I didn’t bother pointing out her awful attemptat deflecting.
“You don’t have to get in if you don’t want to,” I said as I slid into the steaming water. Heat washed over me and I settled into the corner seat, draping both arms across the tiled sides. “But it does feel damn good. And, this was your idea.” I quirked an eyebrow at her, waiting.
She sat at the edge of the tub and parted the robe around her legs, dipping them in the water.Fuck, those legs.I moved toward her but she held out her foot, stopping me in the chest. “You stay over there. No touching.”
My lips curled in a smirk. “We’re touching right now,” I said and wrapped my hand around the curve of her calf, but she splashed water at me with her foot.
“Back to your corner,” she said.
I returned to my seat. “May I ask why I’m being punished?” I’d picked out that bikini myself and I wanted to see her in it right the fuck now.
Waving a hand between us, she said, “If I’m going to survive an evening alone with you in a romantic cabin, you arenotallowed to touch me.”
I showed her my palms in surrender, but my cock stirred at her admission of how much I affected her. It was the first time she’d alluded to the fact that we were clearly attracted to each other.Maybe shewouldbe interested in exploring whatever this is between us.“Fair enough. Will you join me in here, or am I to keep the hot tub to myself?”
Val pursed her lips. Then she stood. As she untied the robe, I stopped breathing, marveling at her tan skin and curvy figure. The satiny black bra barely contained the swell of her breasts, the bottom accentuating her thighs and riding high on her hips. I didn’t know if she’d hiked it up that high on purpose, but I could see the outline of her pussy through the tight material. As my cock shot to attention, I bit back a groan.
“Is it too late to take back the ‘no touching’ rule? Because fuck, Val. I want to rip off that skimpy thing and trace my hands over every inch of you.”
At my brutally honest words, her lips parted.My girl likes it when I talk dirty. Noted.“That would be very against the rules,” she said as she slid into the hot water with a hiss, settling in the corner opposite me. But since it was a small hot tub, our legs bumped together. “Stop looking at me like that,” she said.
“Like what?”
“Like…like you’re thinking of every dirty thing you want to do to me.”
She surprised a laugh out of me. “So the ‘no touching’ rule applies to my thoughts now too? You drive a hard bargain.”
Flicking water at my face, she said, “Watch it, Mr. Keller.”
Fuuuuck…I ran a hand across my mouth. “If you want me to keep my thoughts to myself, you gotta stop calling me that.”
Val’s eyes went wide for a moment, then she rolled her lips, hiding her smile. “Got it—Nolan.”
Steam wafted between us, turning up the heat another notch. I took a sip of wine to give myself something to do besides stare at her. Yeah, Cressida’s idea to rent out the house had been perfect. And now, it was perfect fucking torture. Here, all alone, so close to what I wanted but unsure if I should take it.
The light snow began to pick up, melting into steam as it hit the deck around us. Val tilted her face back, smiling into the snowflakes, and a bitter pang went through me. Tomorrow, we’d be back to boss and employee. Engaged man and single woman.
Just for tonight, we can be who we are.My earlier words came back to me as the snow encased us in a soft hush, blotting out any other protests.
“Should we play a game?” Val asked, breaking through my thoughts with a sparkle in her eyes.
Loving this unplugged and bolder side of her, I said, “That’s a dangerous question.” I could have her right now if I wanted. Ifshewanted. But Val deserved someone who could offer her everything instead of hiding her away in the shadows. That thought alone was what held me back from fessing up to my arrangement with Cressida. But…What if despite all of that, she still wants me anyway?
For now, I decided to test the waters and indulge my baser instincts—at least a little. Especially with her taunting me in such a brazen way.
Lacing my hands behind my head, I asked, “What did you have in mind?”
“A secret for a secret,” she suggested.
“You first.”
“What was your first impression of me? I mean, I know I made an ass of myself at the bar, but since I’m here now, maybe I didn’t do so badly…” She trailed off with a slight smile.
Rubbing a hand across my jaw, I studied her before speaking. The question surprised me because I wasn’t sure what direction her little game was going to take us. Playful? Sexy? Serious? But her expression was nervous, eager.She genuinely wants to know. Okay then.
“The first time I saw you was in a spray of snow at the base of one of the slopes,” I said. “I remember thinking how joyful and full of life you looked. Even then, I knew I wanted to see you smile like that again. And when I realized who you were at the bar, I was gutted. Because I didn’t know how I was going to survive spending every waking moment at Hale’s Peak with the one woman who could disarm me and strip me bare with the power of her smile alone. Not without making her mine.”
As she absorbed my words, Val sank into the water until it brushed her chin, the blue and teal lights in the hot tub reflecting on her skin, transforming her into a siren sent to drag me to a watery grave. “You want me to be yours?” she asked.
