by Amy Daws
My chest tightens at the thought of Dean’s hands on me. I still have a funny swirling in my stomach every time I think of that kiss we shared before. It was…surprising. I expected it to be rash and completely void of chemistry because all I cared about was pissing off my mother, but Dean took over that kiss and well…
It was hot.
Probably the hottest kiss I’ve ever experienced.
Which makes the idea of him fondling me in front of his friends really nerve-wracking. My voice is quiet when I ask, “What did you have in mind exactly?”
He glances out of the corner of his eye and, without asking, reaches across the console and places his big warm hand on my bare thigh just above my knee. “Something like this.”
My entire leg erupts in goose bumps that I’m sure he notices but doesn’t say anything. His fingers skate lightly over my skin as he settles into the embrace that seems simple but causes a riot of electricity to shoot straight up my thigh to the area between my legs.
He teases the frayed hem of my shorts with his pinkie. “Think this is okay?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and nod. “It’s fine.”
“You could hold my hand while I’m doing it too,” he offers with a shrug.
I quickly wipe my palms off on my plaid shirt and then rest my hands on top of his like it’s not causing me to feel hot all over my body.
He beams casually. “See? This is nice, right?”
I nod woodenly.
“And don’t be surprised if I pat your ass once in a while. That’s totally something I’d do to a girl I was serious with.”
God, this is going to be harder than I thought.
“Also, kissing,” Dean adds, wrapping his hand farther around my leg and squeezing. “I think we’ve established we’re good at the kissing, so we should just keep doing that whenever it makes sense.”
I pin him with a look. “I don’t think we need to kiss.”
“Why not?”
“Because…it’s…weird to kiss in front of people. Tons of couples don’t go that far in front of people.”
“I’m not like most people, Norah. I’d be affectionate if I had a girlfriend like you.”
“Like me,” I repeat and chew my lip nervously. “What does that mean?”
Dean exhales heavily and pulls his hand from my leg as we approach a curve up a large mountain. “You’re beautiful, you’re successful, you’re kind. You have killer legs. You’re super uptight, which makes you a challenge, and I love a challenge. So yeah, I’m pretty sure if this were a real relationship, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you.”
My body shivers at the assault of the casual compliments Dean just threw my way. How is he so cool with all of this? I wish I had an ounce of his confidence.
His voice cuts into my thoughts when he adds, “Frankly, I think we should pull over and have sex right now because, with the limited oxygen at this elevation, the sexual tension in this car is stifling.”
Dean glances over with a teasing smirk and now I feel like I’m doing a good impression of that flapping bass fish on the wall that my mother mastered last weekend. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shrugs. “I don’t think it sounds like a bad idea.”
“It sounds like a horrible idea because we’re not really in a relationship,” I bark and can feel a faint sheen of sweat collecting on my upper lip. I reach forward and open the vent to blow air on my face.
“And we have to be in a real relationship to have sex?” he asks, pinning me with a serious look.
“Um, it’d be preferred.”
“People have casual sex all the time, Norah.”
“Not me,” I reply and instantly think of Barrett. We totally had casual sex after we broke up and then never spoke again because it was awkward afterward, and we both regretted it. I do not want to suffer through that with Dean.
I glance over at him and can’t help but deflate a bit because he is seriously attractive. His square bearded jaw and strong sculpted pecs beneath that shirt could be worth a little awkwardness. But this cannot happen. We’re business partners, and we have to get through a wedding in a couple of weeks. Sex would make everything more complicated.
Plus, I don’t think he’s serious. He’s never serious.
I look away from him and stare forward with my hands resting safely in my lap. “We can’t have sex. No way. We’re two friends helping each other out and nothing more. Don’t make this weird.”
He sighs heavily. “Whatever you say, boss.”
My anxious lip sweat has finally subsided by the time we pull up to a large brick-pillared private entrance a good thirty miles outside of Aspen. Dean said Max’s house was nice. However, he failed to mention it’s a freaking mansion that we have to drive over a stream to get to.
I’m speechless as we get out of the car, and I stare up at the giant home and its flagstone walkway flanked with aspens that lead to ornate double doors with carvings of lions on the front.
“Was that a bridge or a moat we drove over?” I ask Dean, and then suddenly, the front doors swing open, and Kate is standing there in all her wild, red-haired glory.
“Holy shit, Lynsey, he wasn’t lying!” she hollers as she stares at me with her jaw dropped.
Lynsey emerges in the doorway beside her with a drink and thrusts her free hand into the air. “You owe me twenty bucks.”
Kate shakes her head and marches out, stopping in front of me with narrowed eyes. “How much is he paying you for this?”
“Paying me for what?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“Paying you to be his fake date for the weekend?” Kate asks knowingly and turns to thrust her pointer finger in Dean’s face.
Flames. My entire body is engulfed in flames. The lip sweat has also returned, and I might have some ass sweat happening like a winner. My voice is a stammering mess when I reply, “I-I’m not his fake date. I’m his girlfriend.” I sound like a robot. Like a stupid, moronic, painfully sweaty robot. “I brought croinuts.”
I thrust them into Kate’s hands as Dean drops our bags and reaches around me from behind. His hands clasp around my waist in that delicious way that would normally make me feel small and feminine, but right now, it’s making me feel hot and sweaty. I probably stink.
“Kate, I promise you, no money was exchanged in this transaction.” He leans in and kisses the inside of my neck, and I want to barf because I feel a drizzle of sweat sliding downward.
“You two are really together?” Kate asks, shaking her head from side to side.
I shrug because actually saying the lie out loud feels worse than letting it be implied. Kate digs into her pocket and holds up a twenty-dollar bill.
Lynsey scurries over and takes the cash and the croinuts from her hands, smiling happily at Dean and me. “I could have called this over a year ago.”
I frown at that bizarre remark, but then Dean clears his throat. “Can one of you show me where we’re sleeping so I can dump our bags?”
“I can do that,” Lynsey peals.
“I’ll give Norah the tour since this is her first time here.” Kate wraps her arm around mine and waves Lynsey and Dean off with the bags. “People with this kind of money don’t do tours. But I’m a cheap ass and genuinely love gawking at other people’s worldly possessions.”
She remains holding on to my arm as she walks me inside and describes the property like a realtor. The interior has a rustic hunting lodge feel with natural stone walls throughout most of the space and exposed mahogany beams on the vaulted ceilings. It feels like the entire property was created inside a cave except for the giant windows offering sweeping views of the aspen-filled mountains.
We head outside next, and Kate informs me the estate is thirty acres of picturesque scenery in the valley of Snowmass Mountain. There’s a horse barn and equestrian pastures far off in the distance that Max rents out to locals. She points to the stream we came over (not a moat) and then ends the tour by the swimming pool and hot tub flanked with fl
agstones and pillars with fire shooting out the top of them.
“This looks more like a resort than a vacation home,” I state, looking into the house that’s glowing now that the sun has set. Everyone has congregated by the large stone bar located right in the center with the perfect view of the lit-up pool area.
Kate sighs heavily. “And it’s only one of the many properties Max owns. Can you imagine?”
My brows lift. “I’ve been working with him for over a year and I had no idea he had this kind of money.”
“Well, it’s family money but in fairness, Max works like a dog. We can’t all be lucky enough to get inheritances like Max and Dean. Some of us have to start our own businesses, right?”
“Right,” I reply politely and return her offer of a high five as I inwardly process the Dean comment.
I didn’t realize Dean received an inheritance. I’m actually not entirely sure how much money Dean has or what he does with his money. I know he dresses well and drives a nice car. And he clearly had enough cash flow to invest in my business. But that’s the extent of my knowledge.
I let those wandering thoughts go as Kate leads me back inside and reintroduces me to everyone. First there’s Kate’s fiancé, Miles, who’s the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome with crazy light blue eyes that stare at his fiancée like he wants to eat her every time she comes into a room. Then there’s Lynsey and her husband, Josh, who’s a doctor. He’s the quiet type but Kate murmurs in my ear that they haven’t had a weekend away from their one-year-old in ages and she wouldn’t be surprised if they make baby number two on this trip. The friendly ginger-bearded guy who owns the tire shop in Boulder is Sam. Sam and Miles are apparently best friends and Kate introduces me to his fiancée, Maggie, who happens to also be Miles’s little sister.
“Funny story about these two”—Kate barks out a laugh and points her finger into Sam’s chest—“he started screwing his best friend’s little sister behind all of our backs…especially Miles.”
My eyes go wide and I expect the room to go dead quiet with awkwardness, but it doesn’t. Maggie rolls her eyes and tucks herself up under Sam’s massive arm while he leisurely takes a drink of his beer bottle. Everyone else is smiling and laughing like Kate tells this story all the time.
“But luckily, Sam fell for Mags hook, line, and sinker and now they are going to have an awesome winter wonderland wedding…so all is right in the tire shop.”
Maggie flashes her ring as a sign of admission. “That is if Kate will finally give up the spotlight for a weekend.”
Kate mock gasps. “Are you calling me an attention whore, Maggie?”
“Where would I ever get that idea, Kate?” Maggie laughs.
“Maybe because you’ve morphed into a bridezilla for the past month?” Lynsey chirps, taking a sip of her colorful cocktail.
Kate, Lynsey, and Maggie all begin to playfully argue and Dean gestures for me to come to the end of the bar where he’s mixing a drink. I make my way over and notice he’s already freshly showered and changed for the evening. He’s sporting a pale blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up, revealing muscular forearms and an expensive-looking watch. His bottom half is covered in a pair of jeans that make his butt look ridiculously good.
“Doing okay there, sugar bottom?” he asks and my eyes flick up to his face, horrified that he might have caught me looking at his bottom.
“I’d be better with one of those.” I point down as he squeezes a lime into his rocks glass. He hands his drink over without pause and I take a fortifying sip while staring at the three couples all lovingly wrapped up in each other’s arms with drinks in hand. “I can see why you wanted a fake girlfriend this weekend. This group is intense. They’re kind of disgustingly in love, aren’t they?”
Dean shrugs and takes a sip of his freshly made cocktail. “Give it time and they’ll all be fighting over the best divorce attorney in Boulder.”
My lower lip sticks out at that remark. “Cynical much?”
“Aren’t you too?” he asks, turning to face me with those chocolatey eyes of his. “You’re anti-relationship as well, I thought. That’s why we’re business partners for the next few weeks.” He clinks his glass to mine in solidarity.
“I’m not anti-relationship for everyone…just me I guess,” I state and take an uncertain sip.
Suddenly, Max emerges from the kitchen. He has a gorgeous strawberry blond trailing him.
“Dean, Norah…you made it!” He reaches out and shakes Dean’s hand and offers me a smile that borders on sympathetic. “You surviving okay so far?”
“This is a very dynamic group.” I plaster on a smile.
Max laughs. “Yes, it is. This is Henley, by the way. She’s a friend of mine who lives here in Aspen.”
We shake hands and Kate begins shouting for our attention. I turn to see she’s kneeling on top of her barstool. “Okay, everybody…as I’m sure you all saw on my itinerary, tonight we’re splitting up. I’ve made reservations for the guys at a great little brewery and pizza place and the ladies are dining here in the palace.”
Max shakes his head and takes a drink.
“So, let’s go to our rooms, put on our slutty tops and meet back down here in an hour. Guys, make sure if you go to a strip club tonight, you dust off the glitter before you come back into Max’s mansion. His live-in maid is on vacation—I wish I was joking.”
Max rolls his eyes. “She’s my house manager. This place is huge and I’m not here enough to handle it.”
“We got it, Christian Grey. You’re super humble.” Kate waves him off and Miles lifts her down from the barstool as everybody breaks away to their prospective rooms.
Max exhales heavily and turns to Dean. “Is she going to be like this all weekend?”
“Worse, Max. Much, much worse.” Dean throws his arm around my shoulders, drenching me in his appealing manly scent as he begins leading me away. “Allow me to show you to our room so you can get ready, sugar bottom.”
“Does the sugar thing really have to stick?”
He frowns down at me. “You’re a baker…I thought you’d love that endearment.”
“I think you can do better, Moser.”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
Our bedroom is on the main level at the end of a long hallway that leads out to a lit-up veranda with tons of outdoor seating. There are some caterers outside that appear to be setting up for the girls’ dinner. Dean opens the door around the corner and steps back to let me walk in first.
As soon as I see our room for the weekend, the butterflies erupt in my belly again. There’s a giant four-poster bed that looks like a slice of beige heaven. The carpet is lush and bouncy beneath my feet and when I turn, I mosey over to check out the attached bathroom.
My jaw drops when I see floor-to-ceiling windows right next to a lush soaker tub overlooking stunning mountains. Beside the tub is a shower that looks straight out of a billionaire’s magazine…if that is a thing. The tub is lovely with jets and the whole shebang, but the glass shower has double heads, back massagers, and a steamer.
Holy shit, I’m never going to want to leave this bathroom.
Out of nowhere, my mind does this weird segue into some sort of carnal cavewoman and the thoughts that echo in my head are horrifying:
Sex.
Shower sex.
Tub sex.
Dean naked.
Me naked with Dean.
Dean’s ass that looks really good in those jeans pressed up against the glass window for all those aspens to see.
Dean’s big, warm hands cupping my breasts as he presses me to—
“Norah.” Dean says my name and I jump, my hands flying to my chest as I try to stop my heart from lurching from my body. “Did you hear me?”
“No, what?” I stutter and struggle to breathe because the bathroom suddenly feels ten times smaller now that he’s in here with me.
“I said I’d take the couch.” He straightens his glasses and frowns at me lik
e he’s debating if I need CPR.
“Oh…um…okay.” I dip my head and scurry out of the bathroom, taking in big gulps of air.
I spot my suitcase on the sofa beneath the large bay window and make my way over to it like a lifeline. If I can focus on my bag, Dean can’t see my red cheeks, and I’ll have time to stop thinking about sex or showers or naked bodies.
Damn him. Why did he have to bring up sex in the car? I was doing just fine until he opened his big, stupid, flirtatious mouth.
With shaky hands, I unzip my suitcase, and the second I peel open the flap, my entire body seizes in panic. I gasp and slam it closed as fast as humanly possible.
“What’s the matter?” Dean asks, his footsteps heavy as he rushes over to stand beside me. He stares at my suitcase that I’m white-knuckled and holding shut right now.
“Nothing!” I turn to sit on it.
Dean frowns at me, a laugh teasing the edges of his mouth. “Not nothing. What was in there? A mouse or something?”
I level him with a look. “A mouse, Dean? How the hell would a mouse get in my suitcase?”
He laughs. “I don’t know. You’re clearly freaked out about something in there, so just tell me what it is.”
I shake my head from side to side.
“Norah.”
“No.”
“Norah,” he says my name again and steps closer to me, wafting me with his freshly showered body and that deliciously seductive cologne. “I’m going to find out one way or another.”
“It’s none of your business,” I state woodenly and feel my cheeks heat.
“Bullshit,” Dean says with a sardonic grin and before I realize what’s happening he bends over, grabs my wrist, and yanks my entire body up over his shoulder.
“Dean, stop it!” I cry out as his hands cup the backs of my bare thighs. “Put me down!”
“Not until I see what you’re hiding in there.” He turns and walks me toward the bed.
“I told you it’s none of your business!” I kick my legs in a feeble attempt to break free. He just laughs and holds on tighter.
“You’re my girlfriend…you’re my business.”
I growl as I bite my lip to prevent myself from yelling the truth of our situation and outing us to whoever is probably sleeping above us. Dean tosses me onto the bed like I weigh nothing and then turns to head back toward my suitcase.