Aiden narrowed his eyes on me, studying me for long moments. I didn’t break his gaze, simply held out my hand for the pen. When he finally handed it over, I offered him a smile and set out to fill in the paperwork.
“I hope you’re not going to need any special equipment for this, because we don’t have the budget for it,” Addison said.
I waved her off, keeping my eyes focused on the paperwork. “I’ve got what I need. I usually ask people to bring their own mats with them, but I have a few extras for those who don’t have their own or just want to try it out. And I’ve got a portable table for any massages.”
“Perfect. Now we just need to figure out a location. What kind of space do you need?”
“I’d like to do it outside whenever possible, and that little alcove I was using between Cottages Eight and Nine would be perfect. But do you have anywhere in here that would work for days like today when it’s raining?”
Addison hummed and pursed her lips as she tapped a finger against them. “Probably the parlor would work best. There’s not a lot of furniture in there, so it would be easy to clear out for a class.”
“Is that the room with the wall of windows?”
“That’s the one.”
As if the room weren’t gorgeous enough, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a few cozy-looking chairs to curl up in, it also looked out over the most beautiful view of the ocean.
“Perfect.” I shot her a smile, and she grinned back.
I’d still have to figure out something for the massage I’d cornered Brady into accepting, but that was a single session. If it had been in my plans to stay longer, I might have needed to worry about a permanent location for massages. But at this point, I had no intention of sticking around much longer than making sure Holton Group didn’t get their claws into a piece of Starlight Cove.
CHAPTERSIX
BRADY
I didn’t needto look outside to know it was a full moon. It had to be, based on the clusterfuck that had been my day. There was the complaint about someone stealing three chickens from the Wilsons’ farm, a drunk man roaming down Main Street wearing only a T-shirt, bare ass and all his dangly parts hanging out for the world to see, and a welfare check on a woman who called dispatch, high as a kite, and claimed the wolves were after her. Not to mention how it’d started by dealing with the pain in my ass known as Luna. Or that kiss…and my reaction to it.
If anyone pressed me on it, I’d say it was fine. Perfunctory. Uninspired and bland. I sure as hell wouldn’t admit to it being the hottest kiss I’d had in recent—or even distant—memory and that I’d been hard enough to pound nails by the time I’d finally torn my mouth away from hers.
Christ, even the remembrance of her taste had me groaning, my cock twitching in my pants, and I forced away thoughts of where else she’d taste just as sweet. I did not need to be thinking about Luna in any capacity, but especially not what it’d be like to have her naked and writhing beneath me. What I needed was to forget today had ever happened.
Intent on doing just that, I removed my gear, stowed my gun in my safe, and slipped into a T-shirt and sweatpants before heading downstairs to preheat the oven for my gourmet meal of frozen pizza. I could’ve gone to the diner and had Beck whip me up something to take home, but doing that would’ve meant interacting with my family, and given where my lips had been hours prior, I didn’t think that was a great idea.
Before I could grab a beer and settle into my couch, my phone rang with Aiden’s ringtone. For half a second, I contemplated not answering. I had little doubt as to what this call was about, considering just that afternoon, Luna had filled out paperwork to officially become an employee of the resort—one we definitely shouldn’t have hired and almost certainly couldn’t pay. Was it too much to ask to get a little reprieve from that insufferable woman?
Yes, apparently, because I knew if I didn’t answer, one of two things would happen—he’d either call back, continually, until Ididpick up, or he’d stop by and use his key to help himself inside.
Deciding a phone call was the lesser of two evils, I hit accept before it could go to voice mail. “Yeah.”
“You’re supposed to be keeping Luna in line, not having a goddamn spa day with her.”
I pulled a beer out of the fridge and popped the cap before taking a swig. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“She told Addison you’re taking two of her yoga classesandshe’s giving you a massage.” Papers shifted on his end, probably from the front desk he couldn’t drag himself away from, despite it being damn near seven o’clock. “So, what, you’re consorting with the enemy now?”
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I dropped onto my couch, resting my beer bottle on my knee. I knew I shouldn’t have answered. “I thought you liked her.”
Every one of my brothers seemed to like her—with the exception of Levi, who, as far as I knew, hadn’t met her—Beck especially, and I refused to pay attention to how much that rankled me.
“I like her fine,” he said, his voice flat, as if he were discussing the new cashier at the Handy Mart. “I donotlike how her latest whim could jeopardize the resort and the one break that’s finally in reach.”
My heart seized at the undercurrent of fear lacing Aiden’s words. He was the levelheaded one of our group. The one who kept things on track. Who didn’t get worked up if there wasn’t a reason to. But he sure as hell was worked up now.
“It’s going to be fine,” I said, the bite gone from my tone. “Luna and I…” I blew out a long breath and scrubbed a hand down my face. “We worked out an arrangement.”
An arrangement where she tricked me into getting her lips on mine and making my whole goddamn world implode, but considering Aiden’s current mind-set, it was probably best to keep that detail to myself.
“What happened to ‘We don’t negotiate with terrorists’?” he asked.
