“So we head back home?” Nick asked.
Mary didn’t want to. She wanted to stay here with Nick. She wanted to somehow get him to open up to her, hold him and possibly comfort him, and she really, really wanted to kiss him.
“Let’s stay … unless you need to get back. I know you’re a fabulous marketing manager for Angel Falls Retreat.”
He chuckled at that. “Yeah, somehow I think they’ll survive without me. Definitely not needed there.”
Mary gave him a sidelong glance. “Good because I definitely need you with me. I wouldn’t want to survive without you.”
Nick’s jaw went slack as he stared at her. He tripped on a protruding tree root and went flying. He ducked and rolled, jumping to his feet so fluidly Mary was astonished. He threw his hands up and called out, “I’m okay!”
Mary stopped in the middle of the trail, laughing. “Wow. That was an impressive tuck and roll.”
“Thank you.” He bowed. “Thank you very much. That tree root had it out for me, but I came off the conqueror.”
Mary laughed again. Nick was always so fun for her to be around. “I’m super proud of you.”
He laughed easily and started jogging again. They talked about what their various siblings were up to as they finished the loop and ended up back at the cabin. It was a nice run and a fun conversation, but Mary wished he would’ve had to respond to her saying she needed him before he tripped. She did need him and not just for protection.
They walked up the back steps then she punched in the code for the cabin door. Nick held the door for her as she slid in. They didn’t say anything as they walked through the main level and around to the stairs. Mary felt a weird tension building inside of her. They’d had fun on the run, but she hadn’t asked him any of the questions that she wanted to ask about last night, the nightmare, why he seemed like his happy self this morning yet as if he were hiding something. She’d seen tears on his face last night, but she wasn’t about to bring that up.
When they reached the landing he gestured to her. “You can shower first.”
“Okay.” It felt intimate knowing that he’d be close by while she showered, something warm erupted inside of her. “What are you going to do while I shower?”
His gaze traced over her slowly, deliciously. Mary’s pulse beat quicker and she leaned closer to him. She really thought he was going to say something that would make her heart thump out of her chest. Maybe he’d think about her while she showered. No, that might be too much. Nick had been raised to be moral and not perverse, just as she had.
He met her eyes again. She could see the pulse point in his neck thrumming quickly. It gave her hope that he wanted to grow closer to her as well. She moistened her lips and fluttered her eyelashes, waiting, praying for some indicator that he was interested in her.
“Pushups,” Nick grunted in a hoarse voice. He cleared his throat and looked away.
“Pushups?” she repeated, disappointment filling her. “Pushups?”
“Yep,” he said in a gruff whisper.
Mary raised her eyebrows, and then shook her head. “Have fun with that.”
He smiled, but it looked grim, not the usual brilliance of his grin. Mary whirled and hurried into the bathroom. Pushups? And just when she thought they were getting somewhere. Men.
Chapter Nine
Pushups. Pushups? That was his answer when Mary had asked in that incredibly appealing voice of hers, what he’d do while she showered. She definitely wouldn’t have appreciated a truthful answer at that point, or maybe he wouldn’t have. The truth of how invested he was in her, and her every movement, would’ve had him pinning her against the wall and kissing her, no matter how sweaty he was from running, doing a modified weight routine, and chopping wood.
So he did pushups. A whole lot of pushups while that stupid shower seemed to never stop running. How long did it take a woman to wash her hair anyway? Finally he heard the shower shut off.
His chest, shoulders, and arms were on fire as he kept cranking out pushups, he hoped with perfect form. When she walked out that bathroom door, he wanted to look good and somehow keep himself distracted from chasing after her. If he was too tired to move he couldn’t grab her now could he?
The door finally opened and Nick cranked out some more pushups, going deep to the floor, and then straightening as if his body was made out of steel. He smiled to himself. That would be sure to impress her. She’d be even more impressed if she knew he hadn’t quit the entire time she showered.
Mary eased out of the bathroom wearing only a towel. The lean legs and arms revealed above and below that crisp white towel robbed him of all oxygen and any strength he’d pretended to have left. Nick’s arms collapsed. He face-planted on the floor with a loud whump.
“Oh!” Mary gave a cute little noise of concern and headed his direction. “Are you okay?” She reached him with a flurry of those gorgeous legs and an irresistibly clean and subtly vanilla scent.
“I’m fine.” Nick bit out, humiliated. He spoke to the rug and closed his eyes tight, so he couldn’t ogle her anymore. Unfortunately, he could still sense her presence and smell her delicious scent.
When she didn’t move, Nick muttered, “Please go get dressed.” It was all he could manage. If he tried to say more, he’d reveal how she stirred him up. If he opened his eyes, he’d take in all of her beauty and probably do something rash and stupid. If he dared move, he’d jump to his feet, and she might have a towel mishap that Pastor Jay wouldn’t approve of in the least. He was on the outs with the good Lord, but for some reason, still cared what Pastor Jay thought.
So he gritted his teeth and lay face down with the rug tickling his nose, his arms feeling like rubber, sweat trickling from his back down his sides making his t-shirt stick to him, and his pride shot. He wondered if he looked as idiotic as he felt.
Finally she pushed out a breath and muttered, “Fine.” He heard her footsteps retreat, and then blessedly her bedroom door shut.
Nick pushed off and leapt to his feet. He sprinted for the bathroom, slamming the door behind him and locking it. Taking a deep breath to steady himself was a huge mistake. He inhaled the delicious aroma that was all Mary Coulter. Nick cursed and hurried to start the shower.
Maybe he needed to change the plan. Heading back to Lonepeak Valley and pummeling her ex was sounding better and better. Being stuck in this cabin until the ex gave up was turning out to be torture, far too much for his self control. He groaned. He hadn’t even lasted twenty-four hours.
The crazy thing was he was so focused on Mary and distracted by her natural light and happiness that he wasn’t focused on the nightmare. That had never happened before. Yet if he took advantage of her or dimmed that light he’d never forgive himself. A small part of him also thought he deserved the darkness and pain the nightmare brought back. Survivor’s guilt is what Joe would call it, but Nick didn’t know how to not feel it. He let the guilt seep back in and knew he needed to find a way to keep his distance from Mary. No matter how hard that was.
Mary had just been trying to make sure Nick was okay when she’d come out of the shower earlier. He’d face-planted on the floor while doing pushups. That must’ve embarrassed or ticked him off because he’d been acting strange ever since. Answering her with one-word answers and not even gifting her with his obviously fake smile. She didn’t know how to make it better. She wanted to gush about how incredibly attractive he’d looked doing pushups, and even laying face down on the floor, but she somehow didn’t think that would help the situation.
After he showered, she explained there was no fresh food in the house for breakfast. Nick insisted they go into Glenwood Springs to stock up on groceries. They’d grabbed a yogurt parfait from the grocery store for breakfast, eating it as they slowly made laps around the store. They bought a lot more food than she thought they needed for a few days. She wasn’t about to complain as she wanted to spend more time with him, figure out why he was so hot and cold with her, and if the
stars aligned, kiss him repeatedly.
After the grocery store, they stopped at the hardware store to get supplies for him to rig up security around the perimeter. She tried to reassure him that Blake was no threat, but Nick just gave her a fake smile and bought the supplies anyway.
They went to Chomps Deli for lunch and Nick waited patiently while she responded to countless emails from her assistants and some companies she worked with. She uploaded everything that she’d worked on for her site while she had Wi-Fi. There were only a few fires to deal with. Her assistants had the deals ready and scheduled to post to the blog portion of her website, social media, and most importantly, the daily email that went to all subscribers for the next few weeks.
She responded to some requests from sellers and some complaints from buyers that her assistants had forwarded on. They dealt with most of the issues but sometimes people wanted the “manager”. There was always somebody who the right price didn’t come up for, or their order didn’t come in time. All the sellers were responsible for shipping and returns, but as the middle man she was responsible to make sure everybody was happy. It wasn’t as easy to deal with issues today, because Nick was seated close by alternating staring at her, looking out the deli’s windows, and tapping away on his phone.
She read through the texts on her phone after she finished work. Chelsea’s texts were, of course, asking if she’d kissed Nick and all about how Mary could thank her later for stranding her with her dream man. Mary’s face reddened when she read them, and she glanced up, catching Nick’s gaze on her. If only she had a better response for her sister besides the one she didn’t want to give, No kissing yet. She sent quick responses to her parents, telling them she was fine and to let her know if Blake bothered them. They must’ve been at work and school as neither of them responded.
She closed her computer and looked up at Nick. He was focused on her yet again, and she felt her cheeks immediately heat up.
“Done?” he asked.
“Yes.” She stood and slid her laptop into her oversized floral purse. “You?”
He arched his eyebrows, gifting her with a smile. “I’ve just been waiting on you.”
“Dollar waiting on a dime?” she tried to tease.
Nick shook his head. “No. That’s flip-flopped.”
She smiled and walked out of the deli with him. The bright spring sunshine felt great on her face. She took a deep breath and sighed, “Nothing like Colorado air.”
“You said it.”
He escorted her into the Lexus and drove through town. Neither of them said anything, and Mary found herself anxious to know what the next few days would look like. Things went from comfortable to awkward to heated between them faster than she could sell the latest deal. If only she could get some confirmation that he was interested in her like she was in him. She’d pin him down and kiss him until they got confirmation that Blake had headed back to Boston.
They drove past the massive town hot springs pool. Nick slowed, and then stopped. Whistling he said, “That’s some swimming pool.”
It was a warm early May day for the high mountains of Colorado, maybe fifty already, but the warm water and beautiful hot springs pool did look inviting.
“You’ve never been here?” she asked.
“No. Papa always said we had everything we needed right at Angel Falls, why would we want to leave.” He smiled as if remembering. “We went on a few vacations to different beaches when I was a young teen, but then …” His smile faltered. “Papa was paralyzed, and we didn’t leave the valley much at all after that.”
Mary put a hand on his arm. He startled, his eyes darting from her hand to her face. Mary almost pulled it back, but stubbornly, she not only kept it there but rubbed her palm up and down his bare arm. “Your dad’s a great guy.”
His smile returned, though he seemed to be concentrating on her hand on his arm. “Yeah, he is.”
She forced herself to lift her fingers from his arm. “Do you want to try out the pool?”
That smile she’d been missing flashed across his face. “I did say we needed swimsuits for the hot tub. What do you say we go to Target and buy some? We could get some ice to pack around any perishable groceries.”
Mary smiled back. She’d come here a few times with her family, and it was an amazing pool; a huge hot springs with a section for soaking, lanes for lap swim, and even a section for diving. There were water slides and a play center that would be open in the summertime. She liked the thought of experiencing it with Nick. “Sure.”
He pulled out onto the road again. Half an hour later they’d each picked out a suit and were headed back to the pool. It opened at noon but was quiet on weekdays and the off season. Glenwood Springs was a lot like Lonepeak Valley. They got their fair share of visitors in the summer for the beauty of the mountain retreat, hiking, and mountain biking, and in the winter for skiing and snowboarding, but spring and fall were pretty quiet. After living in a bustling city, Mary could appreciate the quiet.
She went into the locker room to change. Slipping into the pale blue one-piece, she liked the way it complemented her dark skin but the cut on the thighs was a bit more daring than she was used to and the material was thinner and not as high of quality as her favorite Nani swimsuits, already it was riding up her bum. She sighed. It was either walk out in the suit or miss out on time with Nick. She took a deep breath and walked out of the locker room, a cool breeze pricking her exposed skin.
There were only a few elderly people soaking in the shallow area and a couple moms with toddlers splashing on the opposite side of the soakers. The lifeguard walked by, a twenty-something girl wearing sweats. She smiled at Mary, but then Mary saw her jaw go slack and she muttered, “Holy saints above.”
Mary whirled and saw what had distracted the lifeguard. Her own jaw went slack and all she could do was stare. Nick strode confidently from the locker room, wearing a dark-gray fitted swim shirt and pale blue floral shorts. The shirt molded to his sculpted upper body perfectly, showcasing muscles that were hard-earned and she knew were used in practical ways, but there was nothing practical about the way she was feeling right now. Mary secretly wished he wasn’t wearing the shirt, but she understood he might not like people looking at his scars.
He nodded to the lifeguard, who was giving him a flirtatious smile, and hurried to Mary. When he reached her he let his gaze slide over her so slowly that the cold breeze had nothing on the heat erupting from his look.
“Wow, Mary,” he murmured. He didn’t say anything more but the wow and his look were plenty of compliment for her. He gently touched her mid-back, she supposed to direct her toward the pool, but the suit was open at the back and the feeling of his warm palm on her bare flesh shot even more fire through her. A moment ago she’d wanted to slide into the hot water, right now she didn’t know that she could handle any more heat.
“I, um, might sit on the side for a minute,” she said as they neared the pool’s edge.
Nick tilted his head toward her, a mischievous look in his eyes. “Can’t handle the heat?” he asked in a voice filled with it, seeming to guess exactly what she’d been thinking. Jiminy Christmas. This man was irresistible. If only he felt the same about her.
“I can handle anything,” she threw back at him, jutting out one hip.
His smile exploded across his face. “Oh yeah?”
“Anything you throw at me.”
“Handle this.” He swept her off her feet and against his chest.
Mary cried out in surprise, flinging her arms around his neck for stability. “What are you doing?”
Nick simply grinned, ran to the water’s edge, and leapt with her in his arms. Mary clung to him as they plunged under the hot water. They surfaced quickly, but he didn’t let her go. Water streamed down his handsome face, and his heart-stopping grin made her heart race as much as his nearness did.
Mary slid her hands into his wet hair, ushering his head closer. Two could play at this game. “How about you
handle this?” she asked as she arched toward him.
Nick’s arms cradled her closer. His grin changed to a look of anticipation, of desire. Their lips grew steadily closer.
A shrill whistle split the air. The lifeguard was on the pool deck a few feet away, glaring at them. A surge of disappointment sliced through Mary as Nick kept her in his arms and glanced up at the lifeguard.
“No making out in the pool, and no jumping in the shallow end.”
Nick smiled easily. “Thanks for letting us know.” He released his hold on Mary. She floated a few inches away before she planted her feet on the bottom of the pool.
The girl nodded shortly then strode away. She’d been friendly earlier but apparently didn’t appreciate them breaking the rules.
Nick pushed a hand through his hair and gave Mary a very forced smile. She could feel him distancing himself from her, regretting almost kissing her. She could see it all in his eyes.
Mary’s gut churned. For some reason she felt like if she could just kiss him she’d break through all these walls he kept erecting. But maybe she was lying to herself. Maybe he still thought of her as only a friend, like he always had. Maybe something so horrible had happened to give him those scars that he’d never heal and let her in.
She felt off-balance as she pushed through the water toward a bench on the side. Sinking into it, she closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the sun. The pool smelled funny because of all the natural minerals in it, but she liked the feel of it, and she tried to relax and not worry about Nick or Blake for a few moments. The not thinking of Nick part was hard to do when he settled down right next to her. His bare arm and leg brushed hers and set off fireworks in her stomach.
Her eyes flew open. Turning her head slightly, she stared at him, but he had his eyes closed and his head resting against the side of the pool. For all the world he looked to be relaxed and unaffected by her. Her eyes narrowed. She would see how unaffected he was. She lifted her arm and trailed her fingertips along his forearm.
The Strong Family Romance Collection Page 84