when he was working on a portable dehydrator that could be used in a challenging environment like an oil rig.
    “I wouldn’t eat this ,” Deneen huffed. “It costs forty dollars an ounce.” Her skin, cleared of the cosmetic kelp, did look smooth and blemish-free.
    “Ah. I see. Now that your bath is complete, will you be vacating the bathroom soon? I need to take a shower.”
    She didn’t respond for a moment, and Jimmy noticed that her gaze traveled down over his chest and torso…and lower…before resting briefly at a location he was trying to cover casually with the towel. Due to his growing interest in her unclothed state, however, he doubted his disguise remained effective. He grabbed the first thing he saw off the sink and clutched it to his waist, backing toward the door.
    “Well, I can’t very well come out of the bathroom if you take my robe,” Deneen pointed out.
    Jimmy looked down at the fluffy lavender fabric he was holding. He seemed to remember Jayne wearing the robe. Sensible, for Deneen to borrow her sister’s things. And more evidence that Deneen wouldn’t be staying long, since she hadn’t brought her own.
    But he wasn’t sure how to put it down without revealing more of himself than he intended.
    “I, um, I’ll be right back,” he said, bolting from the room. He hastily pulled on his jeans and returned to the bathroom with the robe draped over one arm. Deneen hadn’t moved, but the bubbles were beginning to pop and melt and the layer covering her was growing translucent enough that he could make out the outline of her naked body under the surface.
    “I’ll just leave this here,” he said, setting down the robe.
    “I wish you hadn’t walked in on me,” Deneen said. Was she angry with him? The tone of her voice and her expression suggested that she was.
    Jimmy took a deep breath. “I greatly regret any discomfort I caused you. I understand that you wish to conduct your ablutions alone, as is typical of females, and will knock before entering for the duration of your visit.”
    “My what?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “My ablutions. What you said. What on earth are those?”
    “Oh—it is just a term for washing oneself.”
    “Huh. I wish I’d known that a few weeks ago—I could have impressed them at the brow bar. Maybe they wouldn’t have fired me.”
    “I must ask,” Jimmy said, knowing he should leave but finding it difficult, “what is a brow bar, exactly?”
    “Waxing?” Deneen pointed at her eyes, but Jimmy was still mystified. “No? Well, I feel like I’m violating girl code by telling you, but waxing is the preferred method for shaping the brow. Melted wax is applied to unwanted hairs and then when the wax hardens, the wax is removed, taking the hairs with it.”
    “You mean…you