Fix Me Not

by Carey Heywood

  Once we’re all in the cabin, I reach for Paige’s hand as Abby moves directly to the stairs up to the loft.

  “Hey,” I say.

  Her fingers curl around mine. “Hey.”

  I have to stop myself from kissing her. “Are you settling in okay?”

  She nods, dropping my hand to hug me. “It’s perfect.”

  I settle my arms around her, holding her close. She rests her cheek to my chest.

  “This loft is fantastic Ash,” Abby says from the opening. “It looks like it was always here.”

  She ducks back into the loft before I can reply. When I originally built the cabin, I made the ceilings high enough to allow for flexibility of the space in the future. Incorporating the loft over the kitchen area was simple. I'll never be able to stand straight up there, but for someone petite, like Paige, it's ideal.

  I converted the Murphy bed into a wardrobe and built a dresser to go next to it for her clothes. The mattress from the Murphy bed is now on a wooden platform with built in drawers up in the loft. Paige was pretty annoyed when she thought I was pushing her away, until she learned it was the work on this cabin that was taking up all of my time.

  “Do you like it?” I ask Paige.

  She tips her face back to look up at me. “I love it.”

  I cup her jaw and lean down to press my mouth to hers. Her skin is flushed by the time I pull away.

  “Am I interrupting?” Abby asks from the stairs.

  “Yes,” I reply.

  Paige giggles and I’m powerless not to smile in return.

  “You're in luck then, since I need to hit the road,” Abby replies.

  Linking hands, Paige and I walk with her back to my house so Abby can grab her things and then follow her down to the beach where she parked her SUV.

  Still hand in hand, we stand at the end of my drive and wave as she pulls away.

  Once she's out of sight, Paige again turns to me. “Hey.”

  My gaze shifts to hers and I reply, “Hey.”

  “Want to go for a swim?” she asks.

  A dip in the lake would be the perfect way to combat the afternoon heat, though seeing Paige in a bikini might null its effect.

  Still, I'm willing to risk it. “Sure. Meet you on the beach?”

  She pops up onto her toes to press her lips to mine. What she may have intended to be a peck, quickly deepens. It's impossible not to. She feels like heaven in my arms and I’m under her spell. She kisses me greedily, nipping and sucking at my lower lip. If we don't stop soon, I'll consider covering her body with mine right on this gravel drive. We both seem to realize this at the same time, and are breathing heavily by the time we break our kiss.

  She blinks up at me, eyes heavy. “I'll go change.”

  I wait until she's at her door before I turn to mine. Visions of her in her bikini have me changing quickly. So quickly, I beat her to the beach and am rewarded by getting to enjoy her approach.

  She's wearing a strapless cover thing, the pale blue making her look like a winter fairy.

  “This heat,” she groans. “Even with all the windows open it's too hot in the cabin.”

  “I have a spare window unit. I'll put it in for you after our swim.”

  Her lips tip up. “That would be great. Thank you.”

  I start to tell her it's no problem, but lose the power of speech when she slips off the cover up she was wearing. Beneath it is a fire engine red string bikini. If I had a time machine, my teenage self would want a poster of her wearing that on my wall. So instead of saying anything I simply nod.

  She rushes past me and into the water. “Are you coming in, or what?”

  Not needing to be asked twice, I pull off my shirt and take off after her. She yelps and tries to run away. The sandy surface of the beach transitions into small rocks and pebbles the deeper the lake gets.

  I've been running into this lake since I was a little kid and am used to it. It takes me no time to overtake her, and once she's within arms’ reach, I grab her.

  “Not too deep,” she pleads.

  Cradling her against my chest, I promise, “I've got you.”

  I stop near the spot she learned to float. “Is here good?”

  She looks around us, recognition in her eyes. “Yes.”

  I crouch, taking her with me. She gasps when the cool water hits her back, its relief from the heat instantly turning that gasp into a sigh.

  Not one to ignore an opportunity like that, I kiss her, pausing only to smile against her lips when she coils her arms around my neck in response.

  After that, my body temperature shoots up, even surrounded by cool water.

  “Ash,” she says.

  She's never called me that before. There's a rasp of need in the way she says my name that makes my blood thrum in my veins.

  “Yes,” I reply.

  “Don’t stop.”

  “Why would I?” I ask.

  "I don't know."

  I chuckle at the pout in her tone. As long as she wants me to kiss her, I'll kiss her.

  She's here, and she's decided to stay. She hasn't said for how long but, her buying Gideon’s truck makes me think it's for longer than a few months.

  She shifts in my arms, her legs kicking out behind her as her chest flattens against mine.

  “Kissing and a swimming lesson?” I ask.

  She laughs and kicks and kisses me. Sliding my hands down her ribs, I help hold her torso up. Part of me wants to keep easing my hands down further, and use them to pull her body flush to mine.

  I want her, there's no denying that. In fact, if her body were pressed to mine right now she'd know exactly how badly I want her.

  Thing is, as much as I want her body, I want this, what we’re doing right now just as much.

  I want her laughing mouth against mine as she kisses me, just as much as I want her writhing in ecstasy beneath me in my bed. More than that, I want to know everything about her. This place is my dream. I know it's soon but I wonder if she could be happy here, with me?

  From everything I knew about her in the beginning, living in a big city was all she wanted. Does that mean someday she’ll get bored living here and leave?

  “Want to go deeper?” I ask, trying to break away from the depressing thoughts.

  “Don't let me go,” she pleads.

  My grip tightens on her waist in response and I take us farther in, coming out of the crouch to now stand.

  “Want to try a different kick?” I ask.

  She slips her tongue into my mouth and I forget about my question altogether.

  It's not until she asks, “What kind of kick?” that I remember.

  “Breaststroke,” I reply.

  She squints down at me, her expression dubious. “Is that code for me to take off my top?”

  I choke and end up coughing, quickly turning so I don't do it in her face. “No. Not that I'd mind.”

  She gently tugs my beard, which doesn't feel great but is still somehow sexy. It must be the look she's giving me.

  “I'm game,” she says.

  Walking backwards, she kicks as I take us to the dock. When we get there, I have her hold on the side of it and move behind her. Sliding my hands down her thighs, I grip her by the backs of her knees and move her legs up, with her knees out to the sides.

  I can hear her breath change to shallow pants as she clings to the dock.

  Her limbs are as fluid as the water in this lake, my hands coasting over her ankles as I move her through the motion. With each kick, my hands travel up then down the entire length of her bare legs.

  With her this close and my hands on her lush curves, my desire for her is apparent.

  “Want to keep holding onto the dock, or hold onto me instead?” I ask, since she seems to have the hang of it.

  “That's code for you want to kiss me some more, isn't it?” she asks.

  I drop her legs and duck fully under the water, swimming under her before rising between her arms.

  She
grins, letting go of the dock to grasp my shoulders. “Show off.”

  “Your turn to show me what you've got,” I reply.

  Her first kicks without my hands guiding her movements are clumsy and off balance. By her fourth kick, her legs mirror each other and the force behind them sends her chest into mine. I have to stop myself from staring at her cleavage.

  “This good?”

  “You're getting the hang of it quickly.”

  She stops kicking, her body falling until her front is flush to mine. “I have a good teacher.”

  Suddenly, my throat feels dry and I'm at a loss for words. My arms tighten around her, as much to hold her close as to not cup the generous globes of her ass.

  “Asher?”

  “Yes, Paige?”

  She wets her lips and I get even harder.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  The back string of her bikini tickles the top of my hand. All I want to do it give it a hard tug to free her.

  “You just did,” I joke.

  She wets her lips again and I bite back a groan.

  “Do you want me?” she asks.

  I stare at her. How could she not know?

  Dropping my hands, I slide them down her back, over her ass and under her thighs, lifting and spreading her legs, wrapping them around my waist.

  We line up in a way that leaves no question of my arousal for her.

  “I want you, and have wanted you, for longer than even I know.”

  She shifts her hips, her eyes widening. “Asher.”

  I shift my hips back, the feeling of her body against mine only multiplying my desire tenfold. “I want you, I want you so bad I can't think sometimes.”

  “I want you too,” she breathes.

  She lifts her head at the same time I drop mine, our mouths crashing against each other as I slowly walk us out of the lake and onto the sandy beach.

  I'm going to peel that little red bikini off her and taste every inch of her skin. It's a good thing she doesn't have to work tonight because once I'm done with her here, I'm taking her to my bed where I'm going to explore her curves all night long.

  Falling down to my knees, I set her down on the towel she brought.

  The sun's rays burn the bare skin of my back. Her hands, still cool from the lake, ease down my skin. The effect should be cooling, soothing me against the heat. Instead, the places that she’s touched, only stokes the heat of my desire.

  Shifting my mouth downward, I leave her lips and move to taste the skin of her jaw, and then her neck.

  Her skin, still damp from our dip, is still as soft as I remembered. I kiss lower and she lifts her hands from my back to thread her fingertips into my hair. She holds my mouth to her, wanting my lips against her skin.

  I find a freckle on her shoulder and kiss it, tilting my face so I can catch her gaze. She lowers one of her hands to trace my hairline, before resting her palm against my cheek.

  “This is crazy,” she murmurs.

  Her hand doesn't leave my cheek as I shift my weight so I'm directly over her.

  “Yeah,” I agree.

  She moves her other hand, now holding my face within both of them.

  “So crazy.”

  It's the smile those words wear that have me lowering my mouth to hers. She's still smiling as I kiss her.

  Her hands move to my shoulders, and she surprises me by pushing against them. I let myself be guided by her, until our positions are reversed, with me on my back half on her towel, half in the sand.

  She straddles me, her palms flat against my chest to hold herself up.

  “You're so tall,” she says, her now dry hands coasting over my skin as she explores.

  I decide against calling her short in response, letting my hands do the talking instead by easing them up her thighs to rest on her hips. From where she sits, I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything other than her breasts anyway.

  I tap my fingertips on the small of her back and lick my lips. “Kiss me,” I tell her and hope my voice doesn’t come out as pleading.

  She instantly complies, folding over me and offering me her mouth. Moving a hand into her hair, I hold her there, her hands still pressed between us.

  When Finley asked if I was a virgin, I was surprised. It's hard to meet women out here in the middle of nowhere. Well, I should amend that. It’s not easy meeting women I have a connection with. While I do have experience with women, it's limited.

  I've slept with two women in my life. I was out of high school when I lost my virginity.

  It was before Eli and Brooke were married. He took me out to a bar when I was nineteen, getting me in because he was friends with one of the bouncers. I drank more than I should have, which I later learned was his intent, and ended up having sex on his couch with some woman I met there.

  I remember very little of it. Eli thought he did me a favor. When Noah found out, he disagreed and the two of them almost came to blows over it.

  The second woman was a garden distributor whose route included Thompson’s Hardware during the time I worked there. She pursued me and in the end, was only interested in the chase. As much as I was attracted to her, what I felt for her was nothing compared to how I feel about Paige.

  It's more than a physical attraction to me. There are still things I want to learn about her, but what I do know, I like.

  I don't remember my first time, and I fumbled through my next few times with a woman. All I want to do is make this good for her. The last thing I want is to come too quickly.

  “Paige,” I say, breaking our kiss. “It's been a long time since…”

  My words trail off as understanding blooms in her eyes.

  She swivels her hips, grinding against me. “It's like riding a bike, only you're the bike and I'm going to be the one doing the riding.”

  My dick jumps at her words. She shoots me a naughty grin that assures me she knows exactly what effect she's having on me.

  Her hands move to the ties of her bikini top. My hands grip her hips to keep myself from helping her remove her top. Watching her do it herself is a fantasy I've had since the first time I saw her in a bikini.

  Then her phone rings.

  Fourteen

  Paige

  I need to have my head examined. Asher Thompson is hard as a rock and I'm moments away from giving him the ride of his life and what do I do? I glance at my phone. In my defense, when my phone dings, I look at it.

  I've already decided to ignore it, for obvious reasons, before I see the name.

  Fiona Havenscroft.

  Shock has me freezing as I stare at the screen. There are few names in my contact list that could cause a bodily reaction. Hers is one of them. As the owner and manager of Haven, one of the most exclusive boutique hotels in New York City, she could make or break an event organizer’s career with a snap of her fingers. I'm reaching for my phone and answering before I even think about where I am, what I'm about to do and who I'm with.

  “Fiona?”

  Asher squints up at me.

  Oh crap, Asher.

  “Paige, thank God. I need you. How soon can you be here?”

  I blink down at Asher. There? As in New York?

  “I'm in New Hampshire. What's going on?”

  “A complete fucking nightmare is what’s going on. Bentley eloped with a fucking sheik and quit without notice. We’re fully booked with events and no one has a fucking clue what they're doing. I thought his assistant Marge could handle things until I replaced him but she’s an idiot. You owe me one and I'm calling that debt in. I need you here yesterday.”

  I shake my head, replaying her words, words that quite possibly could have saved my business if they had only come months sooner.

  “Is everything okay?” Asher asks and my eyes which had gone unfocused, snap to his.

  I nod and his grip loosens on my hips. This is crazy. I am crazy. Why did I answer my phone? She was telling the truth when she said I owed her. Fiona is the reason I le
ft New York broke instead of thousands of dollars in debt.

  The last event I planned before my business went completely belly up was held at Haven. The deposit was paid but I couldn’t pay the remainder. This wasn’t a small event and given the amount I owed her, she could have easily sued me. Instead, Fiona cut me a break and told me I could owe her one. Seems like it's time for me to pay up.

  “I'll make it worth your while if you can be here in the next twenty-four hours.”

  Damn, she really must be desperate if she's going to actually pay me.

  My stomach flips and I ask, “How much are we talking?”

  She doesn't make me wait for her answer. “One hundred thousand.”

  That might sound like a lot of money but it wasn’t unheard of for a single event at Haven to cost five times that. With multiple spaces in the hotel to book for events, it was common knowledge Bentley made six figures weekly.

  “For how long?” I blurt.

  “Three weeks.”

  Three weeks for a hundred grand?

  “If I leave now I can be there tonight,” I reply.

  “I'll comp you a room while you're here. The front desk has your name.”

  There's a click as she ends the call without waiting for me to reply.

  The front desk has your name. I guess she was certain I wasn't going to turn down her offer. But, Fiona isn't used to hearing the word no.

  She came to New York to be a fashion model. Once she saw how much money and power could be had by managing an elite hotel, she changed her focus. Now, in her forties and still just as stunningly beautiful, she doesn't have to worry about lost income if or when her looks ever fade.

  She is easily one of the most powerful women in New York. Haven isn't the only property she owns, just the only one she personally manages.

  She also owns two exclusive restaurants, a day spa overlooking the Hudson, and three other boutique hotels in the city.

  In a daze, I slide off Asher, my mind a million, or more accurately, two hundred and fifty miles away. In my wildest dreams even I couldn't have imagined a comeback like this. There isn't an event organizer in the city who wouldn't sell off family members for a chance to work at Haven.