He unbuttoned his pants. “You’re not going to say anything like that in front of my mother are you?”
“Of course not. At least not on purpose.”
Jaxon stripped his bottom half down to his unmentionables then sat down on the bed with pillows propping him up. He hadn’t lied. It was ugly. There was a large chunk of muscle missing from his thigh. The scar was deep and extended almost the entire length of his thigh. Charlie didn’t need to know what her own burn looked like to recognize this wound had been burned to seal it.
“It was cauterized?” she asked.
“Aye.”
She pushed up the leg of his drawers to get a better look.
“Show me where it’s hurting.”
“Here and here, mostly.” He indicated the areas running his finger along the sore spots.
“Since it’s such an old injury there’s not a whole lot I can do, but Dr. Kirk told me messaging the area can be beneficial. I know it’ll be a little painful, but try to relax the muscles as I work them.”
She took the heel of her hand and slowly, but firmly ran it along the length of his leg over and over. There were spots where he seemed to grimace with each pass and she would stop there and make circles until she felt the knots give.
“I think we should do this every day for the next week and then taper down to a couple of times a week. I think over time, it’ll make your leg more flexible, especially if you push your limits with it a little every day.”
“It feels better already.”
“Good. I’m going to check the water for your bath.”
“I’ll help you,” he said, moving to rise from the bed.
“I don’t need your help. Just stay off your leg for a while.”
It took her a good ten minutes to tote the water and fill the tub. She poured only enough cool water to make it tolerable. While she was gone he had laid out the soap and a pair of towels.
“You want to join me?” he asked unbuttoning his shirtwaist.
He could see the internal debate flashing across her face.
“I’m not ready, Jaxon.”
She knew where bathing together would lead. But more than being nervous about the bedding, it was Jaxon seeing her without clothes on that scared her. Although Charlie might have been comfortable with the male naked form, she was not comfortable with her own. If it had been nighttime and most of the lights could be dimmed, she might have taken him up on it.
“Maybe if you’re out before the water is completely cold, I’ll take one after you.” She turned to leave so he would have privacy.
“You can stay if you want,” he said. “I brought up your dress if you want to see it.”
Indecision played across her face before a small grin emerged. “Well, I suppose you might need some help with your back.” She gave him her back until she heard him sink into the water. She located the basket of clothes on the dressing table and carried it to the bed where she could lay it out.
Jaxon saw her frown at the first garment she pulled out.
“Is this the dress? It looks like a sleeveless nightgown.”
“I think they call that the chemise. It goes between you and the dress.”
“Chemise. Got it.”
Next were the drawers. She knew what they were and hid them behind the basket so he wouldn’t see them. Then came the corset. She had heard men talk about corsets, but she’d never seen one. “How does this thing work?”
“Laces in the back, over the chemise. The narrow part goes at your waist,” he said noticing she was holding it upside down.
She set it aside and pulled out a pair of bloomers. “How nice. She sent me and extra pair of unmentionable.”
“Actually those are bloomers. They go over your unmentionables.”
“Indeed?”
Next came the crinolines. “My heavens how many layers do I need? Do you think everyone will think I’m fat with all this on?”
“No fatter than anyone else.”
Two gossamer thin silk stockings came next. She touched them to her cheek and began to cry.
“Are you crying?” he asked when he heard her sniffle.
“Don’t make fun of me, Jax. You don’t know how much I wanted silk stockings. At least once a week, I would shave the hair off my legs then run my hand over the smooth skin and pretend my legs were smooth because I was wearing silk stockings.” She turned to him as she wiped her eyes. “May I borrow your razor so there won’t be anything between my legs and the silk?”
It was moments like this that made him love her so much. Something as ordinary as stockings amazed her and he wanted to discover the world through her eyes.
“What’s mine is yours.”