by Lisa Hughey
In the growing cycle, there was always that one burst of growth as if all the elements combined in a perfect storm of fertile abundance, and plants budded, moving from the seed stage to an actual green living thing. Her body came alive in that same way with his nurturing commands.
He cupped her ass and rocked her sex into his thigh. Penny moaned, the sound loud among the crickets.
He pulled away from their kiss. Instinctively she wanted to grab him back and continue. But Diego had already backed down the steps. “Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome.”
“See you tomorrow, partner.”
Why did that sound more like a threat than a promise?
Summer camp crush.
She had one.
She shut the door and leaned against it, reliving that kiss. Apparently Diego Ramos was good at more than business. He excelled at more earthy pursuits too. He sure was good at kissing. A sunny smile broke over her face. Really good at it.
God, she was tired. Penny quickly changed into her pajamas, little booty shorts and a crop T-shirt. She opened the drawer next to the bed and oh em gee, there were condom packets emblazoned with “Camp Firefly Falls: For the Woody in You.” And another with the Red Cross symbol and the caption “Orgasm Donor.”
Penny wanted to lay those condom packets underneath her pillow like an adult waiting for the booty call fairy to deliver a sex god to her.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
Except she wasn’t here to have a sex life. If this corporate retreat went well she’d be launching another business with multi-faceted goals of helping people reduce stress, promoting outreach to get people to eat healthier, and supplying food banks with fresh food. Win-win for everyone.
But without her permission, her imagination supplied Diego shirtless and sweaty. So she didn’t need the sex fairy to deliver someone. He was already here. And so totally off-limits that she shouldn’t even be thinking about him.
But those moments outside her cabin, laden with intensity and fraught with sexual feelings, overwhelmed her. Her nipples beaded and her core pulsed low in her belly as she imagined Diego naked and intense, sliding in and out of her body with the same effortless grace he’d used to help her this morning.
Then she shut down that line of thought. She was sex dreaming about Diego Ramos. The boy who’d changed her outlook on life once. She needed to forget about him. Now she changed her own outlook.
Diego woke slowly. Weirdly, he felt like whistling.
Yesterday, working outside, he’d settled into an easy rhythm with Penny. Even though he hit the gym every morning, his biceps and hamstrings were protesting the unusual use this morning.
He stretched, warming up his sore muscles, his body humming and ready to go. His morning wood had a surprising focus. Penny Hastings.
He’d barely kissed her and he had hardened as if she’d stripped naked and climbed on top of him. Diego took his cock in hand and pumped slowly as the image of Penny on top of him, those small breasts bouncing and head thrown back in ecstasy, took shape in his brain.
He wondered what color her nipples were. The pale pink of her lips or a darker red. He pumped again, his hand rough on his cock as he imagined sucking her into his mouth and playing with her body until she moaned like she’d done on the dock last night.
He really didn’t have time to be fantasizing about the farmer woman. His goal for the weekend was to finalize the terms of the merger with Jeffrey London and move forward with his long-term business plans.
But numbers and spreadsheets and mergers blurred as his mind wandered back to her tanned skin, and he imagined kissing her freckles one by one, dipping into her mouth, and lower.
His hand moved faster, as some pre-come leaked from the tip.
His meandering thoughts morphed as he pictured her sliding down his body. Her pink tongue coming out to lap that bit of pre-come up, then closing around his cock and swallowing him whole. Diego groaned and pumped faster.
He was deep in the fantasy blow job when someone knocked on his cabin door. Really? It was six in the morning. And he’d been up until around two a.m. so he ignored the knock. But the person knocking persisted.
When he’d gotten back to his cabin late last night, today’s camp schedule had been pinned to his door. And he suddenly remembered what was up for this morning.
Partner yoga? Ha-ha. No.
But since whoever was knocking wouldn’t go away, Diego trudged to the door in his boxers. Whoever was stupid enough to wake him up this early would get an eyeful.
He yanked the door open. “What?”
“Zin made me come get you.” His cousin Raul Jr., also his VP of shipping, stood in the doorway looking like Diego felt. His black hair stood on end, his indulgence last night evident in his bloodshot eyes and scruff on his face.
“What the hell for?”
Raul groaned. “Yoga.”
Diego yawned so hard his jaw cracked. He rubbed his bare chest with his hand and wished he was still deep in his fantasy BJ with the delectable farmer. “No.”
“She said you promised.”
Fuck.
“What the hell do I wear to yoga?” Diego shuffled to the dresser across from the bed.
“I have no idea.” Raul dropped onto the end of Diego’s bed. “Shorts, I guess.”
Diego found some basketball shorts and a T-shirt with the Ramos CAR logo on it. He tugged them on. “I thought it said partner yoga. I don’t have a partner.”
“Zin said she took care of it.” Raul groaned, dropped his head into his hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you think? Hangover. Some of those London guys can really put it away.”
“What did you think of them overall?”
Ramos Classic Auto Restoration was privately owned, mostly by Diego and his pal Jason Hollingsworth the Fourth who was a silent partner. But his cousin had a stake in the business, so did every other employee. Nothing incentivized people to work harder than knowing that if the company did well, they earned extra money too.
“Honestly?” Raul’s gravelly voice made Diego pause.
“Sí.”
“I don’t know how the companies will mesh.”
Diplomacy wasn’t in his cousin’s wheelhouse. He usually spoke without thinking and Diego reined him in. He counted on Raul to give him the raw truth. So what was this?
“Why are you holding back?”
“You want to merge. You need to work less.” Raul looked away guiltily. “I’m not going to fuck that up for you.”
His cousin was protecting him? But that was Diego’s job. He was the one who started down this path. He was the one who took care of everyone. He was the one building a life that would mean they never had to worry about money again.
That habitual grinding in his stomach took him by surprise. He had been pain free since yesterday.
Diego glanced at his watch. “I don’t have time to discuss this now, I’ve got to go get my partner. But let’s talk later.” This wasn’t a conversation that should be rushed.
“Who’s your partner?”
“Penny Hastings.”
“The farmer?” Raul cat-called. “Hey, you don’t feel like getting out of bed, for her I’ll do any kind of yoga she wants.”
Possessiveness flooded him. Penny was his. Diego cuffed his cousin on the head. The surge of annoyance took him by surprise. “Get your own damn partner.”
Penny and yoga. Maybe this wouldn’t suck after all.
7
Penny slogged back to her cabin, wading through the early morning mist.
Exhaustion dogged her every step. She glanced at the watch on her wrist. If she skipped breakfast, she could catch a few hours’ nap before she had to help with the kayak races.
She’d talked to Michael Tully last night.
Heather’s flu had gotten worse and he didn’t want to leave her. Because this was a smaller camp than usual, he’d asked for her help. Instead of pitching in on fo
od prep and serving, Penny was supposed to report to the assistant camp director, Tegan. Penny was going to help with the kayak races this morning, serve lunch, and then lead a nature hike and engage the teams for Camp Firefly Falls Bingo this afternoon. Instead of giving her spiel in the lunchroom before the meal, she’d combine her speech with the hike.
All that was good but Penny had personnel issues too, and she still needed to take care of her farm.
So she’d gone home, fed the chickens and pigs, mucked out some stalls, and talked to her neighbors about picking up her chores until Brad was back.
All before six thirty in the morning.
She had more tasks before the kayak races, but hopefully she could grab some sleep. Then as soon as the nursery was open, she was going to arrange for the plants to be delivered. Michael had agreed to pick up the extra cost of delivery so that she could stay here and help out with the camp. She could tailor today’s talk to the message that she’d been planning for the conference center. Being out in the woods would be more interesting than the indoor arena anyway.
Since this was her first trial run for implementing her program, she could roll with the changes.
A rustling off to her left had her searching the woods. It was still early. She thought there was some sort of event before breakfast but the only exercise she was getting was two hours of shut eye.
However, she’d prefer not to run into anyone. She’d rolled out of bed after two hours’ sleep and tugged on jeans, a flannel, and her work boots. Her braided hair was likely a mess after feeding the animals and pitching fresh hay. Not the proper image for someone trying to convince corporate folks to spend bucks on an experimental program. She had good ideas—if she didn’t say so herself—but no practical experience besides her senior thesis project eight years ago.
Penny tiptoed the last few steps to her cabin.
Stopped in surprise. Diego Ramos waited on her porch.
“Can I help you?” She dredged up a smile.
He leapt down the steps. “What’s wrong?”
“Not a thing.” She continued onto her porch. Her synapses weren’t firing on all cylinders because although she’d been up for hours, it was still way early. He followed. “What are you doing here?”
“Partners yoga.”
Oh, God. Her shoulders slumped. There went her nap.
“Where’ve you been?”
“Chores at my farm.” Penny rested against the front door and let her eyes drift closed. She’d promised Zinnia. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
What she wouldn’t give for five minutes of sleep. Maybe she could fake savasana and sleep during yoga.
“What time did you get up?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Dang, that felt nice.
“Umm, four-ish.”
“You got two hours’ sleep?”
“More or less.” She might have spent a minute or twenty—before she actually slept—thinking about Diego Ramos and those kisses and what good use they could put those condoms to.
He smelled so good, like man and a hint of cologne. His stubble had grown into a thicker dusting, darkening the stark line of his jaw and emphasizing his lips. The urge to just lean on his muscled chest and close her eyes and inhale his scent snaked through her with insidious warmth.
He opened her door and half carried her inside.
“Seriously, be good to go in a sec.”
“You’re asleep on your feet.”
Mmm. The cabin was warm and the bed beckoned like a lighthouse on the shore. Warm hands on her shoulders and then her neck. He tilted her head up. “Open your eyes.”
The whispered command held a note of domination. She blearily pried open her eyelids.
“So tired.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. God, he felt so good.
Solid. Warm. Masculine.
Diego snuggled her closer, until her head rested in the perfect hollow beneath his chin as if made just for her.
The cabin door closed with a loud thump, locking them inside and the rest of the world out.
The promise of sleep was fading as other impressions registered. His hard, masculine chest was solid beneath her cheek. His biceps cradled her close. The rapidly growing bulge of his erection nudged her belly.
A deep-seated, burgeoning arousal spread from her core, infusing her with a languid, intense desire. “Oh,” she breathed.
And the feelings from last night, from that amazing kiss, blossomed and spread through her as she melted against him.
She wanted to jump him.
She might be reading his signals wrong. Maybe he reacted this way to any woman. But as the air between them thickened and grew, a syrupy sensual arousal spread through her. She wanted to hibernate in this cabin and have a sex marathon. Hot, sweaty, physical sex.
Her breath stuttered.
“What?”
She certainly wasn’t about to confess that she’d been fantasizing about jumping him. But just thinking about them together, she was likely beet red.
“You got some sun yesterday.”
“Yeah, that crazy sun.” She determinedly didn’t look at him as she willed herself to stop blushing.
“Or maybe you’re red for another reason.”
Her gaze shot to him.
He smiled, his face transformed, his mouth ticked up on one side, revealing his white teeth and hinting at a wicked streak. He knew exactly what she was thinking about. And if the hard dick prodding her abdomen was any indication, he was thinking it right back.
Lust thrummed through her.
Her defenses down, her inhibitions low, she pushed him back against the solid wood of the cabin door and kissed the underside of his jaw. “This is what I was thinking about,” she said against his skin.
His arms tightened around her and he groaned.
She wanted that feeling of flying. The pure incandescence of sexual release. When was the last time she’d taken anything for just her? She’d visited Brad last night in the hospital. He hadn’t left his boyfriend’s side. And her second thought, after how beautiful his devotion was, if she was in an accident, no one would feel that way about her.
Was it a lack in her, or a lack of effort to find someone to share things with? Of course those thoughts took a back seat to her current obsession.
She didn’t have the time to find that someone right now, but here was a guy who, based on the boner prodding her belly, was interested in connecting on a physical level. She was going to take him up on the implied offer. Grab hold of him and make the most of this opportunity because who knew when she’d have the chance for sex again.
She was too busy. Too invested in everything else in her life to have time to make room for a man, a relationship, but sex? Sex she could do.
Mesmerized, she couldn’t look away. His essence wrapped around her and pulled her closer, like a tractor beam.
Her heart fluttered at how close he was with his dark hair and dark eyes and mysterious smile. She wanted to dive into that dangerous pool of attraction and drown in his sexual pull. In the hushed, intimate atmosphere of her cabin, neither said a word.
Suddenly her breath constricted. Hard to draw in enough oxygen, she huffed in air. Her heart beat harder, banging against her breastbone so loudly that she couldn’t hear anything but her own labored breath.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, lingered.
Penny licked her lips in the suddenly dry air. And his gaze heated, intensified.
Diego leaned closer.
She waited, held on the precipice. Would he kiss her or back off?
And what did she want?
What she should do was skedaddle out of this cabin. But that’s not what she wanted. She wanted him to kiss her.
She’d been thinking about it, and more, since their encounter on the dock during the welcome cocktail party. The yearning had only intensified after his care for Zinnia last night.
Diego Ramos was a good guy.
And it had been so very long
since she’d had any guy in her life.
Penny reached out a hand, trailed her fingers along his biceps, watching the goose bumps rise on his skin as she feathered her fingertips over the muscles in his shoulder and then scraped her fingernails along his neck.
He studied her, clearly waiting to see what she’d do next.
And still he didn’t speak.
Penny threaded her fingers in the short hair at his nape and tugged him down to meet her lips.
He came willingly, a small smile on his mouth. His hips bumped hers, his impressive erection nudging her belly.
Her inhibitions down, and the silence weighing on her, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. “Is that a pickle in your pants or are you happy to see me?”
He grinned against her mouth. “Happy,” he growled.
They met in the middle. The kiss was sure, warm, luscious. Crazy.
But Penny thought, not for the first time this weekend, maybe she needed a little more crazy in her life.
Goofy. Inappropriate. Penny’s expression held a freedom Diego envied. He measured every word he uttered. Ever since he’d committed to expanding his business he’d been on guard.
He dated sophisticated, elegant women who were perfectly at home in NYC or at a Red Sox game but none of those women would have gotten their hands dirty or even thought her slightly raunchy invitation.
Her down-to-earth charm was doing it for him in a big way.
Her lips were soft and sensual. She carried the scent of fresh grass and honey.
And he wanted to eat her up.
Diego cupped her face in his palms and with the attention to detail of a traveler in a strange land, he explored her mouth.
The door was hard at his back and Penny was pressed up against him.
Lust, previously at a low simmer, exploded and accelerated like an out-of-control V-8. With the force of a .375 hemi engine and a light hand on the throttle, his body revved and shimmied.
He cupped her ass in his hands and rocked her softness against his hard cock. All pistons firing and revving to go, Diego slanted his head and dove into the suddenly carnal kiss.