Page 55 of Timelessly Ours
A thick blanket is wrapped around me from behind, and his arms—his big strong arms, securing me, warming me. It almost feels like he’s giving in. Like he’s ripping through all the unspoken boundaries we’d set.
Or maybe…this is the hot of the hot and cold game we play. And tomorrow—he’ll be putting up that wall again.
“I should go get her in a warm bath,” I say, resisting the urge to turn into him.
“It’s still your night off.”
I twist my neck to look at him. “Then you’ll owe me one.”
“Deal.”
After a quick bath, I style Rory’s hair with some leave-in conditioner to bring out her natural curls and send her back downstairs for dinner. By the looks of it, she won’t make it much longer tonight. She looks ready to pass out—and it’s barely seven.
I don’t follow her downstairs. I attempt at my own hot shower, but the water is too cool and the pressure too low.
Not surprising, given my daily piping hot showers and the obscene amount of water we just wasted so Coach could prove a point.
Deciding to wait rather than suffer through a cool shower, I shut off the water and towel dry my damp hair, then style it into a bun over my head.
Outside my door, I hear Royce taking Rory to her room for bed. She whines about why Nicole isn’t doing it and he tries to explain "time off" to a six-year-old. I almost follow them to her room, but I don’t want to climb onto her bed until I’ve washed up.
An hour later, I still can’t take a warm enough shower, so I head downstairs, needing to distract myself with a task—any task to get my mind off him.
I weave through the halls and find the kitchen spotless. Fine. I grab Coach’s hoodie which hangs by the back door and zip it over my flimsy clothes before stepping outside. Figuring I could tidy up the mess we all made in the backyard earlier.
But the vibrating sound to my right catches my attention and all my plans to keep it together around this man go out the window when I find him soaking in his hot tub.
15
Over the last two years, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve wanted to wrap my jacket around Nicole Kane. I’ve been keenly aware of every shiver in the cold arena, every visible puff of air from her lips in the winters, every shudder at the mere mention of her past.
But now, seeing her wrapped in my favorite hoodie, which I’d left hanging behind the door before I came out here, it’s better than anything I let myself imagine.
Her legs are bare, but the trim of her shorts peeks from under the hem. Her hair is loosely tied above her head.
She shoves her hands in her pockets uncomfortably. “I thought you might have fallen asleep with Rory. I just came out here to tidy up. Know how much you hate a dirty yard.”
I roll my eyes. “Appreciate the effort, but no need.” My eyes roam over her. “How was your shower?” By the tone of her skin and the lack of redness on her chest, it doesn’t appear she’d taken one.
She draws closer. “Umm, I’ll take one later. The pressure is a little low now and I seem to have used up a lot of your hot water this week.” She winces.
“I’m sorry. I should see what I can do about that tomorrow.” I chuckle, but inside, I feel awful that she couldn’t get warm after I’d hosed her down with cold water on a cool fall day. “Hop in,” I offer without a second thought. “It’s pretty hot in here.”
She blinks. “It’s like forty degrees out.”
“Fifty, but trust me, you won’t freeze.” I point up. “There’s a heat lamp and I practically live in here all winter without getting pneumonia.”
Biting her lip, she inches closer, debating. Then unzips my hoodie and hangs it gently on a chair. I take her in but try not to gawk at how fucking sexy she is. She’s wearing a white crop top where the bottom looks like it was torn purposely. The outline of a dark sports bra is visible through the thin fabric.
She must catch me staring because she apologetically says, “I don’t have a swimsuit.”
I move my eyes to hers—where they need to stay. “The only rule is you need to be dressed—and even I break that one sometimes.”
What. The fuck?
I catch her eyes flash at my comment but thankfully she doesn’t call attention to it.
I watch her climb into the tub, her jaw dropping with an orgasmic-like O that makes me adjust my trunks. “Holy shit, this is amazing,” she breathes. My traitorous eyes sweep her once more in the clothes that now cling to her body.
