A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 04

Josh stared at her throat as she drank. Besides being lovely, he noted with alarm that the skin appeared to be dry. Her hair was pulled back again, and the small flash of green beside the base of her throat winked at him. He'd never seen a bra strap in Forest Green before though he had seen a few in Olive Drab. He glanced at her ankle.

Suddenly, he remembered something, and muttered to himself. "I'm such an idiot!"

He ran out the door. Kayla heard a dull thump followed by a loud humming sound, and then felt the hot air begin to move. She also felt the room begin to move with it.

Josh returned, and looked at her with concern. She was holding her head in her hands. He knelt down, and lifted her chin. Her face had paled, and her forehead felt bone dry. She looked at him slowly, and asked "Pat?..."

He said, "No darlin'. It's Josh. You're fading out from the heat. That's what I was afraid of. I've seen it lots of times. Kayla, I forgot that I fixed the air conditioning before I left last year. I've just turned it on. It's a big unit, so it'll cool the place down quick. In five minutes, it'll be cooler in here than outside. You just lie back down on the bunk and relax."

He lightly touched her throat. Dry. Her forearms were dry as well while he was putting out enough moisture to irrigate the back forty.

He went to the small bathroom, turned on the cold water, and found a facecloth to soak as the sink filled. He ran back into the main room and started wiping her exposed skin down. On the third trip to re-soak the facecloth, he soaked a towel and asked her to sit up if she could.

It seemed that she couldn't. Josh sat on the bunk, grabbed her wrists, and pulled her forward so that she was leaning against him with her forehead near his left collarbone and throat. He started to press the towel gently to her back. She didn't flinch much from the cool dampness as her back was wetted down through her shirt.

Kayla knew what was going on, and tried to cooperate, but she felt so weak. She liked the feel of his moist skin and lifted her arms. Her right hand touched his shoulder. The heel of her hand was at the spot where his bicep met his shoulder muscles, and though she had long thin fingers, her fingertips couldn't reach the top. When he reached that arm forward, her whole middle finger sank into the indentation between the muscle groups. Though she wasn't really with it, she was surprised at how much his body appealed to her.

She'd never liked muscle-bound men before. She thought about this through the fog in her mind. He wasn't muscle-bound, not like a body builder, anyway. He was just powerfully built. She didn't think it was something that he had aspired to, it just seemed to be the way that he was made.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but Kayla felt a bit pleased with herself for being able to make the distinction somehow. The way his muscles moved beneath his skin felt so pleasant. She smelled his sweat, but found it comforting instead of offensive. Her left palm reached up and touched his right ear, and her fingers felt the wet bristle of his head.

The sudden urge that Kayla felt to kiss his throat surprised her. She felt like smiling, but there was a reddish blob which hovered in front of her eyes, and it bothered her that she couldn't focus on it. She gave up trying to focus and leaned against the blob with her cheek. Her face found the strange sideways ridge on his pectoral muscle. She wanted to ask him about it, but that would have taken too much effort.

He took a deep breath, and lowered her slowly back down. She groaned quietly in complaint. On his next trip back, he felt her forehead again. Not much change, but something, anyway. He spoke to her softly.

"Kayla, I'm trying to wet you down to cool you off some. This next bit might be a shock, so forgive me" he said as he held the wet towel by one end, and draped it down her chest. She inhaled, and looked up at him.

"It feels good," she mumbled, "Who's Patricia?" Josh wondered what she was talking about, but he knew that people close to the edge of consciousness often spoke nonsense.

He removed the towel to get the best cooling effect, swabbed her face again, and put it over his shoulder. He willed his eyes to lock onto her face, and asked her if she felt nauseous.

"A little, but I need some water." He handed her the bottle that she'd set down and told her that he'd get her another in a minute. She finished it, and just said, "It's ok, I'll have yours if you're done with it."

He looked at his bottle on the shelf. He'd only taken a swallow of it earlier. "I don't mind if you don't." she said. He jumped up to bring it to her. "No, here you go." he said. He ran out of the door go to get a few more for her.

The room was quickly cooling to the point of being chilly, and Josh pulled his T-shirt over his head again and sat down on the bunk with her. He tried to watch her carefully while not being too obvious about it. Kayla smiled a little out of embarrassment and thanked him.

"Hey," he said as he smiled back, "we've spent a lot of the day together and I've really had a great time. You haven't threatened to kill me either, so I'm taking that to mean that it's been fun for you too. I'm so sorry about forgetting to turn on the AC, I didn't think of it. But you didn't listen to me about lightening your clothing while we're working in here and it's knocked you on your ass just now. It's getting cool in here, but aside from that, I think you need to maybe lighten up your clothes.

Look, um,... I know I'm not pretty to look at, Kayla. I can't help that, but I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not trying to take advantage of you in any way, if that's what you're worried about. Is there a problem with me, or are you just afraid that I might catch a look at an upper arm or calf and lose my tiny male mind?"

"No." Kayla sighed. "There's a problem with me, and I'm working on it. I just feel very uncomfortable, that's all." She sat up slowly, suddenly aware of what her wet shirt might have revealed.

Josh caught her expression and said, "Hey, I just soaked your shirt to cool you off. I did nothing inappropriate, and I kept my eyes on your face the whole time. You saw my eyes, right?" Kayla nodded.

"Are you uncomfortable with everybody, or is it just me? If it's me, I guess I understand..."

Kayla looked down. "Not Jilly or Aunt Rose, but everybody else a lot, and you a lot less than I was, but still some. Joshua, it's not you, it's me." she said. "I'm sorry that it doesn't make any sense."

Josh sat down and sighed as they shared another water bottle. "Ok, that's something, at least. Put your hand here." he said indicating his left kneecap. She looked at it dumbly. "Come on, your hand won't shrivel up and blow away, and I won't start drooling. You're a tough lady, I'm sure you've seen a kneecap before, so just trust me."

She carefully put her hand on his kneecap. He slowly laid his hand overtop of hers without squeezing. It felt warm and rough. "Ok" he said, "We agreed to be under a flag of truce this morning. I want you to know something; I like you. I don't care what you're wound up about; I'm only concerned that you're uncomfortable with me. I promised this to Rosie this morning, and now I'm freely promising it to you. Whatever you or Jilly need, if I can, I'll help. That's just how it is when I like someone, so get used to it.

I'd like very much to be your friend. If you can get more comfortable around me, since we have to work together for a while, then maybe we can work on the root cause, whatever that is. I wasn't trying to take advantage of you. I think you know that. I saw your red face, and I was worried. I've seen heat prostration before. My fears were justified, I think. If I do make you uncomfortable at anytime, just tell me and I'll leave. You just tell me, and I'll give you space. Are we clear on that?" asked Josh.

Kayla looked at him and nodded. God, he's so serious, she thought as she nodded..

"Ok, that's settled then. Now this is as far as I'm going to go in this conversational direction, but I want you to know something else. I don't know what's wrong, but if you have a self-image problem, then speaking as hopefully your friend, I can wholeheartedly tell you this; I personally think that you're drop-dead gorgeous, so get over it."

Kayla's eyes widened. Josh squinted and interjected "But I'm gonna need sunglasses if you don't turn those things down a notch. All three of you have them, and I swear, they burn me through sometimes." Kayla smiled.

Josh lifted his hand from hers. "Now stop trying to cop a feel, and let's get to work, ok?"

Kayla sputtered and laughed as he stood up. Before she could say anything, Josh said seriously "I do want you to take it easy for a while. Take a break while I get this stuff ready."

He was opening a can of primer to stir it. "At some point, we're going to have to turn off the AC and just run the fan for ventilation. The temperature will go up again. I still think you ought to put at least a lighter top on, but that's just me. Besides, I don't know what you're all squirmy about anyway. It's not like there's three of them under there or anything, I counted." he smiled as he poured the primer into a tray.

Kayla's jaw dropped. "But you didn't look!"

"Not directly, no" he replied. "With determination and resolve, I was a perfect gentleman, and steeled myself for the onslaught of temptation."

Kayla began to chuckle at the tone which he was affecting. "Well, go on," she said, "I can't decide now if you sound like a televangelist or a scoutmaster."

"I was firm of purpose," he continued, "My high moral upbringing kept me on the path of righteousness, and would not allow my gaze to falter. I did what any true gentleman would do in such a circumstance." he explained with as much gravity as he could maintain.

Kayla smiled at his feigned correctness. "What?" she demanded.

He picked up a roller. "I relied on my peripheral vision." He said with a wink.

He had just enough time to dodge the empty water bottle.

"What?" he said, "You think it's all fun and parties up in that loft? A guy has to have dreams. It's not like I have pay-per-view."

"Joshua Taylor!"

He rolled his eyes, "Oh fine. Invoke two names. I'm SO not telling YOU my middle name either." Josh said petulantly.