Page 45 of Slapshot Summer
Pieces
Inthehotel’sfitnesscenter, Lexi sat back and mopped her forehead of pretend sweat with the small workout towel Josh had loaned her.She didn’t want him to think she was slacking off, but she was no workout maven, and honestly, watchinghimgo through his fitness routine in the hotel’s gym was doing a fine job of getting her pulse racing.Who needed cardio machines when she had Josh?Between watching his muscles bunch and flex in the gym and experiencing those muscles for herself in bed, her heartbeats per second would stack up against the fittest person, thank you very much.
Sporting gym shorts that showed off his tree-trunk thighs and a loose tank that revealed his biceps, triceps, and pecs slicked in sweat, Josh was making it hard to keep her hands to herself.Admiring his form had become her favorite thing to do—so much better than TV.The only sight missing was that yummy Vthat dipped below his waistband, but she planned to get an up-close, personal view later when she licked his salty skin there—and a few other choice spots—and lathered him in the shower.
He released his grip on the lat pulldown and wiped his cheek on his arm.He looked over at her and smiled.“Done with your reps?”
“Um, sure.I think I’m through my entire routine now.”Liar.“How about you?”
“Almost there.How about we ride bikes after this?I’ll buy you lunch at that little taco place on the dock.”
Wasn’t it way past time for Lexi to pay for something?It was already Tuesday, and Josh hadn’t let her use her own cash or credit card since breakfast last Sunday morning.As she’d told Anna in a quick call, she appreciated the generosity, but guilt was catching up to her.She wasn’tcompletelybroke.Yes, her nest egg wasn’t large, but she was careful with her funds.The only reason she’d followed through with this trip was because she couldn’t get her money back.As for the airfare, she’d gone the super-economy, center-seat route.If she got really desperate, she could always take out a loan on her credit card, though she probably wouldn’t need to go that far.A travel and leisure magazine she’d contacted was interested in her work, and she had other potentials too.Which reminded her … she needed to snap more photos for a mock article she planned to write for the mag so they could gauge her writing abilities.
In her phone’s photo album, she already had a few selfies of Josh and her, along with some very sexy ones of Josh in bed, on his stomach, his fine tan body against the stark white sheets, staring at her with that hungry look of his.To remember him by, of course.The images were mostly PG with only a tiny slice of his cute man butt showing.And he might have taken some racy poses of her too.While there was lots of skin, nothing was exposed.Artful nudes, he’d called them.She liked how his lens saw her—it was the same way he did, he’d said.And another chunk of her heart had broken off.
Why was this man single?
While he’d kept his prepaid room, he’d moved most of his stuff into her suite.They visited his room on occasion to tear upthosesheets … or test out the tub … or the sturdiness of the armchair.“So housekeeping knows I’m still at the hotel and doesn’t report me missing,” Josh had explained with a sly grin.
“What do you say?”real-time Josh prodded from the bench he straddled, snapping her back from her pleasant daydreams.“Bikes and tacos?”
“Isn’t it my turn to pay for something?”
“I didn’t know we were taking turns,” he quipped.“Besides, I’d rather get paybacks the way I’m getting them now.”He sent her a devilish wink.
God, they’d enjoyed each other only an hour ago, and she craved him all over again, her body suddenly glowing and tingling all over.She couldn’t get enough of him.Then one word—Russia—popped into her brain.The glow dimmed, and the tingles tilted.
Counting today, she had four more days to enjoy thisthingthey had going.
Four.
Josh tossed his towel at her.“Hey, baby.Where’d you go?”
She loved that he noticed little things like her mind wandering.Had Conrad ever paid her that kind of attention?No, despite being engaged, he’d never really been tuned into her like Josh was.
“I’m back in the suite.With you.”She winked back.
His gray eyes smoldered like a smoky fire.He looked around and, seeming satisfied no one was listening, rumbled, “What are we doing in the suite?”
She purred, “I’m pretty sure we’re naked, and I’m on my knees in front of you, licking you like a lollipop.”
He threw his head back, hissing, “Fuuuuck!”He leveled her with an intensity that sent a thrill to her core.“Better give me that towel back.I have a growingproblemthese shorts can’t hide.”
She eyeballed his crotch unabashedly.“Oh, you do, don’t you?”
He smirked.“You’re not helping.”
Giggling, she jumped off the bench, away from him, and waved the towel.
“That’s gonna cost you,” he growled.
“And when are you going to collect?”
“As soon as I can stand.”
She reveled in the flirty talk, but also in his subtle sense of humor and his quick wit, even when they had nothing to do with sex.She simply loved beingwithhim.Talking to him.Sharing jokes and laughter with him.Feeling as though she was the center of his universe.
Four days.
