Single Wide Female: The Bucket List Mega Bundle - 24 Books (Books #1-24) (48 page)

When I heard the door click shut I sat up slowly. I did feel much more relaxed than when I’d started. It had been a bit of an adjustment to let Ashley touch my body, but I didn’t regret it. I felt as if every trace of ache or pain that had inhabited my body had been swept away by the steady pressure and stroke of Ashley’s hands. He was good at his job. I gave him a lot of credit for continuing to work with me even after I practically attacked him.

“Alright, Samantha, today is about acceptance. So embarrassing things happen. You just have to accept that and move forward.” Talking out loud to myself seemed to help me a lot these days, and I needed a little boost of confidence after what I’d been through.

Chapter 7

By the time I stood up from the massage table, I almost had my mind back in a good place. I was feeling a little dizzy from being so relaxed. I looked for my clothes and for some odd reason, I couldn’t seem to find them. I shook my head to clear my mind, and then looked again.

“I know I put them on that cart.”

I turned in a slow circle twice before I had to face the reality that the cart was nowhere to be found. The cart that had once held my clothes was gone.

My heart sank as I recalled Ashley saying he was taking a few things out of the room. Why had I put my clothes on that cart? How could I have been so stupid? If I had put the clothes on something without wheels, they would still be there.

I was now stranded naked in the middle of a huge spa. How was I ever going to get my clothes back?

I thought about sitting in the room for a while, hoping that Ashley would come back sooner rather than later. The only problem with that plan was the fact that there were other people waiting for the room.

“Hello?” Amanda knocked on the door. “Samantha, are you still in there?’

“Yes, I am.” I frowned. “I just need a few minutes.”

“Okay, that’s fine, but the room has to be cleaned.”

I sighed and realized I wasn’t going to be able to keep hiding out. I managed to build up enough courage to speak up.

“Amanda, the truth is, I don’t have any clothes.” I cringed after confessing. I braced myself for what Amanda’s reaction might be. The one thing I wasn’t expecting was complete silence.

“Amanda?” I asked.

There was still no answer. I walked over to the door. My heart pounded. I hoped that I hadn’t missed my one and only opportunity to get my clothes back.

“Amanda?”

Again there was no answer.

I cracked the door open and peeked down the hallway. It was completely empty. I cringed and wondered what to do next. I noticed that the women’s locker room for the hot tub and pool area was at the end of the hallway. I might be able to make it to the locker room. Then I might be able to find at least a thicker towel or maybe even some abandoned clothes that I could borrow.

I sighed as I looked back down the hallway in the other direction. There was no one to be seen. It seemed to make the most sense to take the risk. Otherwise the next person who might discover me naked and stranded was the janitor. I didn’t really want to expose myself to another person if I didn’t have to. I wrapped the sheet tightly around my body.

“Okay, Samantha, you can do this. It’s not your fault that your clothes are gone. It’s just a short walk down to the locker room—one foot in front of the other.”

I stepped out of the massage room and into the hallway. Once I was outside the room, I regretted my decision. I could hear voices not far off. I decided to duck back inside the room and wait instead. But when I tried to open the door, I found that it was locked. I wiggled the knob a few times. It wouldn’t budge.

Now I was stranded in the hallway in nothing but a sheet. I gritted my teeth and knew that I had no choice. I crept down the hallway. The sheet that had seemed plenty long enough when it was draped across me lying down was a very tight fit wrapped around me. I was fairly certain that it was either going to fall off or rip from how tightly I was gripping it.

I saw the women’s locker room ahead of me. It wasn’t far now. One foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other. I almost stepped on the edge of the sheet. I paused a moment and lifted it enough that I wouldn’t risk tripping over it. I was almost to the locker room when I heard laughter from behind me. I immediately froze.

In times of panic I can never think clearly.

The laughter stopped and was followed by a familiar voice. “Samantha? Is that you?”

I couldn’t bring myself to turn around. I just knew that Ashley was behind me.

Ashley—who might as well have been carved from marble. Ashley—who had awakened my body in ways that I’d not experienced in a very long time. Ashley—whom I’d nearly knocked out with a sharp kick and the unfortunate fumes of my silent but deadly gas.

Reluctantly I turned to face him.

His eyes were wide. His lips were slightly parted with shock. I could feel the heat of the light I was standing under. I guessed that the light was making the white sheet completely pointless.

“Uh, are you okay?” He stumbled over his words.

“You took my clothes.” I glared at him. I was so embarrassed that I was near tears.

“What?”

“You took my clothes!” I raised my voice slightly.

“Hey, watch it.” He frowned. With two long strides he was right in front of me. “What exactly are you trying to accuse me of doing? I was nothing but a gentleman with you.”

I groaned as I realized that he thought I was trying to accuse him of some kind of intentional assault. “No. That’s not what I’m saying. I took my clothes off and put them on the cart beside the massage table. Then when I went to get dressed, the cart was gone.”

“Oh!” He laughed.

I glared at him. “It’s not funny.”

He gulped and nodded. “I’m sorry.” He tried to hide a smile. “I can get them for you.”

“That would be nice.”

“I’m sorry.” He hurried down the hallway.

I wondered if he was really going to come back. I had been fooled before.

“Samantha? What are you doing out here like that?” Amanda asked. She walked up to me from the other side of the hallway.

Chapter 8

I opened my mouth to explain the situation but Amanda charged forward with her own words. “Did you have trouble finding the bathing suits for the hot tub? Here, let me help you.” She gestured for me to follow her.

I looked back down the hallway in the direction that Ashley had disappeared. I wondered if he was going to be back any time soon. My options were to wait here, only half-covered in a thin sheet, or at the very least get into a bathing suit. I decided to follow Amanda.

The locker room was brightly lit. There were rows of lockers with plenty of space between them for changing. I shuffled forward with the sheet wrapped tightly around me.

“I’m not sure why you didn’t just get dressed and come find me.” Amanda glanced over her shoulder at me.

I knew I should tell her what had really happened but I didn’t want to admit to wandering down the hallway nude.

“Next time I’ll be sure to do that.”

“Okay, well, we have an assortment of suits to choose from. We here at Spring Spa know that beauty comes in a variety of shapes, so please don’t be shy about trying on a few until you find one you’re comfortable in. Alright then?” She winked at me.

She opened a door to a closet filled with freshly dry-cleaned suits still in plastic bags.

I immediately began to consider how I could get their business for Fluff and Stuff. I didn’t really think that a sales pitch while I was standing there in a sheet would be very effective.

“So, I can just take one and wear it?” I looked over at her for confirmation.

“Yes, any one that you feel comfortable in. We just want our clients to be as comfortable and content as possible.” She smiled so brightly that her eyes almost squeezed shut. It made me want to pinch her cheeks and tell her how cute she was. But I resisted.

“Once you’re all set you can go through that door.” She pointed to a door not far from where we were standing. “It leads right out to the pool and hot tub area.”

“Okay, thank you.”

After Amanda walked away, I began looking through the bathing suit choices. They were all the same colors as the spa’s company colors, and all one-piece. I had to go almost to the back of the rack to find one even close to my size. I had to choose a few because it had been a while since I was in a bathing suit and I wasn’t sure which would fit.

I took three suits off the rack and turned around in search of a changing room. There were several doors along the wall and I assumed they were for changing. I walked up to one and opened it. It had a tiled floor, a small table, and another door. It looked a little big for a changing room but the entire locker room was quite spacious, so that didn’t surprise me.

I closed the door, locked it, and dropped my sheet. I was tugging the smallest suit up over my stomach when the other door in the room swung open. I gulped with shock. I thought for sure the other door was for storage—not that it would lead to the outside of the locker room.

“Occupied!” I could barely squeak out the word as I tried to get the suit up over my chest.

“Huh?” A woman paused just inside the door. She looked stunned as she watched me struggle with the suit.

“Why are you changing in here? This is the assessment room for our fitness activities.”

“I’m sorry. I thought it was a changing room.”

“Well, it’s not.” She narrowed her eyes. “Should I get Amanda for you?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’ll just get this on.” I tried my hardest to get the straps over my arms.

“I don’t think it fits.” The woman seemed perfectly content to watch me try to squash myself into the bathing suit, which was not as stretchy as it should have been.

“I see that. I have a few others to try.” I turned away and tried to get the door open to step back into the locker room. When I tried to grab the knob it only spun in my hand.

“You have to push the button too.”

The woman brushed past me. I caught sight of her nametag. Alex.

“Oh, so you’re Alex!” I blurted out the words.

“Yes, why?” She looked over at me as she opened the door.

“I was supposed to have you for a massage.” I thought about explaining further, but the amused smile that arose on her lips silenced me.

“Oh, you must be Samantha.”

I had a feeling that my reputation was getting around the spa quite quickly.

“I am.”

“Here you go, Samantha. Try to keep your bathing suit on, okay?” She smirked.

Her rather rude attitude was quite a contrast to the chipper people I’d encountered so far at the spa. It would have been refreshing if it weren’t directed at me.

“I’ll do my best.”

She nodded, then turned and started to walk back toward the other door.

I stepped back inside the locker room. I felt uncomfortable half in and half out of the suit I was wearing. I spotted what looked like shower stalls and ducked into one.

It was a dressing room complete with a seat and a hook to hang clothes on. I realized I’d left my sheet behind. I peeled the suit off and tossed it on the floor. I had two suits left to try. After not fitting in the smallest, I decided to just toss on the biggest. It looked like it might be a little roomy, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get in the hot tub at this point.

I pulled the bathing suit on and easily lifted the straps up over my shoulders. Then I hurried out through the door into the pool area. The distinct scent of chlorine greeted me, but it was diluted by scented candles throughout the area. Even the pool area was designed to appear as luxurious as possible.

So far my spa experience had been a series of disasters, but I was ready to forget about all of that. I was looking forward to soaking my body in the hot tub.

Chapter 9

I sank into the hot bubbling water. It felt delicious as the bubbles and heat rolled across my skin. I just wanted to relax a little, since I’d lost all of the relaxation I’d experienced during my massage. The jets in the hot tub felt great on my back. I shifted over on the seat so that I could get a jet pointed directly at my back. As the water rushed along my muscles I let out a subtle moan of contentment.

Finally, I felt as if I could let the bubbles wash away all of the mistakes of the day. With each bubble that popped I let go of a negative thought and replaced it with a positive one. I did my best to let the memories of it all disappear. A peaceful smile curved my lips. Then I heard footsteps approaching.

I opened my eyes to see Ashley making his way toward me. He was the last person that I wanted to see. All of the embarrassing thoughts came rushing back. I hoped that he might not spot me. I turned in the hot tub in an attempt to hide my face from view. I didn’t feel my baggy swimsuit catch on the nozzle of one of the jets. Ashley was getting closer and closer. I was hoping he would walk right by. I turned almost all the way around in the hot tub.

Just walk past, I thought to myself. Just keep walking, Ashley—nothing to see here.

I heard his footsteps so close that I gave one last desperate twist in an attempt to hide my face from him. I felt my bathing suit tug, but a more alarming experience had my attention. I was blasted in a very vulnerable place with hot forceful water. I yelped and stood up in the hot tub.

As I stood up, my roomy bathing suit was ripped down on one side. Half of the upper half of my body was fully exposed. I tried to duck back down into the water, but that only made the situation worse as the bathing suit stretched and slid away from my body even more. When I tried to duck down into the simmering water, the exposure of another vulnerable area made me shriek.

“Samantha! Are you naked again?”

I looked up to see Ashley towering over me on the side of the hot tub. I couldn’t tell if he was amused or horrified.

“I’m caught!” I gasped. I was desperately trying to free the strap from the nozzle of one of the jets in the hot tub.

“You certainly are. Samantha, it seems to me that you can’t keep your clothes on. Alex told me you did the same thing to her in the locker room. I’m not judging you, but this is just not that kind of spa.” He shook his head, but he had a big grin on his face.