Page 18 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

Chapter Six

Had he thought about kissing Harlow again? Yes.

Even after his grandmother’s warning when he knew he shouldn’t.

But before they took this any further, he needed to know one thing.

“Did you know who I was that night?” he asked, his voice oddly gruff. “Did you know I was a Bradshaw?”

Then he held his breath and waited for her to be outraged and argue with him.

“No,” she said softly, her hand still gently resting on the back of his neck. “I had no idea who you were, and it never even entered my mind that you could be related to Dale and Peggy.”

“Good.” That was all he needed to hear.

His arms went around her as she pressed every inch of her curvy body up against him.

At some point, the evening had gone from awkward to antagonistic before the two of them finally started to relax with each other.

He figured they’d come back here and wish each other a good night and Harlow would leave.

But when she put her hand in his and climbed out of the truck, there were definitely some flirty vibes.

And not just on her part.

Before he knew it, he found himself hesitant to let her leave.

Now he was glad he hadn’t.

Her hands raked through his hair before smoothing over his shoulders and down his arms, and he wanted her to keep touching him.

Hell, he wanted to start touching her.

But not while standing in the middle of the cabin.

Breaking the kiss, they breathlessly looked at each other. He knew what he was about to say could totally kill the mood, but there was no way he could keep going until they cleared the air a bit.

Swallowing hard, Walker forced himself to take a small step back. “Harlow, I…um…wow. That was amazing and also…unexpected. After everything that’s transpired, I just thought nothing would ever happen between us again.”

He nearly groaned when she licked her lips. “I know. I was arguing with myself while we were still outside.”

“Arguing…?”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t agree with anything you’re going to do here at the resort. I think you’re going to destroy everything that made it charming, and the repercussions are going to be felt throughout the entire town.”

Shit. Not this again…

“Okay, but…what just happened here doesn’t have anything to do with the resort,” he reasoned. “I thought it was because we were equally attracted to each other. If I’m wrong…”

“You’re not wrong,” she said slowly. “But…”

“But…?”

“But I was having a hard time wrapping my head around wanting to be with you again. If you were just Walker, the guy I met Friday and hit it off with, it would be one thing. But you’re not,” she said sadly.

“You’re Walker Bradshaw, the guy who single-handedly ruined all my plans for selling the resort and doing something with it that nobody wants. ”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and fought the urge to argue with her, even though it wasn’t what he really wanted. “Harlow…”

“I’m serious, Walker! No one wants your upscale resort up here!

Lakeview Harbor Resort has been a staple in this community!

And the fact that you’re not respecting that is just wrong!

And…and…” She was breathless and staring up at him with the deepest, most beautiful—yet tortured—eyes he’d ever seen.

They would never agree on the resort. He knew what he was here to do and had a plan firmly in place for it.

Nothing Harlow or anyone could say would change that.

But right now, he really wished he was just Walker, the guy she met and hit it off with.

If they could just put all this business stuff aside and…

Straightening, he took another step back and held out his hand. “Hey, I’m Walker. It’s nice to meet you.”

She looked at him like he’d lost his ever-loving mind, and maybe he had.

“Um…what?”

So he repeated himself. “I’m Walker. And you are…?”

Her eyes lit up when she realized what he was doing, and slowly, she placed her hand in his. “I’m Harlow. It’s nice to meet you, Walker.” She glanced around. “Are you new to the neighborhood?”

He had to fight not to laugh. “You could say that. What about you? Are you from around here?”

Nodding, she gave him a small grin. “Born and raised.”

While continuing to hold her hand, he leaned in slightly. “Interesting. Are there any good places to grab a burger? Or any fun and interesting festivals?”

She blushed slightly. “There’s a pub in town that makes the best burgers, and the next festival isn’t until Memorial Day. Maybe if you’re still in town, you can check it out.”

He nodded. “I might just do that.” As fun as this little game was, he had more important things on his mind. “May I make a suggestion?” Walker’s thumb was caressing her wrist and he could tell she was desperately trying not to move closer to him.

Her perfectly arched eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Um…sure?”

“Stay,” he whispered.

Her smile was part shy, part temptress. “Okay.”

Walker reached down and scooped her up in his arms before striding into the bedroom. Placing her down in the middle of the bed, he loomed over her and simply enjoyed the view. There wasn’t a damn thing sexy about what she was wearing, but he couldn’t wait to peel it all off of her.

With one knee on the bed, he pulled back slightly and unbuttoned his shirt, enjoying the way she was watching him.

He undid the buttons on the cuffs and then slowly took it off.

And when he leaned back in, Harlow smoothed one delicate hand up over his abs and chest. Gently, he took her hand in his and slowly ran his tongue along her palm, making her shiver.

It was crazy to be here with her like this again. Weren’t they enemies just hours ago?

Or, maybe not exactly enemies, but…adversaries?

How did they go from that to this?

But he already knew the answer. He was attracted to her from the moment she turned around while they were in line at the pub, and he was still attracted to her. Everything outside of that one point didn’t matter right now. That was a problem for another day.

Wasn’t it?

Do I really even care? There’s a sexy woman sprawled out on my bed! Focus on that!

So he did.

Gradually, he lowered himself until his body completely covered hers and was incredibly pleased when she reached up and pulled him in for another kiss. Her lips were soft, the feminine hum was sexy as hell, and her tongue was teasing his in the most erotic way.

The kiss got deeper, wetter, a little more frantic, and it was hard to tell who was more in control.

That’s when he quickly maneuvered them until Harlow was on top, straddling him, giving him a wild sense of déjà vu.

He moaned with pleasure as she moved against him.

His hand slid into her dark, silky hair and gave a gentle tug.

She quickly lifted her head, her eyes looking a bit glazed with desire.

Walker’s hands roamed down and rested on her bottom, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I needed to touch you,” he admitted.

“That’s good, because I’ve been waiting to feel your hands on me,” she whispered.

“Oh, yeah? Since when?”

It was crazy how much he wanted her to say since she left him Saturday morning.

“Since the drive back here. I couldn’t stop staring at your hands.” She nibbled her bottom lip, and it was ridiculous how she even made that look hot.

“Where would you like to feel my hands, Harlow?”

She surprised him by reaching for his hands and bringing them up to her breasts and holding them there.

The throaty moan she let out was like hitting the launch button.

After that, it was borderline madness. One minute she was on top, then he had her rolled beneath him.

Their kisses became more desperate, their touches more frantic.

Clothes came off, one of their shoes shattered something, and he didn’t even care enough to look for the damage.

All he knew was that he needed to get her naked and kiss and lick and touch every damn inch of her and hopefully have her return the favor.

When the last garment was on the floor and Walker was braced above her once again, he was nearly crazed with desire. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had turned him on as much as Harlow did.

Carefully, he caressed her jaw and slowly let his hand—his fingers—gently glide down over her throat, her breasts, before resting on her hip. Her back arched as she gave him a wicked grin.

“Don’t stop, Walker. Keep going.”

It was all the encouragement he needed. And he did exactly as she asked—he kept going, loving the way she kept begging him to never stop.

Walker woke up when he felt Harlow moving away from him.

It was late, although he had no idea exactly what time it was because his watch was somewhere on the floor.

He waited to see if she was just moving to get more comfortable or if she was actually getting out of the bed.

When the blankets peeled back, he figured it out.

She was trying to leave while he was sleeping again, but he wasn’t having it.

“Don’t go,” he whispered, smiling into the darkness when he heard her soft gasp.

“I thought you were sleeping.”

“I woke up.” Reaching out, he gently tugged her arm. “Seriously, Harlow, don’t go. Please.”

“Walker…” It was only a partial protest because it wasn’t long before she was curled up beside him again. He adjusted the blankets and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

They’d made love twice; the first time had been embarrassingly fast, but he made it up to her on the second go-round. He was exhausted and satisfied and yet…he was also ready to go again.

He just needed to make sure she was too.

So he let his hand trail lazily up and down her back with the occasional pause to squeeze her magnificent ass. “Do you have some sort of aversion to spending the entire night with me?” he carefully asked.

Yawning first, Harlow shifted slightly before saying anything. “I don’t know. It just seemed like something I should do. And for the record, it was almost six a.m. Saturday morning when I left.”