Page 17 of Finding Romance (Romances in the Building #2)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Piper

I pull the strap on my bikini. Damn it! I should have packed a one-piece. Kasen and I are at the gym about to join a water aerobics class. We are easily the youngest people here by a good three decades. And yet, I’m still feeling very self-conscious about what I have on.

I tighten the robe around me and walk to the edge of the pool. I dip my toe in the water and am relieved to find that it’s not freezing. Phew!

Three ladies who look about eighty years old are in the pool with the instructor and a few more women who are maybe in their sixties are in the back of the pool. I toss my robe on a chair and climb into the shallow end.

A moment later, Kasen walks in, and all seven women turn to stare at him.

It takes five or so seconds for me to realize I’m holding my breath. Kasen has on swim trunks, but he looks like a Ken doll.

“Hello, ladies, mind if I join you?” he asks.

He’s met by a chorus of “yes” and “of course” and “come on in” and “there’s room next to me.” He dives in and swims over near me.

“Hi,” I say as I attempt to tread water. But I probably look like a wet dog that hasn’t yet discovered it can swim.

“Hello,” he replies.

We don’t have much time for anything else as the instructor begins the class.

We start in the shallow end with some water weights and then we do some deeper water exercises and then end back in the shallow part.

I get a special pool noodle to help me in the deep end after the instructor says that no one is dying on her watch.

Aside from the embarrassment of my lack of swimming abilities, it’s a surprisingly good workout. My core muscles are feeling it by the end of the class. Kasen and I have also been trying to check around the pool for the necklace, but so far we haven’t seen it.

“OK, last stretch. Raise those arms high. Very good,” the instructor, whose name is Brittany, says to us. I keep stretching enjoying the feeling when all of a sudden, I feel a pop.

I look down and immediately cover my chest. Holy shit! My left bikini strap just snapped.

“Everything OK?” Kasen asks as he swims over to me.

“I…uh…can you grab my robe for me?” I ask.

“What’s wrong, honey?” an older lady named Linda asks.

“Oh, I...am having a wardrobe malfunction,” I whisper as I use one hand to motion to my bikini strap that my other hand is holding up.

“Oops. That’s no good. Clarice, Piper here needs some help with her top. Remember when Kathleen popped her bathing suit strap. Same problem,” she calls out.

I feel my face darken with embarrassment as I am suddenly surrounded by a flock of older women.

“I have a bobby pin in my bag,” one says.

“We could tie it behind your head,” another offers.

“No, look, it won’t work,” her friend says.

“Ladies, I have her robe here,” Kasen states as he holds out my robe. Everyone looks up at him because he’s dripping wet and the outline of his dick is…apparent.

“Are you two dating?” Linda asks me.

I have no idea how to answer that. Yes. No. Define dating. So I just go with it. “Not really.”

“Well, you should because men that look like that do not come around very often,” she says.

“OK, ladies, we need to form a protective circle,” Linda declares, and I find myself surrounded by all seven women as I get out of the pool. They part like water going around a sandbar as Kasen enters the circle and wraps me in my robe.

“All better,” he whispers as he ties the sash, his hands lingering there for a moment as our gazes stay fixed on each other.

“You decent now?” a woman asks me.

“Yes. I am. Thank you all so much,” I say to my new gym friends.

“Did you find that necklace you were looking for?” Linda asks. At some point during class, Kasen had to explain our weird behavior. That led to a two-minute class break and everyone floating around to look, but even then we didn’t find it.

“No,” I say. “I guess she must have left it somewhere else. But if anyone finds it, please let me know.”

“We will,” Linda says.

And with that, I scurry into the women’s locker room to change.

When I come out, Kasen is standing by the front desk talking to a young woman who might as well have those googly heart eyes that cartoon characters get.

Kasen seems somewhat unaffected by her. But when his gaze meets mine, it’s as if the other woman no longer exists.

He doesn’t even say goodbye, he just walks straight over to me.

“You OK?” he asks as he pushes a lock of hair away from my face. It’s such an intimate touch, yet I don’t shy away from it. In fact, I sort of like that he did that.

“Yes,” I reply.

“Good. Because I had another idea about where we could look. But…uh, you might need another bathing suit,” he says.

“Oh. I don’t have one,” I state. “I only brought the one.”

“We sell them here,” the woman he was speaking to says as if she’s been part of our conversation the entire time.

“How much?” Kasen asks.

“Eighty dollars,” she replies as she pulls out my size.

He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a card, and taps it against the scanner.

“OK, let’s go back to the apartment and you can change,” he says.

I’m confused, but I follow him the two blocks back.

He doesn’t say where we are going, and for some reason, I don’t ask.

I’m too fixated on his warm hand that is covering mine.

His thumb strokes the back of my hand as we walk in silence, our gym bags swinging over our shoulders.

I find myself pressing against him as we walk.

He keeps me on the inside of the sidewalk.

I notice again how he’s scanning his surroundings.

Kasen always seems to be on high alert. Does the man ever stop paying attention to everything around him?

When we get back to his apartment, I turn to my aunt’s door. “Let me get her settled,” I say as I motion to the door.

“OK. Put on that bathing suit and meet me on the roof,” he says.

I nod and hurry inside, shutting the door behind me and leaning against it.

“How was the class?” Aunt Cornelia asks.

“It was fun. No necklace though,” I say. “Bathroom?”

She nods and I help her get up and to the bathroom. “I think Kasen has a sweet spot for you,” she declares as I bring her back to the chair and she settles into it.

“Nah. But he is a good friend,” I correct, but inside I’m warring with myself. Could he like me? No, there’s no possible way. “Speaking of that. He wants to go look for the necklace on the roof. So, I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

“OK,” she says as she sips her water and starts knitting.

I change quickly and put a long T-shirt over my bathing suit. It’s a warm fall day, but the roof is likely to be cold. I bring a towel and head upstairs.

When I get to the roof, I look over and see Kasen is back in his swim trunks and sitting on the edge of a hot tub.

“I forgot about the hot tub,” I say as I walk over to him and pull my shirt off. I join him on the edge, our feet dangling into the bubbling hot water, which feels amazing. It’s a little chilly up here but not with the hot tub going.

“Cornelia was up here before the fall. So I thought, maybe we could check the greenhouse and water the plants and check the hot tub,” he explains.

“I need to finish painting some of those pots,” I state as I point to the greenhouse.

“We’ll have time later,” he says, his eyes dipping to my rising chest. “Get in before you get cold.”

I slide into the water and he joins me. I swallow as I watch him put his giant arms across the edge of the hot tub. I decide to sit in the crook of his arm. Our hips touch as I dangle my feet in the water.

“I don’t see it in here,” I state as I look around in between the bubbles.

“No, me either,” he says but he’s not looking in the water, he’s looking at me.

My gaze drops to his lips where a single drop of water sits, probably from the bubbling hot tub.

I’m not sure what happens next, but I somehow end up in his lap.

Leaning forward, I lick the drop of water from his bottom lip.

“Fuck, little escape artist. That was hot,” he murmurs against my lips.

“You had water,” I explain as if that was a good reason to lick his lip.

“I have water in a lot of places,” he teases and I groan when he thrusts his hips against my core.

“Do it again,” he commands. I frown in confusion, but he leans his head toward mine and I know he means that I should lick his lip again.

My tongue darts out and this time his lips open and his tongue slides along mine. My arms reach around his neck and pull him closer to me. His hands grip my waist, pressing me down into him.

I start grinding against him as we kiss. Is this what sex is like? Because if it’s half as good as this, then I have clearly been missing out for a long time.

“Kasen,” I whisper as I pull back.

“What is it, baby?” he coos as he continues to press a few gentle kisses to my jaw. “Is…” I trail off because I realize how embarrassing of a question it is.

He cups my face and we stare at each other.

“What?” His eyes search mine.

“Sex,” I whisper.

His brows furrow.

“What’s it…like?” I clarify.

His lips form a small smile. “Oh, baby, it’s good, so good. Better than anything you can imagine. And if you have the right partner, even better,” he tries to explain.

“How do you know if you have the right partner?” I feel my cheeks heat.

Why am I asking him these questions? I should be more embarrassed but I feel like I can trust him.

My parents never really spoke about sex and my grandmother and great-aunt are too mortifying in their responses for such a discussion and I have no siblings and no friends close enough that I would trust to discuss the topic.

So, I guess that leaves Kasen and he has agreed to teach me. I suppose it makes sense to ask him.

His hand cups my jaw. “You’ll feel it,” he replies and kisses me again.

“Mom, I know I left him…” We hear Ava’s voice and I push away from Kasen like he has some highly contagious disease.

“Whatcha doin’?” Ava says with a smirk. This kid is observant for being so young.

“Playing mermaids. What are you doing?” I ask her.

She frowns because she clearly did not expect my answer.

“Looking for…Mr. Pickles!” she screams in delight as she runs past us to a lounge chair and pulls out a giant stuffed donkey.

“Found him, Mom!” she says as Carly steps out onto the roof.

“Oh, hey,” she says when she sees us. “Pardon us. We’ll be going.” She grabs Ava and heads to the door.

“Uh, do you think we should have explained the pretend dating thing?” I ask, making a mental note to talk with her later.

He waves his hand. “No, but you’re breaking out in a rash. We should probably get out of here,” he says. I look down to find my chest is splotchy red. Frowning, I realize I can smell a chemical other than chlorine.

“What does Al clean the hot tub with?” I ask.

“Some special pool chemical, why?” Kasen asks as he gets out of the hot tub and holds out his hand. I take it and curse under my breath.

“I think I’m allergic to it,” I groan.

“Come on, let’s go get you some medicine,” he says as he leads me back downstairs. I know this isn’t a third pretend date, but it’s starting to feel like it. All of this is starting to feel very not pretend and I sort of like that. But does Kasen?