Page 24

CHAPTER 24

Really Hot Springs

LUCY

T he group is laughing and drinking around the fire pits like last night, with more than a few of the hockey players getting tipsy. I’m standing along the edge of the group, watching Atticus and Lachlan perform gymnastics in an open space and get rated by their audience.

Savannah is off to the side talking to someone I don’t know, but she’s watching the theatrics. From what I’ve seen of her, she actually seems nice. Maybe a bit over eager, but I don’t see her purposely hitting on any of the players, and she’s been perfectly friendly to me.

Maybe it’s just her husband who’s the asshole.

I can see that.

My brother does a graceful cartwheel. Cheers go up and there are shouts of nine and ten.

“Three,” Kellen calls with a stony face from the other side of the circle around the gymnasts. “Lachlan did it better.”

My brother swings his head to the source of the low score, then sprints toward Kellen and takes him down at the waist, rugby style.

“Stop!” Coach Jackson yells. “Your contracts say no extreme sports!” The sound of laughter fills the area, but the coach looks dead serious.

Which makes everyone laugh harder.

“What is wrong with my brother?” I say to myself, chuckling at his antics.

Kellen pushes off Atticus and both men hop to their feet.

“Sorry, Coach.” Kellen brushes off his jogging pants.

“Why don’t you show us your cartwheel, Bassey?” Atticus, with red cheeks and our wild hair, faces Kellen. He doesn’t even acknowledge Coach Jackson, the man who at least partially controls his hockey career.

My brother is trashed.

Thinking Kellen will ignore the challenge, I almost turn away.

“I’m mostly sober, don’t worry,” Kellen says to his coach before casually striding into the circle and performing a perfect ten cartwheel, like a wagon wheel turning with exact precision. The group cheers. Coach Jackson covers his eyes.

Kellen bows and retreats to the side of the circle where Savannah is standing with Atticus and Lachlan, then he turns my way and winks. My traitorous body has a visceral reaction to the acknowledgement.

Alcohol is probably not a great idea tonight, but I’m nervous about the plan we have later, so I finish the bottle of beer in my hand.

Any minute now, some of the group will start heading back toward Kellen’s pool.

I’ve got a bikini on underneath my sweatpants, tank top, and zip-up sweatshirt, and I guess it won’t be long before I strip down.

My phone buzzes.

Lachlan

It’s time for action. Places, everyone!

Raleigh

I am so jealous

January

Me too. I’m up for an early run along the Thames, but I’d rather be partying in Wyoming!

Kellen

Meet you guys at mine

I look up and Kellen’s slipping his phone in his pocket. He glances my way and nods to the pathway, waiting for me to fall into step beside him.

“Cartwheels, huh?” I steal a look at him.

“When your brother challenges, I can’t back down.” Kellen throws his hands up. “I’m incapable.”

“He’s feeling cocky after distributing glasses of his $500 bottle of champagne,” I say. Atticus has been hilariously painful to be around this evening. He was so proud to have taken Kellen down in laser tag. It’s good to know my almost thirty-year-old brother is just as goofy as he was in college.

“I was sure I had a better cartwheel than him. I do them with Ava all the time.”

“She is very good at cartwheels.” I smile, delighted at the image of Kellen and his daughter cartwheeling together. I saw plenty of Ava’s gymnastic moves during soccer season. “The Snowballs had a distracting habit of doing them on the field in the middle of games.”

“Yup. I tried to tell her to keep it to a minimum, but there’s only so much I can do.”

I chuckle. We stop with the others when we get to the pool outside of Kellen’s cottage.

“Why is your pool so much bigger than mine?” Atticus says.

“That doesn’t even need a response.” Kellen reaches behind his neck and pulls his t-shirt off in one swift move, revealing chiseled abs, and throws it on a lounge chair. “I’m going to get drinks.” Kellen slips into his cottage, and Atticus and Lachlan strip to their swim trunks and jump in, both yelping about the heat. Lachlan shakes his blond curls like a golden retriever drying off.

Across the pool, Savannah pulls off her short dress and slips gracefully into the water. She looks over at me and waves, and it takes me a second to realize she’s encouraging me to get in.

“I can’t be the only woman in the pool, please,” she calls and smiles. It’s disarming. She’s really pretty with her blonde waves and picture-perfect body, but it’s the friendly look on her face that takes me aback. I’m always expecting her to be kind of a monster.

For a second, I wonder what we’re trying to prove to her. Does she even care? Does Paul? But I shake the thought out of my head. What’s important is Kellen gets to keep his family in Fort Collins. So we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.

“Working on it,” I say back to her. I pull off my sweatshirt and tank and adjust my bikini top. Kellen comes back out of his cottage, a bucket of beer bottles in his hand.

He looks over at me and does a double take before he kicks off his joggers and slips into the water, breathing out in pleasure and staring at me.

Two more women who I vaguely recognize as hotel employees show up, followed by two other players. I’m thankful none of the staffers are here—Atticus and Lachlan were going to try to keep them away so I didn’t feel even more uncomfortable.

“You made it,” Lachlan calls to them.

I shimmy down my light pants and try to be causal, but Kellen is still watching, leaning his elbows on the concrete outside of the pool, swigging from a bottle. I slide down to sit on the edge of the pool a few feet away from him, my legs hanging in the delightfully warm water. Not as warm as a hot tub, but perfect for the cool November night.

Kellen scoots over, wet hair sticking to his forehead and droplets of water clinging to his cheeks. He looks up at me.

Well, crap.

I know I’ve always said I’m not a hockey player kind of woman, but looking at Kellen with those rippling shoulders and gorgeous blue eyes? I guess anyone could become one.

Or maybe I’m just a Kellen kind of woman.

Either way, there’s an ache in my center as he leans next to me at the pool’s edge, his forearm lightly against my thigh.

“Ready for this?” His voice is low and there’s a slight wobble. Is he nervous? Nah, can’t be.

I nod. “But remind me what we’re doing, exactly?” Damn, I’m nervous. Nervous and frozen to the side of this pool.

“First, you have to get in.”

“And then?” My chest thumps as Kellen turns to me, stepping casually between my knees, my thighs opening automatically to accommodate him. He puts a hand on either side of me.

Holy—

“Get in, Lucy.”

My mouth opens, but no words come out.

“Get in or I pull you in.”

A shiver runs up my back.

Kellen slips his hands under my knees and tugs.

I squeal. “Fine! Fine. I’m coming.” He lets go, so I scoot down and slide into the water right in between his arms. Kellen doesn’t move, and now we’re standing a foot apart, and I’m looking up at him. My breath catches… at the temperature of the pool. “Oh my god. That’s so warm.” The water heats my skin, and I can’t tell if I’m flushing from Kellen’s proximity or the hot springs.

“Second part of the plan is to look like we’re a couple.”

“Okay. How do we do that?” Maybe by my heart racing a hundred miles a minute. Because that’s what’s happening right now.

“Stay close to me. Like a couple would do.”

“Like this?” I say, my gaze locked with his. “Because we’re pretty close.”

He nods.

“Okay,” I breathe out. “What else? ”

“Couples touch each other.” Kellen takes my hands—hanging uselessly by my side—and pulls them to his chest. “Like this.” He slides his hands to my waist. “And this.”

The feel of his bare skin under my hands is so unlike the brief brushes as I buttoned his shirt at the photo shoot. Our bodies almost touch from the waist down, and I move an imperceptible bit forward to get him to be flush against me. He intakes a sharp breath, and that reminds me to breathe. All the blood rushes between my legs and the heat from the steamy pool is melting me.

“Is she watching us?” Kellen asks.

“Who?” As soon as I say it, I realize. “Oh, right, Savannah.” I glance over Kellen’s shoulder, and he moves his hands a few inches along my skin toward my back. “Yes. She’s watching. Sort of.”

Across the pool, Savannah glances our way and raises her eyebrows, but she goes back to chatting with Lachlan and the women from the hotel, who are sitting on the side with their legs dangling like I was a minute ago.

“Good.”

Atticus jumps out of the pool and helps one of the women stand. I hear him suggest his superior pool to her. My brother makes eye contact with me and shakes his head in disgust, then stifles a fake gag. I huff a laugh as he disappears down the pathway with the woman. The other one hops to her feet.

“They’re getting out. Atticus is gone, thank god.”

Kellen slides his hands fully around to my back, slowly moving them up until his fingers sweep the bottom of my bikini top. I suck in a breath and hold it. His fingers feel like rods of fire against my skin.

“I hope I’m not making you uncomfortable.” Kellen’s hands move back down to the top hem of my bikini bottom. I wish he’d push all his weight against me.

“No, of course not,” I squeak. I try to contain a moan and don’t look at him, keeping my eyes on the departing group. “Savannah is now out of the pool.” There are still two hockey players in the water, Lachlan stands at the edge, and the remaining hotel woman lingers by the pathway.

“Oy, on to Atter’s.” Lachlan stops on the path and waits for the last guys to exit the water and walk ahead of him. He stands patiently while Savannah casts a last glance at us. She literally shrugs and turns to Lachlan, linking her arm in his and laughing about something as they walk away.

And then they’re all gone, their voices fading to nothing.

Kellen moves a step back from me, breaking contact.

My eyes dart to his.

“Was that too much?” His brow is furrowed. I’m almost cold in the hot pool without him touching me.

He was acting. Of course he was. My stomach drops.

“No.” What’s my move here? He’s ready to walk away. I rejected him last night. He doesn’t know about my conversation with Raleigh. He doesn’t know that I want to do this with him. My hands—no longer on his chest—shake at my sides. Do I have the nerve to make it happen?

Kellen looks over his shoulder, and I just know he’s about to walk away.

So I reach out my hands and pull him to me by his waist. He looks back at me with sharp surprise etched in his raised eyebrows and lets me close the gap between us, but doesn’t touch me. His hands clench and unclench at his sides.

“Last night…” I start.

“It’s okay. It was too much.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I want this to happen.”

Kellen blinks at me, then moves a hand to the side of my neck, moving it up until he’s cupping my jaw. I lean into him with my eyes shut.

“Lucy. Look at me.”

Our eyes meet, and it’s fire. I’m not going to hold back with this man right now. I deserve this. I need this.

“Kiss me, Kellen. ”

And he does.

The hot water around me is nothing compared to the molten blood rushing through my veins as he presses his mouth against mine, first softly, then bringing the kiss deeper. I could kiss him all night. It does something to my soul. It fills me. It’s so right and perfect. Kellen pulls me harder against him and buries a hand in my curls. His tongue swipes into my mouth, and I open wider, giving him full access. Now he’s pressing himself against me, and I feel his desire on my stomach. I’m pulsing for him.

Kellen pulls away.

“I really like you, Lucy. I want you to know that.” He’s breathing heavily.

I absorb his words. They’re not words of obligation, are they? He’s not drunk. Neither am I.

“I like you too.” I move my hands up his wet chest, memorizing the feel of every muscle and line, trying to build a protective wall around my heart so I can be with him physically.

Maybe telling him I like him doesn’t go with the idea of only being physical.

But then he kisses me again, and I don’t care.

Our bodies spark against each other, and I press against him as he moves his hands down my body lightly, over the curves of my ass, until he touches bare skin where my bikini bottom ends. Then he stops again.

“In another universe, you’re not just my fake girlfriend.”

I swallow. Oh, shit. Not sure those walls can handle this kind of talk. “What does that universe look like?”

We’re on seriously dangerous ground now, but I can’t stop myself.

“It’s a universe where you’re here permanently. Where we have coffee every morning. You coach my daughter’s soccer team. We get to touch each other all the time. We laugh, hang out, hike, fight off wild animals, and spend a lot of time naked.”

I smile, and he kisses me again.

“That sounds perfect,” I say, but the words are lost in our kiss.

I continue in my head. It’s a universe where he can trust people. A universe where I can believe I’m enough.

The water slides against my skin as he pushes my bikini bottoms down to access the skin beneath. I’m throbbing between my legs, and I want his hands everywhere.

“Can we go somewhere more private?” I whisper as I press harder against him. Because as amazing as this is, I’m not into risking the hockey boys coming back this way.

We’ve already shown the public what they need to see.

This? This is just for us.

Kellen tugs my suit back up and lifts me out of the pool, then practically leaps up next to me. He pulls me onto my feet and toward the door to his cottage, where there’s a private lounge area hidden from view completely.

I tug him to a lounge chair and sink onto my back, pulling him down on top of me. I don’t want to be deprived of his touch for one more second.

He buries his head in my neck and slides a hand down my stomach and to my aching front. I practically purr as he touches me. Finally. Stroking. Touching. Pressing. Fire is burning inside me, and it’s not just in my between my legs.

It’s in my chest. And that’s a problem.

I feel like I’m floating, and I arch against him. I’m dripping pool water and should be freezing in the cool Wyoming night, but his lips are setting me on fire.

He moves his mouth down my neck and my chest until he wraps his lips around a nipple through my bathing suit, his fingers still stroking so softly between my legs that I might die. I’m a rag doll in his arms, destroyed by the sensations of his fingers, his mouth, his body.

“You’re perfect,” he says. “This is all I’ve been thinking about. You’re driving me crazy, Lucy, with your curls and your lips and your laugh… ”

“Kellen,” I whisper, burying my hands in his hair as he pushes my bikini top down and takes my exposed breast in his mouth.

This time, I can’t hold back the moan.

I’m floating with his touch, but I want more. I want everything.

He swoops me up and locks my legs around his waist.

“You deserve a bed, Lucy.” So he backs me up into his cottage and slides the door shut with one hand, then lowers my feet onto the floor. “We need to get out of these clothes so the bed doesn’t get soaked.”

I raise my eyebrows at him, and he has such a wicked look in his eyes that my body practically explodes on the spot. He disappears for a second and returns to toss a condom on the nightstand.

Kellen pushes my bikini bottoms down while keeping intense eye contact. I want him to touch me, but instead, he slowly picks at the back of my top, pulling the tie loose and nudging the fabric off my shoulders until I’m standing in front of him naked.

After he pushes his bathing suit down—holy hell—he lets his eyes roam my body. Then he gently backs me up until the bed hits the back of my knees, and he’s scooping me up and laying me down on the scratchy comforter. He leans down and places light kisses on the inside of my thighs, creeping his mouth closer and closer to my core.

I throw my head back and breathe out as his mouth finds my center. He wastes no time exploring with his tongue, pausing only to pull me down further to him.

“You’re so good at this,” I whisper. My mind is at odds with my body. This is exactly what I want. What I need. But it’s more than that.

It feels right .

Kellen moans and wraps his arms around my thighs, resting them on his shoulders.

“Oh god, Kellen.” I bury my hands in my hair as my orgasm builds with him buried in between my thighs. The world turns black around me, and I ride on intense pleasurable waves. He stays between my legs until my shoulders fall and all the tension releases from my body.

I collapse back onto the bed, my legs jelly, my heart racing. Kellen climbs up and lays next to me.

“Kellen?”

He turns his head to me. “Yeah, Lucy?”

“That was amazing.”

“You’re amazing.”

My heart skips a beat.

Why is this so confusing? First we tell each other we like each other, now he tells me I’m amazing?

We’re just banging this out. Not starting a whole thing. But I can’t bring myself to say that to him, because the way he’s looking at me hints toward it not being that simple.

“Hey,” he says. I turn my head to look at him, my breathing slowing down.

“Hey.” I bite my lip. Kellen’s eyes are still hooded with desire. I run my hand down his chest and abdomen, and he breathes in sharply when I wrap my hand around his length.

“Lucy,” he says. I wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t. He just reaches next to him to grab the condom, nudging my hand aside and gently crawling on top of me.

He pushes inside me slowly, keeping eye contact, looking at me like I’m more than just a quick lay. It’s too much for my soul to take, and I shut my eyes as he fills me.

This is supposed to be just physical, so I thrust against him and concentrate on the rhythmic movement between us, in sync and like we’re one and the same person. We come together moments later. I chuckle and stare wide-eyed at the ceiling. Some kind of euphoria fills me, and I want to laugh and dance around the room.

“What?”

“I can’t believe we did that.” I shut my eyes and let the warm feelings envelop me. Purely physical feelings, of course. Not warm from the inside. Not warm at having done this with Kellen specifically.

“I can,” he says. I turn my head and Kellen’s staring at me. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he says. “And I’d like to do it again in a little bit.”

Kellen reaches over and takes my hand, weaving my fingers with his. It takes my breath away just a little. We lay on our backs like that for a while, until our heartbeats are more in control.

Eventually, Kellen starts running kisses down my neck again.

In the morning, I’m going to have to accept the fact that this thing with Kellen is no longer fake. If it was fake, we would’ve only had sex, not said all those things.

If it was fake, I wouldn’t be feeling this way about him.

I think I’m screwing this up.