Page 36 of About Yesterday (Foothills #5)
He shifted his attention back to the screen, and she tried to do the same. The workout had switched to pushups. Cole held the high plank, lowering only a small margin, cautiously so he didn’t offset his recovery.
Trace kept looking over at him as she moved into the next position. Straight back, core engaged.
So he had a point. She was not going half ass through any of this when he was watching.
The wind rushed over the building, pounding the rain harder against the windows. Safely inside, isolated, they were warm and dry.
Asher and Sophie had probably gone for their absurdly early morning run, then the urgent against-the-door. It was their wedding day, of course they were hot for each other.
“Hey, Trace?” Cole asked as the next timer ended.
She stopped, dropping her knees to the ground. “What’s up?” she asked, breathless from the workout, her pulse raging and ready for the cool down that was still at least ten minutes away.
“About last night—“
“No. Don’t,” she said, shifting her attention back to the video, prepping for the next move. “That one was my fault.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as his shoulders subtly slumped, and he shifted into position.
Was he not about to apologize? It seemed like every time she turned around, he was apologizing for something, when he hadn’t done anything wrong.
She’d been the one who kept messing up, getting close and then…
Shit. Trace wanted to kick herself in the butt, but butt-kicks weren’t on today’s workout plan. The way Cole looked at her, the sweet, steamy curiosity that seemed to grow more intense every day?
Maybe he still saw her as the woman he imagined her to be.
Maybe he needed more time to figure himself out.
Maybe then he’d stop apologizing for making her feel challenged. Sexy. Appreciated. Human.
The timer buzzed, and in the brief rest, she switched to all fours for bear crawls.
On hands and knees, Cole focused hard as he lifted his knees off the ground. Carefully, gritting his teeth as he braced himself, he pushed forward one step at a time, hands perfectly under shoulders. Pushing, sweat beading at his temples, he moved forward, paused, then reversed.
A nag in her belly. A tug in her chest. A catch in her breath. Trace adjusted her crawl and veered off her mat, moving close to him. Spinning, she dropped to her butt next to his mat. She pulled one leg up and rested her forearm on her knee, watching him.
Cole pushed back to his heels, quickly correcting the movement to ease the pressure on his ankle and lowering to sit in front of her. Close, but not so close that he would cross a line.
“About last night,” she said softly. The music from the workout pumped behind her, timers beeping. The wind rushed against the windows, rattled the door. Daylight was rising.
Breath shallow, he looked at her more intensely, the question raging in his mind that raged in hers, his gray eyes swimming, and she knew she’d unsettled him.
Trace held his look, searching, quietly letting him know she wasn’t going to run away this time.
Reaching, she leaned close and grasped her hand at the back of his neck. No pause, no hesitation, she closed the distance between them and touched her lips to his.
Fearless, he melted away every doubt she had allowed to consume her.
Fully in the moment, he angled and kissed her thoroughly. Lips soft and curious, he drew her in without urgency.
She shifted to get closer, moving her leg over his and sharing his mat.
Mouth hot against hers, he groaned and wrapped his hand around her thigh.
Breathless, she indulged more, mating her tongue with his. She spun into a dizzying, invigorating dance as she let go. Rising, desire surged from deep in her belly, flowing and filling her, the sensation so foreign, but with Cole, she wasn’t afraid to pour herself into the moment.
With her every stroke, Cole kissed with intensity. Yearning beyond reason that made her want him more. Passion and attention. The ambient scent of sea and sand flowed between them, the scent of his sweat, damp on his skin.
It wasn’t enough, one spontaneous kiss. She needed all of him, and she selfishly wanted him now. The line between them had shattered, and she refused to look forward or back. “Let’s go to the room,” she murmured against his mouth.
“Fuck yes,” he growled, kissing her deeper, neither moving and she wasn’t sure how to break away long enough to get somewhere they could get naked and finish this.
Fists pounded against the doors, catcalls and “woo-hoos” bringing her back to the present. Very familiar voices.
Cole stopped and bit his bottom lip, a mirthless laugh resonating up his throat as he slowly opened his eyes.
Trace knocked her forehead into his, groaning playfully before tipping to look past him at the interruption.
Asher, Zane, and Freya were standing outside the door, enjoying the show, apparently.
Trace shook her head, but couldn’t help but smile at her rowdy friends in the glow of the rising sun.
Cole turned slowly around, flipping them off before rising to his feet and lowering a hand for Trace.
Finally, the nosy trio came into the gym, grinning like idiots and filled with teases.
Asher, of course, couldn’t resist. “I’d say ‘get a room,’ but now I’m thinking Pippa’s hairbrained plan to get you guys together worked and you already have one.”
Cole pushed his hair back and fluttered a lazy look that Trace knew had preceded a jab straight to the nose more than a few times. “Figured you already got a good workout in this morning and would be a little more understanding about the need for privacy.”
Asher lifted a single eyebrow.
Cole shifted a lopsided, teasing smile.
Shaking his head, Asher almost seemed to blush, and cleared his throat. “Love a good run on a rainy beach… then a little core burner after.”
Freya stood by the door, arms folded over her chest, subtly enjoying the entire scene. “I don’t know how you all work out as couples. I love Zane to bits, but yoga is my sacred time.”
Zane hooked his arm around Freya’s waist and snuck a drawn-out kiss on the mouth. “Ditto. But I do like watching you get into some of those positions.”
“Alright, come on,” Asher said, tipping a nod back to the door.
“Pippa and my mom made reservations for all of us for breakfast. We agreed to let Pippa plan a few things this weekend, but the wedding is all Sophie and me. And my mom, because, well, she’s better at that stuff, yet she remains calm, unlike my sister. ”
“But we love her,” Freya said, leaning into Zane and patting his side.
Asher snorted and rolled his eyes, but Trace knew he and his sister had always been close, to the extent that Asher was marrying Pippa’s best friend. “Food. Hungry. Oh-eight-hundred. Pippa should be sending out the address,” he said.
The intruders headed out first, and Trace moved to scrub down their mats so they could get moving.
Cole took care of his, rolling it up as she did, sneaking peeks over at her and teasing a grin while he did.
She reached out and took his mat while he turned off the TV.
When she turned around, Cole was standing back, waiting, biting down on the edge of his tongue. Brow low, he looked like he had a few million things he was actively bottling up.
As she reached him, he opened his mouth to speak, closed his eyes and shook his head. Laughing under his breath, he finally met her look and honesty dripped from his gray-green-bluish eyes. “About that kiss—“
“No,” Trace said, flatly honest. “Let’s not ruin it by talking about it. Not yet.” Lifting her hand, she lightly drew down his bottom lip with her thumb. How many times had she gotten so close but ran away.
With a hungry growl low in his throat, he leaned in and kissed her. Easier this time, sweet and spicy, the kiss sucked her in and spun her in a whirlwind of lust. Tucking her pelvis to his, she gripped his sides and kissed him deeper.
He lightened the intensity and smiled against her mouth, kissing again and again as he seemed as reluctant to pull away. “Breakfast.”
Catching her breath, she smiled and kissed him again. “Okay.”
Hand at her waist, he shifted, slipping his hand into hers and interlacing their fingers. Trace melted into his side as they walked. Tummy filled with horny butterflies, heart pounding on lusty overdrive, she couldn’t think of a thing to say.
At the steps, they disconnected long enough to dash up to the second floor, and the walkway was too narrow to walk together again. When they got to the door, she pulled out her key. Cole came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her middle, leaning in and kissing her shoulder.
“I’m sweaty,” she whispered, suddenly self-conscious with the electronic lock arguing that she hadn’t held the keycard just right.
Instead of realizing that she was sweaty and stinky and not at all sexy right now, he licked a trail up her neck and nibbled her earlobe before kissing her shoulder again. “I like you sweaty.”
Little zings pinged in every direction, the lock finally cooperated, and Trace opened the door before she could say something stupid. Instead, she grinned like an idiot.
Beyond tempting, she wanted to spin around and kiss him in complete privacy, but the hotel was wide awake, her friends messing around in the parking lot as everyone was mobilizing. Shit. She picked up the pace and opened her suitcase.
All business, she nodded to the bathroom. “You first. You’re quicker.”
As he brushed past, he paused and framed her chin with his thumb and forefinger, indulging a heavy kiss, before continuing on and disappearing into the bathroom.