by Sasha Burke
Speaking of keeping our minds sharp…mine gets sidetracked big time when I glance back at her once more and somehow manage to see straight down her fucking shirt.
And just like that, my hand misses the handhold I was going for. I adjust my feet and take a second to regroup. But, it’s a second too long.
Nicole’s beautiful backside glides right past my line of sight an instant before I hear her slap the top of the wall.
“Yes!” she hollers before rappelling down the wall. I reach up and tap the top of the wall before following her down, the sound of applause for Nicole’s victory greeting my descent.
When my feet touch the ground, I immediately unbuckle my harness and clap her on the shoulder. “Good climb.”
“You too,” she says with a gracious smile.
I’m not sure whether to be insulted or entertained by the supreme relief I see in her eyes as I concede. But I know exactly how I feel about the way her gaze keeps dipping down to my mouth as if she just can’t help herself.
That’s when I call out for everyone to get back to opening up the gym, while none too subtly corralling her back to my office.
“Time to collect,” I say as soon as the door is securely shut. And locked. “So, what’s it going to be, Nicole? Do you want me to kiss you or not?”
7
* * *
| LOGAN |
“Wh—” She backs up a step. “But I won the race.”
“Yes, you did.” I say. “And what you won is the option to get out of the kiss if and only if you can tell me truthfully that you don’t want me to kiss you.”
I lean against the closed door and cross my arms over my chest, exuding a calm I’m definitely not feeling. “Well? What’s it going to be? Do you want me to kiss you?”
She exhales slowly before meeting my eyes. “That’s not a fair question.”
“Sure, it is. All you need to do is tell the truth. If you don’t want me to kiss you, just say so. But if you can’t honestly make that statement, come here.”
I want her to fucking come to me. I need to know that she wants this kiss as badly as I do.
“Just a kiss?” she asks softly.
Not wanting to spook her, I give her the tamest response I can, “Why? What else did you have in mind?”
Though she stifles it well, I can still see faint traces of amusement in her expression.
“You drive me crazy sometimes,” she says with a sigh.
“Good thing you have professional training with that sort of thing.”
“Stop being charming.”
“No can do. We all need to play the hand we’re dealt, beautiful.”
The compliment seems to take her by surprise.
I have no idea why it would. The woman is gorgeous. Standing there with her mass of blonde curls done up in a tight braid per usual when she climbs. While I do prefer seeing her hair down, running in waves of dark gold and pale honey to her waist, that braid is pretty darn cute as well. Especially when the wispy curls start coming loose from her braid, turning into a halo of ringlets like the ones she’s currently puffing out of her face.
I’ve never found adorable this damn sexy before.
As she continues to deliberate, I shove my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for her. I don’t want to persuade this decision out of her by touching her and showing her just how good it could be; she needs to get there all on her own.
Thank god, it looks like she’s on her way.
Her steps are hesitant at first. Then almost cement-weighted when my hands settle on her soft hips.
Meanwhile, I’m shocked as hell I’m able to still be this patient right now.
“Can I kiss you any way I want?” she asks shyly, staring at my lips as she touches her own with her fingertips.
Jesus Christ.
“That would probably be best,” I gravel out. “Because if you leave it up to me, there’s a good chance my mouth will start down where they were when I was doing your harness straps, and then work its way up.”
Her breathing halts altogether for a second…before the sexiest fucking sound ever slips past her lips.
I flex my fingers against her hips and bring her a little closer. I don’t want to rush her but goddamn, I’m about to lose my mind.
“Nicole. Make your decision, baby. Now before I come totally unglued.”
She goes up on her tip-toes then and gently, hesitantly, grazes her lips over mine.
My arms lock around her as I give up all pretense of patience. I fuse my mouth to hers and I swear, I can feel every shy touch of her tongue against mine stroking over my now rock-hard shaft as well.
Every passing second of the kiss quickly proves to be more memorable than the last.
And by the end, she fucking owns my mouth.
That’s when she pulls back on a gasp and slips out of my arms. Somehow, I manage to keep my shit together and stay the hell where I am.
“Come back here,” I say, sounding simply demanding, instead of all-out ravenous. I’ve never had to use my poker face and negotiating skills with a woman before. Glad I’ve been training for most of my business life for this moment.
Nicole’s a smart woman though. She stays where she is and just studies me carefully. Like I’m a Rubik’s Cube she’s trying to figure out.
“Why does it feel like you’re the one claiming a prize even though I’m the one who won today?” she queries, voice more breathless than piqued.
“Probably because we both know I didn’t actually lose,” I retort with a shrug.
Stomping forward a single step, she drills me with a caustic glare, somehow managing to still be beautiful even while looking like she wants to attack me. “I won, fair and square.”
Competitive little thing. “You sure about that, sweetheart? Because having your lips on mine feels a whole lot like winning to me.”
She blushes. “You’re impossible.”
“Which you find charming.” I grin. “You already admitted it.”
“I’m leaving.”
My grin fades. “Why? The prize-collecting isn’t over yet.”
She gives me a curious look. “Yes, it is.”
Not by a longshot. I’m nowhere near done kissing this woman. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
Wide, rounded sage green eyes blink up at me in shock. “I-I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because Hannah wants to go climbing first thing tomorrow morning.”
Well, that effectively shifts the mood. “I know. She told me.”
“So, I don’t want to stay out late.”
That she’s already thinking a dinner with me will end late has my imagination spinning into overdrive.
“Raincheck then?” I ask. “For a night that you can ‘stay out late?’”
She hesitates. “Maybe.”
Maddening woman.
Turning to eye the exit, she says, “I’ll be here tomorrow to start working with Hannah. Early, before the weekend rush.” Then she scurries off.
I watch her go, surprised by how fiercely I dislike seeing her leave now.
8
* * *
| LOGAN |
After the exhausting night I just had, seeing Nicole outside of the gym bright and early this morning is a sight for sore eyes.
I don’t even mind that she’s got Derick’s keys again.
“‘Morning,” she calls out with a smile that leaves her face as quickly as it appears. “Logan, what’s wrong? You look awful.”
That’s an understatement. “Hannah caught some kind of stomach bug and was up all night crying and throwing up.”
“Oh my god. Is she feeling better today?”
“A little. She finally stopped puking her guts up around two this morning. She’s been sleeping ever since. My mom came over to stay with her early this morning since I had a bunch of international calls I needed to be on. I checked on her before I left and her fever was gone so that’s something.”
I punc
h in my security code and when Nicole unlocks the door, I prop it open with my foot but stop her from entering. Derick waves at us from the front desk. I grab his keys from her hand and toss them over to him. Then I pull her back outside and shut the door behind us.
“We have to reschedule Hannah’s first climb for when she’s feeling better,” I tell her.
“Of course. Just let me know when.” She places a gentle hand on my shoulder. “You should go home and get some rest while your mom is watching Hannah.”
“I’m heading back now. I just came down here to tell you we couldn’t make it.”
“You could’ve just called or texted. I get up early.”
“But then I wouldn’t have been able to see you,” I say simply, turning so my hands are flat against the wall on either side of her. “What are your plans for today?”
She shrugs. “I’d blocked off a couple of hours for Hannah, so nothing now in the morning. I’ve got a group outdoor climb after lunch, but other than that, it’s an easy day.”
“Good,” I say, grazing my thumb over the darkened circles under her eyes. “I don’t like seeing you this tired. You’ve been working too hard lately.”
“Not really. I’m way busier in the summers. Although, I did get a wave of new clients recently. And I do have one client who’s been having a really rough time with things so I’ve been squeezing in a ton of extra sessions for him. Oh, there’s also those online seminars I’m teaching.”
She smiles sheepishly. “Guess maybe my weeks have been a little busier than usual.”
We’re like two overworking peas in a pod.
She gazes up at me with a curious expression then. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“You didn’t throw the race yesterday, did you?”
“Nope,” I assure her. “I’m competitive as hell. I went all out.”
“Then what happened? Folks said they saw you miss a handhold.”
I sigh. May as well ‘fess up. “When I looked back to see where you were on the wall, I saw down your shirt a little…okay, a lot.”
At her startled expression, I lift an unapologetic shoulder, “What can I say? I’m a red-blooded guy. And you’ve got a pretty dynamite rack.”
I expect her to be indignant and slap me. But instead, she just laughs. And flushes bright red.
“Why the blush?” I ask, running the backs of my knuckles over her warmed cheeks.
“I got a little distracted on the wall myself…when you passed me.”
She mimics my half-shrug and gives me a playful smile. “What can I say? I’m a woman with two functioning eyes. And you’ve got a pretty dynamite tush.”
Unable to stop myself, I steal a laughing kiss from her simpering lips. Why I’ve waited this long to spend time with the entertaining creature is beyond me.
“Are you going to keep collecting kisses from me even though you lost the challenge?” she asks as I push back from the wall.
“You’re lucky that’s all I’m collecting, sweetheart.”
Her breath catches in her throat for a beat, before she recovers and says, “You do remember that you didn’t win, right?”
“What I remember is our agreement that if you don’t want me to do something, all you have to do is be completely honest about it,” I counter.
Placing a hand on the small of her back I pull her off the wall so I can walk her over to her SUV. “Let’s practice,” I offer magnanimously. “Say, ‘Logan, I don’t want you to do anything more than kiss me.’ But, again, only if you really, really mean it.”
I press her back against her driver’s side door and cage her in once more. “Well?”
She stares at me with wide eyes. But says nothing.
Hot damn.
“We shouldn’t,” she says weakly.
I exhale slowly. “I’m well aware.”
“B-but…I…want to. Do more, that is.”
“So we’re in agreement.”
We stand there staring at each other in a stalemate until my chirping phone interrupts the dangerous turn our conversation is taking. I check my text messages. “I need to run to the pharmacy and grab some more electrolytes for Hannah.”
“Oh! Of course. Go, go.” Nicole quickly turns to open her door. “Wait, do you need me to do that? You can head on home to be with her and I can go to the store for you guys.”
“No, that’s okay. My mom said she’s still sleeping. And my pharmacy has a drive-thru so it’ll be quick. You need to go home and take it easy before your outdoor climb.”
I wait till she’s buckled in before closing her door for her. When she rolls down her window, I duck in to steal another kiss. Longer this time.
Hell, kissing the sweet woman is quickly starting to become an addiction.
“Just so you know, we’re not done talking about this,” I say against her lips before stepping back to head over to my own car.
The look in her eyes as she nods sticks with me the entire drive to the pharmacy.
A half hour later, I’m hanging up my keys and walking over to Hannah’s room to check on her. I place my hand against her forehead to make sure her fever hasn’t come back.
My saint of a mother peeks in from the hallway. “I think the worst is over.”
I follow her into the living room and drop down on the couch tiredly. “Thanks for coming over this morning, Mom. If you need to get going, we’ll be fine.”
At her silence, I look over at her and find her smiling in that quintessential Mom way that tells me she’s gearing up to do some pretty heavy meddling. “What’s with the look?”
“You met someone, didn’t you?”
Yet more proof that the woman is either part psychic or part witch. Been seeing evidence of it all my life. I shake my head in denial.
“Don’t you dare lie to your mother,” she scolds. “You’ve been different the last week or so. Don’t bother denying it.”
Did I mention she’s also a human lie detector? It’s no wonder I kept on the straight and narrow growing up. “Why the interrogation all of a sudden? You’ve never asked about the women I see before,” I deflect to try and throw her off my scent.
“That’s because none of them have been worth asking about,” she says plainly.
And folks think I get my bluntness from my dad.
“Nothing’s changed,” I tell her. “Hannah is still my first priority. Dating anyone seriously isn’t even on my radar.”
Her smile disappears, and gets replaced with a concerned headshake. “Honey, I know losing Janine was hard—”
“This isn’t about that,” I cut in.
It really isn’t.
“Then why don’t you give this one a chance to become serious? If she’s affecting you this much, she must be special.”
She is.
Thankfully, the sound of someone pulling into the front driveway provides me a much-appreciated escape from the conversation.
“I’ll go see who that is.” I head over to answer the doorbell and do a double take when I see Nicole standing on my porch.
“Hey,” she says, waving.
Can’t help it, simply seeing the woman makes me smile.
And just like that, the door is yanked wide open by my nosy mother.
“Where are your manners, Logan? Don’t leave the woman standing out there in the cold. Come in, dear. I’m Logan’s mother. And you are?”
Nicole backs up a slightly overwhelmed step. “Oh! Hello. I’m Nicole. Actually, no need to invite me in. I just came over to drop off some soup for Hannah. I had the stomach flu once, and this soup did wonders for me. It’s the ginger and pumpkin in it.”
She holds out a to-go soup container, which, of course, my mother intercepts with one hand, while basically dragging Nicole into the house with the other.
“Well, aren’t you considerate? Come in for a bit.” My mother is insistent.
I shoot Nicole a look that says, ‘Run. Flee. Get out while you still can.’
&nb
sp; A slap upside my head puts a quick end to that.
Nicole smothers back a chuckle and comes inside fully. Eagerly now.
Great. Maybe I’m the one who should flee.
“Are you sure I’m not imposing, Mrs. Reynolds?”
My mom points at the nearest dining chair. “Sit, sit. And please, call me Carol.”
“Thank you.” Nicole smiles warmly before blinking in surprise. “Oh wow, Hannah’s the spitting image of you. She has your eyes. I always assumed she got that from her mother since they’re so different from Logan’s…”
When her sentence trails off, I glance over to see her covering her mouth with her fingers, and looking downright uncomfortable.
No doubt because this is the first time Janine has come up between us in the entire five years since she first started coming to the gym.
For once, my mom is none the wiser as to what’s going on. She chuckles over Nicole’s observation. “I’d like to take credit for Hannah’s beautiful hazel eyes, but she definitely got those from her mother Janine. Lovely girl. We were all devastated when she passed away.”
“Mom,” I interrupt, knowing this just got extra awkward for at least two of us in the room. “Nicole has to work today. She can’t stay.”
I send Nicole a silent apology with my eyes, which she mirrors right back.
“My goodness.” My mom stops fussing suddenly and stares at the two of us. “I remember you now. You were one of Janine’s bridesmaids, weren’t you?”
I hear a startled sound come from the living room and turn to find Hannah standing there looking at Nicole like she’s never seen her before. “Wait, you knew my mother?”
Shit.
9
* * *
| NICOLE |
“Hannah, what are you doing out of bed, dear?” Carol immediately goes over to try and usher her back upstairs, giving me a brief second to sneak a peek over at Logan.