Tequila And Tingles: Turtle Pine, Book 2 (11 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Beth hadn’t chickened out. If nothing else came of this evening, she’d have that to comfort her. And a gallon of ice cream to go with her chocolate chip cookies. It had been a busy Friday at the bank and that had helped occupy her mind. Somehow, she hadn’t caved and dropped by to see him over his lunch break again, but she wanted more than thirty minutes with him this time, so they could actually talk and figure this out. And showing up twenty-four hours after he sort-of dumped her seemed desperate.

Waiting a few extra hours seemed like a better idea. Plus, he was about to shut down the gym, so if all else failed and she couldn’t find the right words, she could just take her shirt off and let one of nature’s greatest assets do the talking—boobs. She tugged on the front of her shirt, spun her bracelet around her wrist and cleared her throat. She’d selected a button-up sleeveless shirt and navy shorts after hours of going through every inch of her closet. No muffin topping, not too tight on her thighs or waist. Low cut, but not so low she was putting on a free show.

Completely tasteful and attractive too, according to Tina. It was Beth’s new straighten-out-a-misunderstanding outfit, and she hoped the darn thing lived up to the name. It had a lot of work to do. She tucked her purse under the seat, slipped her phone in her back pocket and locked the car on the way to the front of TPC.

It seemed she and Jason had a difference of opinion on the word
relationship
, and that needed fixing. She’d gone through the mental anguish of deciding an affair with him would be a good idea. He couldn’t go off and change all that now. Or at least, he couldn’t change all that without a fight from her first.

She knocked on his office door. The thick wooden door swung inward a notch with her tap. “Jason?”

No answer. She nudged the door a touch more with her toe and it swung wider. Whoops. Must be a draft in here. An open door was an invitation as far as she was concerned.

She stepped in the room, finding it colder than before. But there was no hunk sculpted with muscles making out with her either, so…that probably explained the difference in temperature. She eased through the room, crossing to the far wall, where a built-in bookshelf held some boxes. The top one was open, so again, like an invitation.

She was totally right. Plaques and stuff were in rows. Pictures were stuck in there too. What if he’d stashed a couple of his gold and silver medals in there? Who wouldn’t want to try those on if they had the chance? Certificates announced awards for timing and strokes and butterflies and a bunch of other stuff that was a whole new language to her.

A shine sparkled off the corner of a silver frame, and she moved to the next box and pulled it out. It was him on the medal stand, bent over and accepting his gold medal. She touched the picture, faintly remembering the medal ceremonies for swimming over the years. She couldn’t remember a specific one.

Except for the one with that girl who twisted her ankle after doing a flip in the air in gymnastics, but then who in the world could forget that?

Behind that picture was another of him standing with teammates with their arms around each other. She kept flipping and found more snapshots of one swimming event or another. The last one was of him in the water.

Strong muscles were paused in the action of cutting through the water. A cupped hand was making a dive back into the water, and waves rippled around his frame sliding through. Droplets poured over his cheek and dark swim glasses hid his eyes. A black cap fit tightly to his head, and the side showed a bright print of the American flag.

She’d seen him in the pool several times with the kids now for lessons, but this was different. There was power and strength. Focus and determination were set along the straight line of his mouth and over the tightness through his body. Her mouth went dry, and it wasn’t that cold in the room anymore.

“Finding anything interesting?”

She jumped and spun at the sound of the voice and found Jason leaning against the doorway. His arms were crossed at his chest and he rested a shoulder on the frame. One heel was against the toe of his other foot. Talking and trying to deal with the physical form of him at the same time was enough, but then the turn of his mouth had to go and make things extra complicated.

All-American dimples notched his cheek. The mouth that had been on hers stretched into a smile. She flipped the photograph around. “Nice shot.”

“Breaststroke in the semifinals. That leg got me into the Olympics.”

“It’s a good shot.” She took a lasting look at it and returned it to the box.

“It’s late. We’re about to close.”

“I didn’t come to work out.” But apparently she needed to reevaluate her outfit if he thought so.

“Oh.” He eased around the room and stood behind his desk, turning through pages and a notebook. “Where are the kids?”

“Tina has them.” Sweat gathered in her palms and she forced her hands open so not to make it worse. “All night. They’re having a sleepover with her kids.”

“You’re getting the night off?” He tipped his head. “How often does that happen?”

“About every blue moon or so.” She turned away from his things so she wouldn’t be tempted to snoop further. “Usually, we all make a night of it. Lots of popcorn and candy and movie marathons until the kids fall asleep one by one.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“It is. We leave the kids asleep where they are and have adult food in the kitchen.”

He arched a brow. “I’m curious to know what adult food is.”

“Fermented grapes.”

He chuckled. “So you sneak off and drink wine until neither of you can stand.”

She rubbed her arms. “Basically.”

“So why are you missing it?”

Right. Didn’t look like he was going to go easy on her. “I wanted to see you—talk to you.”

He checked his watch.

Crap. He had somewhere to be. He’d ended their thing and moved on to someone else like the young, carefree guy he was. She managed a smile. “But it looks like you have some plans, so I can catch you next week.”

Or not. She’d walk from this room and pretend like this had never happened. She had it all worked out in her head. If he came up to her next week and mentioned this conversation, she had doe eyes ready to go with her shaking her head. Dumb, forgetful card was on deck and waited to be played.

He stepped back to the doorway and blocked it. As if that weren’t enough, he grabbed the door handle and shut them in. Her throat tightened, and not out of any sense of fear from being locked in either.

She’d wager it had more to do with his dimples easing off his face as his lips parted. The smile that had touched his eyes was gone, leaving behind dark, endless depths she could stare into for a good long while.

His Adam’s apple dipped with his swallow. “I don’t have any plans.”

“You seemed like you had something to do. I don’t mind waiting until another time if this isn’t good for you.” Except she did mind. She really, really did. He’d heard the part about the once-in-a-blue-moon overnight babysitter. As heat continued to rise in her rushing veins, she was about two seconds away from turning the lock on his door in an effort to keep him in this room with her.

“In ten minutes, I have to lock up TPC. That’s it. I would have started on making the rounds now, but Jennifer said you’d stepped into my office.” He moved across the room. His long stride carried him into her space in a matter of two steps. His palms went over her cheeks, cupping her face and tipping her up to him. “And if I had any plans, I would break them.”

“Oh.”

He outlined her with his hands, caressing until he cupped her elbows. “What did you want to talk about?”

Talk? As in create words that made sense? Lord help her, her tongue seemed to weigh fifty pounds and he wanted to talk? He shouldn’t have stalked across the room like he had. Maybe he shouldn’t be touching her like he was. Perhaps he shouldn’t be leaning in close to her so that his lips skimmed over her cheek. If not for all of those things, words might be possible.

She turned into his kiss and lips met lips. Nothing more than a soft touch that toyed with her nerves. The kiss increased, as did his touch. He slid his hands down her neck, shoulders, around her waist. He gripped in demanding need like his devouring kiss.

Relationship? No way. But this? Where was the sign-up line? The strength of his shoulders, the hardness of his chest and abs meeting the front of her, and the firm length of him pressing to her hips. A fling. A summer romance.

She melted into him as his kiss went on and on. His breath stole over her cheek and everything inside her went a hundred directions at once while searching for a way to get closer to him.

Getting rid of some of these clothes was phase one. He pulled away from her, abruptly taking his tantalizing mouth from her greedy one. He sucked in a breath of air and hands pinched at her behind. He tipped his head back, and from her angle, he appeared to stare at the ceiling.

She wasn’t for sure and wasn’t tall enough to find out exactly what his gaze was on. She lifted on tiptoes and kissed him there on his masculine jawline, receiving a groan for her actions.

His hands tightened on her hips. “I have to lock up.”

“Okay.”

“I can’t keep kissing you and do that.”

Right. She inhaled a deep breath, and his scent flooded through her as she eased back a step. Oh. It was colder now. She eased forward and flattened her palms over his strong chest. “You just have to run and lock the doors?”

His swallow was audible. “And do a walkthrough of the building to make sure no one is in the bathrooms. Lock up the back doors too. Check the pool. Secure everything there.”

Dang, that sounded like it might take a while. “Anything I can help with to speed that process along?”

“You can tell me what you came here for.”

Her lips were still wet from his mouth. She should have thought it would be obvious, but then she’d kind of figured that until he’d broken up with her. “I want to talk about before.”

“When we decided not to see each other?”

“When
you
decided. I didn’t.”

Surprise lit his face. He pressed a kiss on her forehead and leaned back on the front of his desk. “I recall talking about a relationship and you agreeing you weren’t ready for that.”

“I’m not. So that’s why I’m here.” She tossed him a smile. “I don’t know about you youngsters, but in my day, a relationship was something serious. And exclusive.”

The corner of his lip twitched. “We still call it that too.”

“But my generation doesn’t use the word
relationship
for what we are.”

He picked pencils off his desk and put them in a cup. “What are we exactly?”

Good question. Nothing right now, but so many things she wanted. “Lovers?”

He knocked the cup off the desk. He cleared his throat and bent and picked up the contents. “I don’t think we’ve crossed all the bridges for that label to be apt.”

“I know, but that’s what I want.”

He slowly stood and held the cup. He fidgeted with the pens and pencils in it and didn’t look at her. “What about what I want?”

She opened her mouth and words were going to come out. Good words too. But nothing happened. She really didn’t want to make a fool of herself again in front of this guy. “I thought you wanted temporary?”

He pushed a hand roughly through his hair, and a muttered curse went over his tongue.

“Jason?” She started to reach for him, but she tucked it back. “Did I misunderstand?”

He sighed and shook his head. “No, you didn’t. Just a memory lapse on my part.”

“Hey, that’s my line.”

That finally caught his gaze. But he didn’t say anything else. Maybe this was a mistake. All a huge mistake. “If you want more than an affair, that’s okay. I’m just not your girl.”

He rubbed his brow, and when he looked back at her, something in him changed. He smiled for one. Those dimples she wanted to lick were back. “You are my girl, and temporary is the name of my game. I just don’t think it’s yours. What made you decide this?”

“You did.” She eased closer. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been with anyone. A really long time since it was someone besides my ex. I figure I can’t embarrass myself more in front of you than I already have, so hey.”

“I’m not complaining about our history. We wouldn’t be here if not for it.”

She licked her lips. “True. All things happen for a reason.”

“So you’re kid-free all night?”

That warmth returned to her belly. “All. Night.”

He pulled keys from his pocket. “Let’s get this place locked up or someone might come in.”

“Can I help?”

“Check all the women’s bathrooms?”

“I’m on it.”

She followed him out the door and he told Jennifer she could leave early. “Go on and enjoy the evening. We’ll lock up.”

Jennifer smiled at them as she went for the door. “Thanks. Have a good night.”

Oh, Beth was certain they would. Jason turned the lock on the front door, sealing them in. He flipped light switches that must have powered down exterior ones, because nothing changed inside.

She tucked her hands behind her back. “I’ll start at the front bathrooms and work my way back.”

He nodded. “I’ll see you there. Check each stall, the steam rooms and saunas to make sure no one is hiding in them.”

“Maybe I’ll be hiding in one of them.”

“Make it the sauna if you do.” He winked and was gone.

Beth made quick work checking the front and moving her way through all the girls’ and women’s bathrooms and locker rooms. Jason’s footsteps and the opening and closing of doors echoed through the bare halls.

She stepped in the final locker room at the back, fully intending to check each room and be done, until she opened the door to the sauna. Wooden benches lined the walls and a heater decorated with a handful of rocks in the center held her gaze a little longer than it should have.

No, she couldn’t. For starters, it was a public building. That was completely locked down tight so that nobody else could get in. The knob to warm the room was on the door. Still, they couldn’t. It wouldn’t be right. She let the door close and checked the steam room, then on to the showers. Her gaze stole back to the sauna, and she continually had to shake the image off.