“You do realize the lioness is the hunter.”
The memory of that response, combined with my not-so-PG fantasies, was recirculating my blood flow. With each step toward the bathroom, I grew harder.
The lights in the bathroom illuminated the glass and shiny fixtures. I caught a glimpse of myself in the large mirrors. Sweat glistened from my skin as pre-come shone at the end of my erection.
For the first time since I signed my name on the hundred dotted lines, I felt alive.
I imagined Lena completing her workout, her skin shimmering with perspiration as she ran the treadmill’s course. That workout morphed from the resort gym to the two of us—alone.
My fingers surrounded my cock that for the first time in forever was also alive. Veins showed upon the surface as they gorged with blood, and my balls tightened.
“Fuck,” I growled as I moved my hand up and down.
Before the temperature of the shower could warm, I stepped under the cool spray, closing the glass door behind me. With one hand on the tile, I leaned forward. My breathing caught as I tightened my grip.
Behind my closed lids, I pictured the legs soaking up the sun now wrapped around me. My cock buried deep inside her as her walls contracted around me. Faster my hand moved as I held my breath. Her soft brown eyes were staring deep into my gaze as our bodies pounded and slapped against the other.
Shit, the end was close.
Explosions ignited behind my closed eyes as come painted the tile of the shower wall. String after string. Laying my head back, I let out a roar. The deep sound echoed against the glass and tile. Tilting my forehead toward the wall, I grinned. “You may be a lioness, Lena, but then I’m the lion. You hunt—for me.”
The shower, having grown incrementally hotter, reddened my skin. With my face now toward the stream, I turned down the temperature of the water and let the cooler spray refresh and invigorate me.
Just maybe this wouldn’t be a boring week.
Chapter Six
Lena
“You agreed?” Kelsey asked with a grin.
I shrugged, knowing that the heat in my cheeks gave me away. “It’s only breakfast.”
Kelsey smiled. “I’ll run a background check. What’s his name?”
“He said CJ, but I don’t want a background check.”
“Ms. Montgomery, I don’t recommend—”
“We spoke yesterday at the pool,” I said, interrupting her, “and I purposely chose the treadmill beside him.”
Kelsey and I were alone in the elevator, the one taking us up to our suites on the top floor. Today’s workout wasn’t unusual. The two of us regularly spent our mornings in the gym. When in Missoula, that gym was in my home. When away, we continued the practice. I understood Kelsey’s job was to protect me, but I also believed she enjoyed the physical exertion. With my normal routines, my security spent a great deal of time standing and overseeing. The time in the gym was our break from the usual employer-employee relationship. Her use of my surname meant she was in business mode.
“He’s not a stalker,” I continued, and after a deep breath clarified, “My fish/candy stalker.” Not wanting to think about that, I added, “It could be said I was stalking him.”
Kelsey’s smile broadened only to fade. “A background check would be wise nonetheless.”
“No,” I replied definitively. “It’s only breakfast, and I don’t know his last name.”
“That isn’t a problem. He’s staying here. Adam can access the reservations.”
I contemplated Adam searching the resort’s reservation list. “If CJ brings a dead fish to breakfast, fine. Otherwise, for now, I’d like to pretend to be a normal woman who learns about a man from that man, not from my security team.”
“Normal,” Kelsey scoffed.
“Remember,” I replied as the elevator came to a stop, “you’re the one who told me to relax.”
We stepped from the elevator into the empty hallway. At this time of morning everything was still relatively quiet. Yet CJ was up and working out.
Kelsey spoke low as we passed closed doors. “I’d still feel better if we did a quick check.”
“I’ll decide after breakfast.”
Together, we walked to the door of my suite. As I unlocked the door, Kelsey waited. After the door was opened, she nodded and walked past me, entering the suite. The increase in my pulse as I waited in silence thumped in my ears. I’d blame the onset of nervousness on the mental reminder of the dead fish. It wasn’t until Kelsey returned and announced that everything was clear that I finally released my breath.
“Thank you.”
“Breakfast by the infinity pool at eight thirty,” she confirmed, recalling what I’d told her of CJ’s invitation.
“Yes.”
“Adam will escort you.”
I turned, meeting Kelsey’s stare, and straightened my five feet, six inches to its full height. “He will watch from afar.” I wasn’t asking.
The idea of being escorted by Adam to a breakfast with CJ didn’t sit well with my ambition of being a normal woman. I imagined the conversation.
Who is that?
My bodyguard.
Who are you? Why do you have a bodyguard?
Yep, not happening.
“Remember what happened—”
I didn’t let Kelsey finish. “My mind is made up. I believe you and Adam work for me.”
“Yes, we do. It’s our job to keep you safe.” Kelsey took a deep breath. “Please keep your watch on.”
“Of course.”
My watch was a tracker. It wasn’t some amazing spy technology. It was simply an Apple watch, the same as half the population wore. I thought about her comment a few minutes later as I unfastened the band and laid it on the vanity.
Once I’d rid myself of my damp workout clothes and drank a bottle of water, I stepped under the spray of the shower, washed away the perspiration from my workout, and began to think about what was to come.
Why did I agree to breakfast?
It was out of character.
There was something about CJ that made me want to be out of character.
Being completely honest with myself, I agreed to breakfast because I wanted to. I wanted CJ to come over to my lounge chair yesterday. That wasn’t like me. I’d stopped waiting for men to make the first move a long time ago. And yet I wanted to see if he would.
Yesterday, as I ate my lunch, my thoughts continually went back to him, to his turquoise stare and his wide shoulders, the same shoulders and muscular back I noticed when I entered the gym. All afternoon I’d wanted to lean away from the shade over my lounge chair and see if he was still there or if he was talking to another woman or a man.
It was a bit of neediness I didn’t recognize in myself.
Maybe it was basic, wanting to know that I was still a woman. That for a sliver of time, I wanted simple basics—a woman and a man. No knowledge of who I was, no knowledge of what I did. Just girl meets boy.
Well, if girl was forty-three and boy was…
My age was irrelevant.
Girl.
Boy.
Did I want more than that?
I didn’t. I couldn’t. My life was too full to have more.