Free More Than Neighbors by Isabel Keats Page B

nanny,” he grumbled, not wanting to admit that, deep down, it felt nice to have someone worry about him for a change.
    He drank the milk and took a couple of the pills that Cat placed in his hand, and almost immediately, he began to feel better. He felt so relaxed lying there that just thinking about getting to his feet and returning to the solitude of his apartment made him shiver.
    “You’re trembling.” His neighbor seemed to have read his mind. “You can’t spend the night alone in your apartment—you’d better stay here.”
    “Nonsense,” he replied, teeth chattering.
    “You can sleep on the sofa!” Her tone left no room for argument, and again he felt incapable of objecting. “I’ll help you with your clothes.”
    She first took off his spotless black shoes and socks, then helped him remove his jacket and began to unbutton his shirt. Leopold took hold of her hands in a feeble attempt to stop her, but Catalina easily freed them from his clasp and continued her task in a briskly efficient way. Then she undid his belt, but when Leo noticed her skillful fingers trying to undo the button on his pants, his protests became more forceful. “Don’t worry, I have three older brothers. I’ve lost count of the times I helped my mother undress them when they came home drunk.”
    Leopold stared at her delicate, calm face, framed by silky brown waves of hair. “I can take off my trousers. I’m not an invalid.”
    “Suit yourself.”
    Catalina discreetly looked away while he finished unbuttoning them and then took them off with some difficulty. He tugged a soft tartan blanket from one of the arms of the sofa and pulled it over himself, covering his half-naked body. Cat placed a pillow under his head and pulled the blanket up a bit farther. “You should sleep; it’ll be the best thing for you right now,” she said, kneeling by the sofa as she gently brushed the hair from his brow.
    Her careful touch gave him a pleasant feeling of well-being. He closed his eyes and, before long, was sleeping like a newborn baby.
     
    Around dawn, a pair of arms helped him sit up a little, and he rested his head on a woman’s chest. A soft voice spoke in his ear. “Open your mouth.” He obeyed and someone put a pill on his tongue and held a glass of water to his lips, which he drank from thirstily. Then he was helped back down onto the pillow and tucked in. Leopold immediately fell asleep, and when he woke again, quite a bit later judging by the light coming in through the window, he felt much better.
    “Your temperature seems to have gone down.” Cat was kneeling beside him with her hand on his forehead. Leo sat up and surveyed her. She had her hair up in a ponytail, there was paint on her face, and some old jeans were visible under an apron that had once been white. Despite everything, he thought her one of the most pleasant visions to which he’d ever woken up. He stroked his chin, noticing, to his discomfort, the roughness of his morning stubble, and realized that he must look a mess.
    “I have to go home for a shower.”
    “Not so fast. You must eat breakfast first.”
    “How you love to give orders!” he protested.
    “Feeling like yourself again, I see,” Catalina remarked with an amused look. “Last night, you were as obedient as a little lamb.” Leopold found the comparison belittling, but let it go. “I’m going to make you a proper breakfast,” Cat announced.
    While she bustled about in the kitchen, Leo took the opportunity to put on his shirt and pants, though he only fastened a few shirt buttons. When Cat returned with an immense tray of food she’d prepared, it struck her that her neighbor looked very appealing first thing in the morning. With his messy hair, his broad chest barely covered by the shirt, and stubble on his face, he looked straight out of a particularly sexy edition of Tatler . In short, Leopold Sinclair was one of the most captivating men she’d ever met. Shame he’s taken , she