When I finally start to sweat, I peel myself off of him. “Is it time?” I hold up my wrinkled fingers and wiggle them.
“Okay, but will you stay longer?” His voice is laced with hope and dripping with a bit of pleading.
“I’d love to stay longer.” I brush my hand over his chest. Sparks run up my arm.
He offers me some comfortable clothes, his t-shirt, and a pair of gym shorts. I’m swimming in them, and comforted by being wrapped up in his clothes. After getting dressed, he sits on the couch in the four-season room. I cuddle up with my hand over his heart—thumping to a soothing rhythm.
I drift off to sleep, and I feel something lying over my body. With my eyes slit, I see a blanket on me. Kai leans down and brushes the hair off my face. “Goodnight, Ava Sinclair.”
NINE
Kai
Istretch my arms over my head and groan. Ugh, I don’t want to move. I’ll stay in bed a few more minutes. Turning my head from side to side, it’s smooth, no kinks. The hot tub was well worth every cent. My eyes drift open when I smell coffee, remembering that Ava crashed on the couch. I tried waking her, but she was passed out.
When I finally sit up, the smell of bacon invades my nostrils.Is she cooking in my kitchen?
I hop out of bed and slip on a pair of grey sweatpants and rush to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I don’t miss the opportunity to glance in the mirror. Once I’m done, my feet thunder down the stairs, following the smell of breakfast and coffee.
When I walk into the kitchen, her back is to me, sipping on her coffee, and cooking at the stove. With her hair up on her head in one of those messy buns, barefoot, and in my clothes, I could really get used to this.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” It spills out of my mouth before I can stop it.
She whips around, coffee in one hand and a spatula in the other, practically jumping out of her skin and spilling her coffee. “Oh shit. You scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to. I figured if I kept staring at you any longer, it would be borderline creepy.”
She laughs and turns to finish cooking. I stalk over to her and use my fingers to swipe those rogue strands of hair off her neck and kiss right under her ear, whispering, “Thank you for the coffee and breakfast. I could have cooked for you.”
“Next time, handsome.” She taps my chest and giggles. “And I figured since you let me come over for hot tub time, it’s the least I can do.”
I pick up a coffee mug and fill it up. “You didn’t have to do any of it.”
“Well, I love to cook and this stove…” She moans and continues. “It’s to die for. You’re going to need to give me a tour. I decided not to snoop and cook instead. This kitchen,” she says, looking over her shoulder, and gives me a chef kiss.
“Go big, right?!” I shrug at her and sip my coffee.
She finishes cooking, and we bring it out to the deck to eat. The sun glistens on the water, and a slight breeze sways the trees. It’s warmer than usual this time of the morning. A perfect day to take the boat out.
“Thank you for this.” I gesture to the food and coffee.
“You’re very welcome,” she says as she takes a forkful of food into her mouth.
“Do you have any plans today?” I ask, wishing she had zero plans and could spend all day here with me.
“I was hoping to be lakeside and enjoying a sunny, hot summer day.” She grins at me.
With her comment, I can’t help but smirk back at her. It’s exactly what I was hoping for.
She changes back into her hot-pink bikini, and it really shows off her deep olive skin, highlighting all her beautiful curves. As we head onto the lake, she lies on a towel at the back of the boat. It’s like we’ve done this before.Comfortable. Easy. Simple.Things I’m not used to with women. I’ve had hard, conflict, and misaligned feelings. With Ava, there’s none of that.
I drive us to the middle of the lake. It’s still fairly early, so no skiers out yet. The water is calm, like glass, reflecting the light. I drop the anchor and sit down next to Ava. Her belly button is yelling for me to touch it, so I drag my fingers over her stomach and then to her belly button.
She jumps up so fast and yells, “Gah, don’t touch it.” Rubbing her stomach, she shivers.
“You don’t like your belly button touched?” Staring at her with my head slightly tilted, I hadn’t thought she wouldn’t like it.
“Ah, yeah, no thank you.” She’s shaking her head profusely, pushing on my chest.
