Page 7 of Accidental Dad’s Best Friend (Unintentionally Yours #7)

Ethan

T he green mountains stretch nearly to the heavens creating an enclosure around the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort.

At over four hundred feet long, it’s the largest hot spring pool in the world.

Between the view, the old stone architecture of the hotel and the steam rising from the dark, still water, it’s absolutely stunning.

But it’s nowhere near as stunning as Izzy.

As we sit side by side at the mountain resort, I can’t believe she agreed to meet me again.

Her only request was that it was neither in Denver nor Grand Junction so we wouldn’t see anyone we knew.

My request was that she accept an overnight stay, with her own room of course.

There was no ulterior motive involved. If I had to guess, Izzy doesn’t do things for herself and with her relationship with her dad being obsolete, I worry she has no one looking out for her.

As soon as she saw the pool, her eyes lit up.

I insisted she put on a bathing suit, making her a deal that if we met at the pool we could get the meeting over with and I’d leave her to enjoy the getaway in peace.

At first I didn’t think she’d go along with it.

But Izzy’s eyes have changed since I saw her last. She looks happy but tired, more tired than a woman her age should look.

“This is amazing,” she sighs as the hot water pools around us.

We are sitting on a step, away from other people.

The resort has two pools. One of them, the larger one, is more bathwater temperature.

Warm enough to be comfortable even in cold weather but not hot enough to make you sweat.

The other pool, the one we are sitting in, is hot and I can already see beads of perspiration on the nape of Izzy’s neck where her hair is pulled up into a knot.

My mind trails momentarily at what it would be like to kiss her neck again. But I immediately shove myself back on track.

“Thank you for meeting me.”

“Must be some kind of job if you are willing to leave your fancy condo for it.”

Alright so she’s going to be sassy about it. I can roll with that.

“Here’s the thing, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart,” she cuts me off and I grit my teeth.

“Alright. Here’s the thing, Izzy. Your dad is a piece of shit.”

“I’m getting a sense of déjà vu,” she says with a salty smile.

Meanwhile, she’s leaning back on the steps, letting her feet float out in front of her.

Her purple bathing suit hugs her in all the right places, places that look even more voluptuous and edible than last time.

Her body has changed…but in my opinion, it’s for the better.

“Yeah well, he’s gotten worse.”

“Worse? Worse than getting off on fucking over other journalists and bashing his daughter enough that she can’t find a job in magazine journalism to save her life?”

I clench my fist under the water at that. The way he treats Izzy alone is a reason enough for me to propose what I am about to propose.

“So I’m going to be honest with you, Izzy. He’s still doing that but that’s not the entire reason I came looking for you. Your dad is attacking the League. He wants to destroy them entirely.”

“For what reason? They’re just a sports news review. What threat do they pose against NBT?”

“They offered me a job,” I answer and Izzy’s blue eyes widen. “As chief editor. And they were going to pay me…more. A lot more. And when I told Liam about it?—”

“He sabotaged it.” She nods, her smile tight. “I’m not surprised. He’s always been like this. Competitive to the point of being narcissistic. He has to win at everything, even if it means cheating or hurting other people in the process.”

“And that’s why I want to do the same thing to him.” I say and Izzy sits up.

“What do you mean?”

“I want to do exactly what he does. I want to write an article that exposes him. And I want to publish it in NBT without him knowing.”

Izzy’s throat bubbles in a laugh. “You’re crazy. You’ll never get away with that. You’ll lose your job.”

“My job working under him?”

“Good point.” She nods. Then her eyes narrow. “But why me?”

“You’re the best.”

Izzy rolls her eyes. “Oh come on. There has to be more reason than that.”

“You’re good at calling people out on their shit.”

“And?”

I let out a frustrated breath. “You know him. You know him better than I do even. If anyone can pull this off it’s you.”

“Now you’re just patronizing me.” Izzy stands up suddenly. But before she can walk off, I reach for her hand.

“No. I’m not. Izzy, I've read your blog.”

“How mu?—”

“All of it. The last five years of it.”

With that, she slowly sits back down. I let go of her hand, though our fingers are still touching.

“I also read the article you wrote for Slay. The one that got you fired.”

Izzy scrunches her nose at that. “Yeah, that was a whole thing.”

“It was fucking brilliant. Because you didn’t just rip them apart. You told a story. One people could relate to that liberated the truth. It may have cost you your job but people loved it. That’s the kind of writer I need behind this article and that’s why I need you.”

“And what’s in it for me? I can’t exactly just drop everything to work for you. I have a life, you know.”

“You’re a retail cashier and a blogger.”

“First of all, I am not just a cashier. I manage the store with my friend Cassie and it’s a very successful shop!”

“And I don’t doubt that. But is it you?”

“Is what me?” She snaps.

“Seriously, Izzy. I’ve known you long enough to know that not working in journalism is probably killing you.

What I am offering to offer you would launch you back into that world.

That’s what’s in it for you. You could finally stick it to your dad.

The man that has done nothing but drag you down for years. That and money.”

“I don’t want your money.” She crosses her arms over her chest and I wipe my hand down my face.

“You are impossible, you know that?” I say.

“And you are presumptuous.”

I lean in, getting right in her face. “What would be presumptuous is if I took you upstairs and?—”

She turns to face me. Our mouths are so close I can almost taste her.

We breathe in and out, the steam swirling around our flushed faces.

For a moment I think about kissing her. I’ve never wanted anything so badly.

I don’t know what I was thinking telling her to meet me in the pool.

I should have known I wouldn’t be able to keep my head up and my dick pointed south.

“I don’t think you should get out of the water any time soon,” she says and I know she’s talking about the hardon in my swim trunks.

Then, a very small, very bratty smile curls the corners of her lips.

Discreetly, I glance around. Other than a couple at the end of the pool who look like they’re sleeping and a couple families clear at the other end of the main pool we have the place to ourselves.

My hand finds her thigh and travels south, further and further until I find the seam of her bikini bottoms.

“What are you doing?” Izzy whispers.

“Do you want me to stop?”

My fingertips are less than an inch away from her pussy but unfortunately I have no way of knowing if she’s wet.

“No,” she breathes and my other hand finds her breast. I run my thumb over her nipple and it hardens at my touch.

“God I missed you,” I say. “Why did you just leave?”

“I had to,” Izzy murmurs as I continue to caress her nipple. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice, Izzy. You can have anything…” I hook my finger inside her bikini bottoms and find her clit, teasing it. “…you want.”

“Ethan…” she trembles, leaning into me. I put my arms around her but continue to tease her under the water.

“Yes baby girl?”

She moans into my neck softly and I pick up the pace, flicking and caressing the warm skin under my fingertip until she softly gasps.

Izzy’s back arches as she nears the orgasm and I am worried she might cry out.

Just before she does, I cover her mouth with mine and she moans into her kiss as I make her come.

A moment later, she pulls away, standing up and reaching for a towel. She was right though. I am going to need a minute before I can get out of the water. I watch as Izzy aggressively dries herself, refusing to look at me.

“Well?” I ask.

“Well what?”

“What do you think?”

“You want recognition for what we just did? Get over yourself.”

“I meant about the job.”

Izzy’s blushes, though she still looks pissed. “Oh. I don’t know yet. I need to sleep on it.”

I decide to just fuck it and I tuck my cock into my shorts and get out of the water. Then I grab her room key and toss it at her. “There. Sleep on it.”

We stare at each other for a moment before Izzy grabs her things and marches towards the hotel. I rake my hands through my hair and sniff angrily. Not only do I feel like we are right back where we were the last time we did this, but I still don’t have an answer about the job.

I need her. No one can write it like she can.

And nothing would stick it to Liam more than his own daughter writing the article.

But the problem with working with Liam’s daughter is that she is, well, Liam’s daughter.

That means she’s stubborn as fuck and going to be a pain in the ass every step of the way.

It also means she is off limits and I need to keep myself in check. I need to keep my hands, and my dick, to myself. Unfortunately, as I watch her walk away, hips swinging, hair cascading down her back, the memory of her lips on mine…I don’t know if I can do that.