“Do you need to take a few breaths before I keep telling you the story?” she teases and kisses my temple.
“Sassy. Fucking sassy! Go on.”
She moves her fingers to my shoulders and massages them. “I stockpiled a bunch of money, went to cosmetology school, and started taking business classes. All so I could open up a little salon and keep life simple, play by my own rules, and tell corporate jerks to shove it up their asses.”
Fiery, she is perfect, and I can picture her walking away from that corporate office, holding up double middle fingers, saying fuck off. “And the rest is history?”
“It took way longer than I expected for the salon to be profitable, but I was able to hang on long enough to reap the benefits of all my hard work without going under. Actually, it was your Gram that helped make the salon successful. She told all of her friends and even strangers—anyone who would listen.”
“Gram? Yeah, she’s a firecracker. A lot like you. No wonder the two of you get along so well.”
“Firecracker?” Eying me with an arched brow, she says, “Jane’s a pretty amazing woman, and I love listening to all of her stories.”
“I’m sure she hasn’t repeated any of them—there are so many.”
“The only one she repeats periodically is her love story, but I enjoy hearing it.”
The intense pull on my heart is overwhelming as she talks about my Gram and the love story she tells everyone. All the tidbits and their true love and how love found them.
All I can say is, “Yeah.”
“Opening the spa has been a year-long mission; it has had its moments and bumps in the road. It’s all worth it after the grand opening. Being able to hire employees to support the local economy and offering services that clients have asked for is a win-win all around.”
I realize I’ve been stroking her arm the whole time she’s been talking—entranced in her story. She’s committed to her vision and made it happen. I like her even more now, knowing all of this; she’s ambitious as fuck. It’s an inspiring story. She’s one of a kind and all mine.
“You must be proud of yourself. Those are tremendous accomplishments—leaving a corporate job to start your own business.”
“I am. It’s been a long road. I’ve learned so much about the industry, about myself, town politics….” She winks at me. “Thank you again for helping me with that. It made a real difference on the timeline. I’m not sure I’ll ever stop thanking you for that.”
I was fired up when she was being taken advantage of by the building department. I’m glad I took care of it for her. Sometimes you need to flex some muscle with them.
“Glad I could be of service.” Taking her face in my hands while she still holds my neck, and ask, “How did I let you walk out of that hotel room?”
“Dane, I don't believe there was anything you could have said to make me stay. I had a preconceived notion about who you were. You were the one-night stand guy.”
“Yeah, you left an impression on me—in many ways.” I kiss her lips. “I knew it that day and all the days after.” My lips back on hers, gripping her hips. With her arms around my neck, she darts her tongue into my mouth. I ravage her mouth like I’ve never tasted her before. The intensity vibrates through my body with all the blood rushing south. But nothing else matters except her and me here in this moment. She’s the one. I move my hands to cup her face and slide my tongue in and out of her mouth. She’s everything I didn’t know I wanted.
The world stops around us as I bring my mouth to her ear and whisper, “You are the only woman I want in my life. My heart doesn’t know how to beat when you’re not in it. Every thought always circles back to you—your face, your body, your heart. You have quickly become my favorite thing in the entire world, and I haven’t been the same since that night.”
She grazes her fingers through my beard. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected us to be standing here, holding each other. To hear those words, Dane…there are butterflies in my stomach, and the electricity that bounces between us could light up an entire city.”
My blood pressure is never the same when she is around. I run the pads of my thumbs over the dark circles under her eyes. She’s exhausted. Scanning her body up and down as we wade out of the water earns me a slap on the shoulder. I laugh it off. “Why don’t we head inside and change? Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, a bit.”
Once we’re out of the pool, she grabs a couple of towels from the cabinet in the corner. Drying off, we wrap up in the towels and head inside. When I walk by the chair, I swipe my clothes off of it.
“Why don’t you go and shower, get comfy, and by the time you get back down here, I’ll have an early dinner ready?”
“You mean you’ll have dinner delivered?” she asks with suspicion in her tone.
“You’ll see when you come back downstairs, but take your time,” I say as I grab her ass and drag her into me. Her emerald green eyes suck me into her vortex. I lean in, giving her a kiss she’ll be thinking about later. I love the feel of her soft lips and the way her tongue teases mine.
“Then I’ll see you in a bit.”
I can’t help but watch her ass sway as she heads to the stairs. When she is out of sight, I make quick work of taking off my wet boxer briefs and throwing on my clothes. I hang everything up on the deck railing to dry. Heading inside, I rummage through her cabinets and fridge, seeing if there’s anything I can make for dinner. I know she picked up her groceries. Almost everything I need is here, so I start placing things out onto the counter.
I decide to make her grilled salmon with a salad and a side of sweet potato. Grabbing my phone, I make a quick call to my assistant and rattle off a couple of items to have her deliver to me in the next twenty minutes.
