“I think he’s growing on me.” She winked at me and continued on. My curiosity was peaked, wondering if she was regretting her decision or not.
“Actually, it’s been nice. Being on the road always gave me peace, so this was just what I needed. We’ve been playing twenty-one questions, and even though sometimes he just parrots mine, he has come up with some good ones. Like asking me what my theme song was for the moment. Very clever.”
I avoided Joel’s wide eyes, knowing he would be looking at me after her confession. Theme songs were our secret, something my grandmother started for us. The fact that I asked her that meant I was going soft for her. Something I was still trying to be in denial about.
“Then I got him to sing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ in the truck with me! I feel like I should get a medal or something. It was epic.” She was so proud of herself. I shook my head and drank more of my beer to cover up the smile that was forming on my face. Joel, however, was stunned.
“Sounds like a damn good time.” He relaxed back in his seat and was smiling along with her, enjoying my slow descent into something unfathomable. I knew it, and he did too. These confessions proved she was under my skin. I never acted this way with anyone other than Joel. With Joel, I was still a grumpy ass, but I was able to let loose some.
Livia and Joel chattered about nothing important for another hour before she called it a night, wanting to sleep in a bed and rest up for surfing tomorrow. I waited for him to say something to me, and he just stared at her until she closed the glass doors and walked up the stairs.
“So, you’re marrying her in Vegas, right?”
Chapter Ten
Livia
“Paddle!” Joel’s voice carried over the water, telling me to go for the wave. And I tried, but when it was time for me to stand, I couldn’t get my feet right, and fell face first into the freezing cold water. It was about sixty-five degrees outside and colder in the water. Thank goodness for the full wetsuit Joel had loaned me. He claimed it was his sister’s, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. There was no mistaking he was a ladies’ man, so I tried to imagine his sister wearing the suit, instead of some woman he brought home to screw.
My legs were tired from swimming, but it was a welcome burn.
“I think I’m going to take a break and sit,” I called out to him and reached for the body board he let me use. He gave me a thumbs up and went on his way to surf his little movie star heart out. But my eyes left him seconds later, searching for the man slicing through the water like he had powers over them. Killian was dressed up in a wetsuit, too, which left absolutely nothing to the imagination. He strolled out to the water, gave me a once-over, and dove right in. He loved the water, that was for damn sure. It was a small glance into the Killian he kept buried beneath the grunts and huffs. I watched his face transform as he would catch a wave at the right moment and glide on the water.
He may want people—including me—to see only the hard parts to him, but I was becoming more and more fascinated with what was underneath in that gooey center of his.
When his eyes met mine as I was dissecting him in my head, I felt something connect between us. This was something he didn’t show people, and he knew I was glimpsing the real him. I wondered what he thought of that. No emotion crossed his face beyond that look in his eyes saying he was reading my thoughts.
It was probably around noon, and I was starting to get hungry. We had been surfing since nine this morning. Killian made us omelets for breakfast—another thing I didn’t know about him, that he liked to cook. It was his subtle way of thanking his friend for letting us stay. And other than the few words here or there, he really didn’t talk to me much. I thought we had come to some sort of friendship over our drive, but since he wasn’t stuck in a truck with me, he wasn’t forced to talk to me. And now he was keeping his distance, making me feel slightly bummed. Not that I wanted to fall in love with him, but I was hoping to at least be friends.
I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted out to them. “Hey, you guys hungry?” Both men paddled over to me and talked about what we could have for lunch. All of it sounded great and was making my stomach rumble.
“Okay, you guys choose. I’m gonna go shower, then we can work on it together.” I left them behind to figure it out and practically ran into the house to get under the hot water of the shower.
The room I was staying in was simple, but I knew everything still probably cost a small fortune. The bed was large and covered in a fluffy white comforter. The rest of the room was decorated in lovely earth tones of green, brown, and yellow. It worked nicely together. I wondered if he did the decorating himself or hired someone.
There wasn’t a bathroom attached to my room, but it was right across from it. So I grabbed a set of clothes from the basket, since Joel let me use his washer to clean my minimal wardrobe, and walked into the bathroom.
It had a deep, old-fashioned claw foot tub and a separate shower. Most people only had master bathrooms that looked like this, but when you’re a celebrity, maybe every bathroom was like that. I wasn’t complaining.
I struggled a moment with the very snug wetsuit, but once it was gone, I jumped into the shower and warmed my skin. Thoughts of Killian entered my brain and I felt myself enjoying them. What would he do if I touched him? In the way a woman touched a man to whom she was attracted. The core of me, between my legs, started to ache, and I knew I needed to take care of it. I lathered myself up with soap and ran my fingers over my body, cleansing myself, and then kneading my breasts. My eyes closed, and I imagined my hands were no longer my own, but rather Killian’s large ones, touching my nipples. I moaned, thinking about his palms holding their light weight, while his lips touched my neck from behind me. Shivers rolled down my spine all the way to my toes. His mouth was hot, and his tongue licked up the line of my neck. One of those hands of his moved down my stomach and touched me where I needed him most.
“Oh,” I whimpered and moved my fingers just as I imagined he would. Teasingly at first—Killian wouldn’t be one for rushing things. He would savor every whimper and each flex of my hips towards his pleasuring fingers. Finally, when I couldn’t take anymore, he would give me what I craved. He’d insert one of his long fingers inside me, stretching me for something much bigger.
I felt myself starting to quiver with the impending orgasm. My body tensed as I increased the pace, and then I was falling, my orgasm shooting through me like a bolt of lightning. It was all I could do not to scream, and thereby alerting everyone in the house that I was having one of the hottest orgasms of my life. And it was all from thinking of a man that wanted nothing to do with me...a man I really shouldn’t be thinking about at all.
That thought sobered me up from my post-orgasm haze, and I finished cleaning myself then jumped out of the shower. I dried off and changed into my clothes quickly then walked out of the bathroom. I was so lost in my head that I ran right into a hard, bare torso.
Killian’s naked torso, to be exact. My eyes went wide and my cheeks flushed. I was afraid there was a big sign on my head that gave away that I was thinking about him just minutes ago, while I touched myself. His tattooed arms that I didn’t truly notice in the truck before wrapped around my waist to steady me; my eyes nervously looked up into his, not wanting to be caught staring at his toned body. He was looking at me like he was frightened of me. It was an odd look, but I swore that’s what I saw. The moment passed as quickly as it came, and he schooled his features back to the emotionless expression to which I’d grown accustomed.
“You okay?” I nodded at him and pulled away from his arms. His hands on me, especially after my scene in the shower, were making my body grow warm and needy for him.
“Yep. Just wasn’t expecting anyone right outside the door. Thanks for catching me before I fell on my face.”
He was looking at me curiously. Sometimes I really felt he knew everything I was thinking inside my head. I hoped not, otherwise I would be humiliated for life, if he could read me now.
“I’m gonna shower. Joel ordered tacos from a local place. It’ll be here soon.” He took a step back and started to walk into the bathroom behind me now that I was out. I let out a breath as he started to close the door. The awkward moment was over.
“Hey, Livia?” He opened the door back up and I felt myself freeze. I turned around and looked at him. This time I couldn’t help my eyes from gazing over his tan muscles, and that tattoo that twisted from his shoulder down his forearm. He was more masculine than anyone I’d ever seen this close before. Undeniably sexy. Like a fitness model, he could probably be just as famous as Joel if he wanted to.
