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his breathing quickened as her caress provoked a sudden need for more oxygen. The nerve endings tingled from the base of his throat, fanning out over his chest and hardening his nipples.
    Stand down, Miles
, he commanded himself, using his mother’s given first name for him.
    His heated reaction to her was a wake-up call that he needed to wise up and stop messing around. If Lilly had the talent that Phillip thought she did – and Ty proclaimed she did – she would be working with him, for him, for months. He didn’t want to scare her off. Or open himself up to a harassment suit.
    Stepping away from him, she turned to her Rubbermaid box and pulled out another plastic tray clearly marked, “J.Durant, head cast.” In it were apparently all of the materials she needed for the next part of the job. She certainly was organized.
    “I need to coat your hair so that it doesn’t stick to the casting material.” Picking up a tube of what looked like thick, greasy hair gel, she applied some to her palms, rubbed her hands together then threaded both hands through his hair, smoothing it back from his forehead and massaging the gel along his temples and hairline. To reach far enough, she had to stand between his legs and lean toward him, so close he could smell her skin and hair.
    She smelled like vanilla sugar cookies.
    Jake clamped his jaw shut as a blast of desire shot from the roof of his mouth to his groin. He suppressed a sudden compulsion to lean forward and rub his nose along her bare neckline.
    Oblivious to the effect she was having on him, Lilly talked while she worked.
    “I brought a clarifying shampoo that I’ll leave for you that will help get this out, but you may have to shampoo a couple of times.” She dabbed more of the gel on her fingertips and smoothed it gently over his eyebrows.
    He closed his eyes and was immediately sorry as an image of what she would look like standing naked between his knees in nothing but those damn hiking boots invaded his brain.
    Finished with the hair gel, she said, “You look like one of your hoodlum characters. All you need is a big fat cigar.”
    Jake opened his eyes to look at her.
Oh, I’ve got that right here
, he thought. He knew he was leering at her, but hoped she’d think he was just in character.
    Patting him on the shoulder, she said, “It’ll take me a few minutes to mix the alginate used for the casting. It’s the same stuff the dentist puts in your mouth to take an impression of your teeth, which I’ll also do after we’ve done your head and face. I’m sorry you have to wait between each stage. I can’t mix it beforehand because it sets so quickly.”
    He was glad of the reprieve as she moved away from him to pull more supplies out of the bottomless Rubbermaid tub. She mixed water and some kind of white powder in a container. As she mixed, it changed color and turned into a purple gooey mess.
    She carried the goo to where he was sitting. “I’m going to work quickly, and spread the alginate over your face, head and neck. It will cover your mouth. Just try to relax and breathe through your nose. The alginate sets in five minutes, but I’ll have to wrap it in plaster bandages for support so that it doesn’t tear when I take it off. The plaster takes longer to dry, about five to ten minutes. The alginate warms as it hardens, so don’t be surprised by that. It won’t get uncomfortably warm.
    “Ready?” she asked brightly.
    “I guess,” he said, dubious. He couldn’t decide if all of the explaining was helping or hurting. But she did work quickly, and expertly. Spreading the goo gently but firmly with her fingers and palms, she covered his head, neck and ears first, reminding him occasionally not to move.
    When she covered his eyes and mouth, the sensory deprivation and instinctive fear of suffocation caused his heartbeat to speed up, although he could breathe just fine through his nose.
    Lilly began saying brief and reassuring things every few