Page 25 of One Kind Soul

Christian tightened his arms around her, however, keeping her facing him. “Good morning.” He rubbed his rigid cock against her, loving when she went limp in his hold, her desire to turn around replaced by her desire to feel what she did to him. “Pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?”

“A little.”

“Nixen . . .” he chided. “You have a naughty streak in you and I like it.”

He let her turn around now, figuring he could catch those lips of hers in a wake-up kiss. She didn’t disappoint and within seconds, they were sucking face as if it were an Olympic sport. Christian was totally onboard with starting today the way they’d ended yesterday, but Nicole’s phone buzzed on the bedside table.

Nicole groaned. “It’s probably Tessa. If I don’t answer, she’ll think you sold me to city dwellers.”

“Answer then. I don’t want the bride mad at me.” He released his hold on Nicole though every molecule of him said to hang on tight instead.

Nicole sat up, the blankets sliding down her form and exposing pert breasts and a flat stomach—two places Christian had explored in detail last night. Her body was absolutely perfect and he loved everything about pleasuring it. She made a move to cover herself with the sheet, but he tugged it out of her hand, not wanting to be deprived of the fantastic view.

“Hey, Tessa,” Nicole said after tapping her screen. She swatted at Christian’s hand when he reached up to tweak her nipple. Behave, she mouthed, but he had strong urges to do the opposite. “An hour? Wow. That soon?” She shot him a wide-eyed look, causing him to sit up.

He picked up his own phone and noted the time. Nine o’clock. Tessa had to have left Maplehaven at six this morning to be arriving in Boston in about an hour. He’d hoped for more time alone with Nicole before having to mix back in with his brother and her best friend, but okay. An hour gave them time for more making out and some breakfast perhaps. Or maybe they could order room service for breakfast and use the extra time for more than making out. Yeah, he liked that plan.

“You want—” Christian’s words got cut off when Nicole put her hand over his mouth then shook her head. His brow furrowed, but then he understood.

She didn’t want Tessa to hear him. She didn’t want her best friend to know he was in the same room. She was . . . ashamed to give any indication they’d spent the night together.

Well.

He hadn’t seen that coming, but he supposed he should be expecting the unexpected when it came to Nicole. He hadn’t expected to find her in the midst of a checker tournament at the pub. He hadn’t expected her to win against him. He hadn’t expected a van to nearly kill them both. He hadn’t expected to receive stitches in his leg. He hadn’t expected to have trouble sleeping. He hadn’t expected Nicole to kiss him. He hadn’t expected to enjoy her so much between the sheets.

On two beds.

Most of all, he hadn’t expected her to want to hide what they’d done from anyone. This was quite possibly worse than being relegated to The Friend Group with the other women he’d gone out with. This was like being taken for a test drive—several times—and then deemed to be lacking in performance.

Fuck.

He’d never felt so . . . worthless.

“Yeah, okay. See you then. Thanks.” Nicole tossed her phone into her lap and put her hands to her face. “Wow. That was close. She kept asking me about you as if she knew.”

Christian rose from the bed and bent to pick up his briefs. Jerking them on, he said, “Good thing you shut me up then.” He marched to the bathroom, his leg aching a bit, and slammed the door closed. He splashed water on his face and raked his hair back. Staring at himself in the mirror above the sink, he knew he was looking at a stupid man. A very stupid man.

“Christian?”

He shook his head and stayed at the sink.

“Christian, what’s happening? Why are you mad?”

“I’m not mad.” But his voice sure sounded mad.

“The fact that you’re in there and I’m out here suggests you might be mad,” Nicole said. “Please come out.”

He ripped open the door, causing Nicole to stumble back a bit. She was still naked and lovely, but he ignored that and walked to his sweatpants, jerking them on and brushing against his injured calf in the process. He hissed in a breath and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Are you upset because I didn’t want Tessa to know we were together?” She came over to stand in front of him and he had no choice but to stare at her shapely legs. Legs that had been wrapped around his waist several times last night.

Slowly, he raised his gaze to meet hers. “Yeah. Kinda. What’s so wrong with me?”

She nudged his knees apart and stepped into the space she created. Her hands came to rest on his shoulders. “Absolutely nothing is wrong with you, Chrissy. Nothing. You were totally perfect.” She grinned and gave him a little shake. “All three times.”

That made him smile. A little.

“I wasn’t ready to have Tessa jump all over me when she found out you and I did what we did.”