by Jill Sanders
She kicked them onto the floor and smiled down at him.
“Come here.” He pulled her back on top of him.
This time, when her fingers wrapped around him, he rested his hand over her panties and rubbed her through the light material.
“God, you feel so good,” he said between kisses.
She went back to rubbing herself against him. He slid his finger under the silk of her panties, and she held perfectly still as he dipped a finger into her.
She could have never expected the intensity of the explosion that wracked her entire body.
“Brett,” she said against his lips as tears slipped out of her eyes. “I…”
Just then there was a knock on the outer door, signaling that their time was almost up. She froze in place.
There she was, her shorts on the floor, his fingers still embedded deep within her. Her camp shirt was hiked up, exposing her bra, while she straddled a very naked man. She glanced down and could see the bandages on Brett’s thigh. She carefully but quickly jumped down from the table.
Before he could say anything, she pulled on her clothes and tossed the towel back at him. “I’ll see you at eleven-thirty,” she said and left quickly.
Her face heated when she noticed Kara standing outside the door.
“So?” the blond said cheerfully. “How’s your patient doing?”
“Good,” she said quickly and left. She wasn’t in the mood to chat nor explain why she was breathing so heavily.
Oh god, had Kara heard her cry out Brett’s name when she’d come?
Hell, she needed the cool spring rain and a very long walk to cool her off.
She was trying not to think about Brett, so she called her father once more to see how his meeting with Henry from FLD had gone. She’d stopped by her parents’ place, worried that her dad’s business was failing in some way.
Instead, he’d informed her that he was thinking of merging his business with FLD and that it was going to be a very lucrative deal.
It appeared as if both her father and Henry were tired of running their separate businesses and had finally decided on a mutually beneficial agreement.
When she called him, her father had informed her that they had come to terms and had gotten along well enough that the Flemings would be returning to the area in a few weeks’ time to officially seal the deal.
Her dad even joked that this could be the perfect time for him to retire. Again.
She felt more centered as she walked into the exercise room two hours later. She was early and sat in the back to catch the end of Aubrey’s judo class.
Lea had always wanted to take judo, but her schoolwork and education had always come first. Actually, she’d put a lot of things in her life on hold for her education.
Like dating and sex. Which was probably why she was starved for attention. It was the only logical explanation for why she was so hot for Brett. Sure, he was sexy as hell and a great guy. Not to mention that he had been there for most of her life.
Even though he’d been annoying those first few years after she’d moved there, he’d turned funny and kind. By a year later, they’d settled into friendship, which had lasted up until he’d kissed her for the first time.
Now, she didn’t know how to describe what was between them or what they had done in the massage room. What was that, anyway?
Maybe he was just as horny as she was? Maybe she had been just a convenience?
Would he have done that to Kara if she’d been the one giving him a massage? That thought had her tensing and upset her stomach.
She’d been so deep in thought that she hadn’t realized Aubrey’s class had ended and the room had practically emptied out.
“Plotting someone’s death?” Aubrey asked cheerfully as she sat down next to her.
Aubrey Smith was the most perfect porcelain-doll type woman. Lea had been jealous of her from the moment she’d met her a few years back. The woman oozed sexuality from the tips of her red hair down to the perfectly manicured pink toenails she showcased each time she wore sandals. She spoke like someone who had been raised in boarding schools and had dined with presidents.
Not that Lea hadn’t had her moments in the spotlight. Graduating from Harvard had been fun. At least Lea had been able to dress up in a fancy gown a few times in her life.
“No, just… daydreaming,” she answered Aubrey. “How was class?”
“Great.” Aubrey rolled her shoulders. “You should join in one day.”
“I…” She started to turn her down but then nodded. “I will. Soon,” she promised with a smile. “How are the wedding plans coming along?”
“They’re coming. We sort of put our plans on hold until after Hannah and Owen’s big day next week, but they’re coming along.” Aubrey’s smile grew. “There’s a lot to do before the big day.” She leaned back and took a sip of her refillable River Camps water bottle.
“Which is?” she asked, glancing sideways at Aubrey.
“Christmas Day,” Aubrey answered easily.
“Going for the big day?” she asked with a chuckle.
Aubrey’s smile turned slightly wicked. “It’ll piss off my dad.”
“How’s that going?” she asked, knowing all the trouble Aubrey had endured growing up with the cold older man.
“You’d think that after we saved his life he’d be a little grateful. Or at least accepting of our relationship. But Aiden’s been great about the entire situation.” Aubrey sighed slightly, and Lea heard the love in her tone.
“Yeah, he’s been great all his life,” Lea joked.
Lea glanced up when Aubrey’s attention moved to the doorway. Brett stood just inside the door, looking at them.
“Didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said a little sharply.
Aubrey jumped up and cheerfully excused herself.
“You didn’t have to be rude to her,” Lea told him.
“Me?” Brett tossed his crutches down and sat on the mat. “I’d never be rude to Aubrey.”
She wanted to say, “Then you were being rude to me?” but instead she sat across from him on the floor and her heart fell a little.
It was true. She had just been a convenience to him. Just knowing that he would have kissed anyone like that had her mood turning foul.
“What do you have planned for me?” he asked after a moment.
She thought of the moves she’d just watched Aubrey do on a fellow student and imagined her holding Brett in the thigh lock and squeezing until…
“Stretches,” she said quickly as she shook the thought from her mind. “Lots of them.” If she couldn’t use judo on him, she figured she could cause him pain in other ways, like he’d just caused in her.
Half an hour later, she watched with pleasure as sweat rolled down his forehead. Still, she could feel the muscles in his legs stretching farther now than when they’d started.
The doctor in her was pleased with his progress. The woman in her wanted to make him suffer even more, but she could see the weariness behind his eyes now and knew she’d pushed him too far. She wished he would complain or at least groan in pain. Just a little. For her own satisfaction. Instead, he’d remained silent the entire time.
“I think you’ve worked hard enough,” she said, getting up from the mat. She handed him a bottle of water. “You should be drinking thirty-five milliliters of fluid per kilogram of body weight per day.” She stopped when he glanced up at her and rolled his eyes. “Drink eight fluid ounces more a day than you normally would,” she added.
When he was done drinking, she helped him stand up and gave him his crutches. She made sure he was steady before walking over and checking her phone. She’d hoped to have a message to distract her from talking to him further, but her phone was quiet.
“Elle mentioned that you signed on a place to open your own practice?” Brett asked as he moved slowly closer to her.
She’d just signed the paperwork on one of the units in a new building going up on the outskirts
of town. She had been waiting for the last of the paperwork to go through before telling everyone else. It was one of the messages she was waiting and hoping for on her phone.
“I’m trying,” she said a little dryly.
“Having problems?” He sat down on the bench where she and Aubrey had sat earlier.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“You don’t have to go it alone. I know people.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“So do I,” she replied. “Probably the same people you do. We did grow up in town together, remember?”
He chuckled. “I remember.” He sighed. “So, earlier…”
She shrugged and tried to not let him see her heart beating out of her chest. “You don’t have to apologize.”
He reached out and took her hand, holding her in place in front of him. She met his eyes.
“I wasn’t going to. I was going to say that I want it to happen again.” He pulled her a little closer. “Soon.” His eyes moved to her lips.
She almost fell into his lap as he tugged her down onto his good knee and kissed her once again. Whereas before the kisses were filled with urgency, this time it was slow, filled with wonder, and extremely passionate. More passion than she’d experienced in her entire life.
Her mind, which had been flooded with a million thoughts moments before, cleared completely. Now she focused only on Brett and what he was doing to her. How he was making her feel. As if for the first time in her entire life.
“Why?” she asked with a sigh as he moved his lips lower to her neck.
The low chuckle that emanated from his chest had her opening her eyes.
“I would think that’s obvious,” he answered before trailing his lips down her neck and behind her ear, and then taking her earlobe into his mouth and sucking lightly. The move caused her eyes to cross with pleasure.
“Brett.” She shifted on his lap and then stilled when he hissed with pain. Jerking up, she stood over him as he began to rub his left thigh.
“I’m okay.” He smiled up at her. “Just… sore from the intense workout you just gave me.”
She heard his stomach growl loudly and suddenly everything came back to her. She realized where they were. She could even hear voices and music from guests in the next room as they went through one of Elle’s Zumba classes.
“You should head on in and get something to eat,” she said, turning away and taking up her bag with her change of clothes in it. She had to head into the hospital for her shift.
“Lea?” he said, causing her to stop at the door. She turned and looked at him when he didn’t say anything else right away. He was still sitting there, looking hungry and in pain. She wanted to rush to him, to help him, but instead, she gripped her bag more tightly.
“Yes?” she finally said. He sighed.
“Thanks.” He motioned to his leg. “For… looking out for me.”
Instead of answering, she nodded and left quickly. She didn’t trust her voice. Didn’t trust that she wouldn’t break down and either cry or scream with excitement. At this point, she was so wound up that she was afraid that she’d explode if he touched her again.
She took the back pathway to the parking lot so she could avoid bumping into anyone else and then sat in her car for a moment to collect her composure before heading back to her place to shower before work. Normally, she’d use the showers in the pool house and change into her scrubs, but she was too afraid someone would ask her how she was doing or, worse, see what Brett’s kisses had done to her. She knew it was written clearly on her face.
He’d changed her. Just knowing that he wanted her, wanted to be with her, affected who she was and what she wanted out of life. Now she had a new goal to aim for. Brett.
Chapter 8
Brett must have sat there in the empty exercise room for close to fifteen minutes before his breathing settled. Then he gathered himself and slowly headed towards the dining room.
He’d been going to his regular physical therapy sessions five times a week, but this had been something completely different. Lea had stretched his thigh, moved it in ways that Ken, his PT, hadn’t done yet.
After that workout, he was just thankful he had the energy to move around the grounds on his own accord.
He wasn’t technically staff or a guest, but he’d been told he could eat in either dining room. Both the staff dining area and the guest dining area were nice. The guest areas included the pool patio dining area on sunny days, the main dining hall, and an outdoor patio area just outside. The guests could also order picnics to take to the private beach or get room service.
Since it was still raining outside, he chose to head to the main dining room. The place wasn’t packed, but there were enough guests that he didn’t feel lonely.
At night, he knew the massive dining hall could be decorated for dances or big events. It was large enough to house enough people for concerts yet filled with classy furniture that made it feel intimate. There was a long bar near the back set of windows that overlooked the grounds and the bay.
Since he was alone, he made his way back to the bar area and figured he’d watch the game as he chatted with Britt, the camp’s main bartender. He’d known the older woman for almost ten years now, ever since she’d moved into town with her partner, Theresa. The two of them were, without a doubt, some of his favorite people in Pelican Point.
Theresa helped out with every event in town, such as holiday parades and book fairs. She was not only on the city council, but she also owned and ran a small local café, Sunset Café, which had the best burgers in town. No offense to the fancy chef they had out here at the camps, but Isaac couldn’t hold a greasy spatula to Theresa’s bacon double cheeseburger heart attack. Just thinking about it made his stomach growl again.
“Hold on there, boy-o.” Britt laughed at the loud sound. “Here, munch on these until you order something.” She set a basket of fries in front of him. “They were for me, but since they can hear your stomach in Russia…” She winked at him. “I’ll order some more for me.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking up a fry and shoving it in his mouth. “Burger me,” he added. “Loaded.” He shoved another fry in his mouth.
“Will do.” She nodded. “Drink?”
“Coke. No alcohol until I’m off the pain meds. And seeing as I’m in a lot of pain right now, I plan on taking a few with my burger.” He groaned as he ran his hand lightly over his thigh muscle.
Britt punched in his order on the computer screen and glanced up at him. “That bad? I thought after seeing you hobbling around here that you’d be on the mend.”
“I was,” he said after a few more fries, “until Lea got her hands on me.” He watched Britt’s eyebrows shoot up.
“Oh, so it is like that,” the woman practically purred as she set his drink down in front of him. “Looks like I win that pot.”
“No,” he growled out, but at the same time he remembered how wonderful Lea had felt on his lap. How she’d looked when she’d hovered over him. When he’d made her come and with her body plastered against his as her lips…
Britt’s laughter had his mind clearing.
“Right.” She dragged out the word and leaned on the counter to look at him. “That look”—she pointed to his face— “is the look of a goner.”
His eyes narrowed. “You don’t know—”
Her eyebrows arched and he shut his mouth.
“I thought so,” Britt added with a smile, straightening to take a couple of empty bottles that someone had set on the bar. “You may be a cop, but you have a shit poker face.” She chuckled as she walked over to take someone else’s order.
He sat in silence and watched the game, trying to get his mind off Lea as he waited for his food. When Britt set a massive burger in front of him, along with a large slice of berry pie, his sour attitude faded away.
“You’re a woman who knows what a man needs.” He took a bite of his burger.
Britt laughed. “It’s not hard. They either
want food or beer.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “Anything else you’ll have to find another woman for. Cuz I’m taken.” She winked at him.
“Theresa’s a lucky woman,” he said with a full mouth.
“You’ll find your own soon enough if you don’t already have your eye on her,” Britt added.
“Hey there, stranger.” Kara stopped and leaned against the bar next to him. “Fancy meeting you here.”
He swallowed the bite of the burger and washed it down with a sip of his drink before responding.
“Seeing as I’m being held prisoner and tortured here, go figure,” he joked.
“Oh no, we can’t have you thinking this is a jail.” Her eyes narrowed. “And who is torturing you?”
He opened his mouth but then shut it again and shrugged. “At least the food is good.” He motioned to his half-eaten burger.
“It’s by far the best burger in town,” Kara added.
“A tie, I’d wager,” he said. “Sunset Café has one of my favorites.”
Kara nodded. “I’ll have to give it a try sometime.” She leaned further onto the bar. “So, I have a cancellation for my one o’clock session. If you want the spot, it’s yours.”
His gut reaction was to turn it down since he’d already had a massage that day. Even if that one hadn’t done anything to relax him. He also remembered how Lea had reacted towards Kara. But Lea was a professional and he was in a lot of pain after she’d worked on him. Maybe a massage would help him relax since Lea had just tortured him further.
“Sure, I’ll take it,” he answered.
“Good.” Kara’s smile doubled. “I’ll see you after you’re done eating.” She grabbed the bag of food she’d ordered from Britt.
By the time he was finishing up with his burger, he had typed and retyped a message to Lea. He didn’t want to come across as desperate or as if he was asking permission. Hence all the revisions. In the end, he settled on a simple message.
-Thanks again for the great workout. I lucked out and was able to book a massage to work out some of the tension you built up. Are we a go for tomorrow’s session in the pool? Assuming the weather holds.