Page 20 of Stick Around,

Then again, maybe she would show up, and we’d drink wine as the sun set and the stars came out.

When had I become such a… romantic?

I carried the wine and charcuterie board out to the back deck. The sun was starting to set, painting the horizon in dark blue and gold. I’d set up the hot tub earlier, but now I cranked the jets on.

I discarded my shirt and sank into the water, letting the heat and movement relax my muscles.

Every few seconds, my eyes drifted to the path that Quinn would take if she decided to come. It would be less complicated if she didn’t show. I rarely read women wrong, but what if I’d misinterpreted her interest earlier? Was I about to embarrass myself and the ranch?

I’d just reached for the wine bottle when Quinn appeared on the path, wearing shorts and a loose tank top, a towel slung casually over one shoulder. Her steps were unhurried but had a hint of hesitation, like she was second-guessing with each footfall.

She paused at the edge of the deck, eyes flicking to mine, then to the wine, then back to me. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

With a sudden confidence that seemed to come from nowhere, she tugged her tank top over her head in one fluid motion. She dropped it onto a deck chair, fingers moving to the button of her shorts. They joined her tank top.

Standing before me in nothing but black lace underwear and a bra, she met my gaze with a smirk that said she knew exactly what this was doing to me.

“Hope you’re not shy. I didn’t bring my bathing suit and didn’t have time to go buy one.” She walked up the hot tub steps and sat gingerly on the side before swinging her legs over.

My mouth had gone completely dry. “I’m not shy.”

She sank into the water with a contented sigh that I felt in my bones, submerging herself to her shoulders. I managed to collect myself enough to pour her a glass of wine, which she accepted with a grateful nod.

“This is exactly what I needed.” She tilted her head back against the edge. “I can’t believe I rode a horse today. I knew there would be some soreness, but not this much.”

For a while, we just soaked, sipping wine and picking from the charcuterie board balanced on the edge of the tub. The conversation came easier than it should have with someone I barely knew. It flowed from her teaching experiences to my most ridiculous guest stories, from her ex’s betrayal to my parents’ dysfunctional marriage.

The wine loosened our tongues, but there was something else at work too, something in the way the water bubbled around her shoulders and glinted off the droplets on her collarbones.

Our fingers brushed when I passed her a strawberry, and neither of us pulled away as quickly as we should have.

She took a bite of the berry, my eyes glued to the way her lips closed around it. “Do you always go to this much trouble for your guests?”

There it was; the question that would define whatever this was becoming… or wasn’t becoming.

I met her eyes. “No.”

A beat of silence stretched between us, filled only by the bubbling of the jets and the distant chirp of crickets. Her eyes searched my face, as if looking for the punchline, the hint that I was just the charming guy who flirted with everyone who crossed the ranch’s threshold.

I leaned in slowly, giving her every opportunity to pull away.

She didn’t.

Our mouths met in a kiss that started tentatively, a question hanging between us, but whatever caution existed melted away. Her lips parted against mine with a soft, needy sound that vibrated through me, and everything accelerated. Her hand curled around the back of my neck, fingertips digging into myskin, while my fingers slid into her damp hair, cradling her head as if it were something precious.

The taste of wine and strawberries lingered on her tongue as it brushed against mine, sending electric currents racing down my spine. The jets hummed around us, but all I could hear was the catch in Quinn’s breath, the quiet moan that escaped her when I pulled her closer, the water sloshing between our bodies as they gravitated toward each other with an urgency that had been building since she first stepped on the ranch.

When we finally pulled apart, both slightly breathless, I saw my own surprise mirrored in her eyes. Like neither of us had expected this to feel quite so... inevitable.

“Huh,” she whispered, her fingers still light against my skin.

“Eloquent,” I teased, but my voice wasn’t quite steady.

She smiled and bit her lip. “I wasn’t planning on this, you know.”

“Me neither.” My thumb traced her bottom lip. “But I’m not complaining.”

Her eyes darkened. “Good.”