Trace + Olivia Series Boxed Set (43 page)

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Authors: Micalea Smeltzer

Tags: #Contemporary

BOOK: Trace + Olivia Series Boxed Set

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“Trace,” I warned, “you’re distracting me.”

“Sorry,” his chuckle vibrated my body with his close proximity.

“You don’t sound sorry,” I rolled my eyes, “you sound mighty pleased with yourself.”

“Maybe,” his fingers skimmed up my bare neck and his lips grazed my ear, “I like distracting you.”

“You’re very good at it,” my eyes fluttered closed and my teeth sank into my lip.

“I’m good at lots of things,” his voice was husky.

“Boy!” Warren yelled. “Stop bothering that poor girl!”

“Sorry, Gramps!” Trace laughed and stepped away from me. “It was too fun to resist,” he added to me with a lick of his lips.

God, that man could talk me into doing anything, with a few simple words, and a lick of his pouty lips.

I eyed the target again and let loose another bullet.

I whooped in joy when it connected with the paper. It may have been in the bottom right corner, but I had
hit
it.

“Try again,” Trace smiled, “aim a bit higher and to the left, though.”

I did as he said, and hit the target again, closer to the center this time.

“This is fun!” I exclaimed.

Warren, Trent, and Trace all chuckled at my enthusiasm.

“You’re a Wentworth now,” Warren cackled and shot his target, hitting it in the center. “One of you boys, do me a favor, and change my target.”

I saw that his paper target was completely hollowed out in the middle from his accurate shots. Trent’s looked similar but with a few that had missed the mark slightly.

Trent put his gun down and changed the targets.

“You’re doing really good,” Trent assessed my progress.

“Thanks,” I smiled at him.

Trace continued to work with me until I finally hit the center of the target. He changed my target and set up his own. We shot side by side. He had to stop and help me a few more times, but for the most part, I had gotten the hang of it nicely. I was definitely better at shooting a gun than painting a picture.

I found myself getting distracted by watching Trace shoot his own gun. He was obviously at ease with the firearm and it was a huge turn on seeing him look so masculine.

He twitched under my scrutiny and missed the target.

Trent and Warren burst into laughter.

“That was your fault,” Trace mock-glared at me.

“Mine?” I batted my eyelashes. “What did I do?”

“If you keep looking at me like that,” he eyed me, “then we’re going to have a problem.”

“I didn’t know I was looking at you in any particular way?” I played dumb.

He stepped forward and gripped my elbow in one of his warm hands. He whispered in my ear, “You know exactly how you’re looking at me, Olivia. If you keep it up, I’m marching you straight to my bedroom, and spanking you.” His intense green gaze had me shivering, despite the warm temperature.

I looked over my shoulder at Trent, who was watching us with a smirk, and Warren was staring at us with a raised brow.

I blushed, clearing my throat, and took a step away from Trace.

“That won’t be necessary,” I mumbled, turning back to my target.

Trace chuckled. “Too bad.”

Around noontime, we headed inside for lunch.

Cecilia had made sandwiches and we ate them in the dining room.

“You did extremely well today,” Warren smiled at me, wiping crumbs from his mouth with a flick of his napkin.

“Thanks,” my head bowed at his praise.

“Yeah,” Trent grinned, “you were good…for a beginner.”

Trace glared at his brother. “She was better than a beginner.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re getting some action,” Trent eyed Trace.

Trace stiffened beside me. “Little brother, you never did know when you were crossing the line.”

“Little brother? Did you seriously just say that? You couldn’t think of anything more insulting?” Trent tilted his head.

I reached for Trace’s hand under the table to calm him.

“Boys,” Warren banged a fist against the table, “that’s enough. Trenton, apologize to Olivia for that crass remark.”

“
Gramps
,” Trent groaned.

“Do it,” Warren narrowed his eyes at the youngest Wentworth brother.

Trent looked me in the eye with a small, embarrassed, smile. “Sorry, Olivia. I didn’t mean it to insult you. I was only messing with Trace.”

“I know,” I took a sip of water. Trent’s comment hadn’t upset me. In fact, the whole conversation had fascinated me, since I didn’t have siblings to bicker with.

“Happy?” Trent turned to Warren.

“For now,” Warren chuckled, lifting a glass of water to his lips.

I finished my sandwich, and asked Trace, “Where’s your mom and grandma?”

“Spa day,” he shrugged. “They always go once a month.”

“Oh,” I nodded.

Trace ate a second sandwich and we excused ourselves from the table.

We were strolling along the main hallway when Trace suggested we go swimming.

“But I don’t have my swimsuit!” I whined.

“Then get naked,” he winked, leading me out the backdoor. We stepped onto the patio and into the pool area. The water was a crisp blue.

Trace stripped down to his boxers and dove into the water.

“Why is everything so much easier for guys?” I grumbled to myself.

He surfaced in the middle of the pool, shaking his dark hair, sending water flying.

“Get in,” he grinned, splashing the water.

I shook my head. “I don’t have anything dry to change into.”

“You can wear some of my old clothes,” he reasoned.

I shook my head at him and stretched across the diving board on my stomach. It swayed under my weight but quickly steadied. Trace swam over, underneath the board, and gazed up at me. I removed the baseball cap I was wearing and tossed it onto the patio. I pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair, and it fell forward, the ends skimming the water. I had already taken my shoes off in the house.

Trace grabbed ahold of the diving board and I squealed as it dipped down.

“Get in,” he pleaded.

“No,” I smiled.

Still holding onto the diving board, he leaned forward, and kissed me. His lips tasted like chlorine.

“How about now?” He asked.

“I might need a little more convincing,” I giggled.

He kissed me again and his lips lingered against mine.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me,” I smiled.

He smirked, letting go of the diving board. It shook me roughly up and down and I found myself toppling over the side, plunging into the water.

Like the indoor pool, this one was heated, so I didn’t have to worry about icy water shocking my system. My clothes were soaked, and since I was wearing a white shirt over a hot pink bra, Trace got an eyeful.

“That was
not
nice,” I wiped water from my eyes.

“I was afraid you’d chicken out on me,” he swam towards me.

“I think I got water up my nose,” I complained.

He pressed a kiss to the end of my nose. “There, now it’s all better.”

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “Definitely not. But if you want to believe you made it feel better, then that’s fine with me.”

“I can make anything better with a little kiss,” he pressed his lips against my neck where my pulse raced.

He most certainly could, but I wasn’t telling him that.

“I had fun today with your brother and grandpa,” I said instead.

“Gramps loves you,” Trace chuckled. “Even more now that you can shoot,” he winked. “Gramps always tried to get Grammy to learn, but she never wanted to.”

“I’m glad I put that on my list, now…I feel…unstoppable,” my fingers tangled in his hair.

He chuckled. “Unstoppable, huh?”

“Yeah, you better watch out,” I laughed.

“Should I be afraid?” He grinned, his eyes a light green.

“Very,” I smiled, “my boyfriend taught me and I have excellent aim…now.”

“Remind me not to make you mad,” he murmured huskily, sucking a spot on my neck.

“If you keep doing that, I don’t think I’ll ever get mad,” I whispered. My eyes closed and I bit down on my lip to prevent a moan from escaping.

“Cannonball!” Trent yelled, a moment before he catapulted into the pool, and splashed our faces with water.

And just like that, Trace’s little brother had effectively ruined the moment.

Swimming over to us, Trent pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Wanna play a game of water volleyball?”

I looked at Trace and shrugged. “Sounds fun,” I smiled at Trent.

“That’s fine with me,” Trace ruffled his brother’s wet hair.

“Don’t do that,” Trent complained, swimming away, while fixing his hair. He unrolled the net that stretched across the pool and hopped out to grab the ball.

I swam to the shallow end so I could stand and Trace followed me.

“I’ll be on your team,” he winked at me as he stood. The water slid down his chest and I prayed I didn’t drool.

Trent returned, jumping into the pool with the ball. He surfaced and sputtered, “I would say two against one isn’t fair but since I know I can beat you two easily, I’m not going to complain.”

“Keep on thinking that little brother!” Trace chimed as Trent spiked the ball.

Trace hit it back over the net and so it went.

“Told you I’d win,” Trent smirked as we dried off with the blue and white striped fluffy towels.

“How long are you going to brag about this?” Trace grumbled, pulling his jeans on, over his wet boxers.

“Till the end of time, sounds about right,” Trent chortled.

Trace shook his head, sending water droplets flying. “Come on, Olivia. Let’s grab you some dry clothes and then we’ll get out of here.”

“Okay,” I smiled. I turned to Trent and hugged him. He seemed surprised by the gesture but quickly wrapped his arms around me. “Thanks for hanging out with us today. I had fun.”

“I did too,” he smiled and his adorable dimples popped out.

I scurried after Trace and up the staircase. I was surprised there wasn’t an elevator…then again, maybe there was, and I had never seen it.

I followed Trace into his closet, stripping out of my wet t-shirt and shorts, changing into one of his oversized t-shirts and a pair of mesh shorts that I had to tighten all the way with the white drawstring.

“You make my clothes look so much better than I do,” he murmured in my ear, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me against him. I inhaled his natural scent mixed with chlorine from the pool.

“Is that so?” I beamed.

“Uh-huh,” he pulled one of my earlobes between his teeth and nibbled. “Wanna go back to my place? Or do you want me to drop you off at your dorm?”

“What do you think?” I smiled as my arms went around his shoulders.

“I think, option number one sounds like a mighty fine idea to me,” he grinned.

“Same here,” I kissed his lips. I meant for it to be a quick kiss but Trace had other ideas. His tongue flicked against my lips, seeking entrance. “Mmm,” I hummed as his tongue flicked against mine.

“We better get out of here,” he breathed as he took a step back, away from me, “but first,” he smiled, reaching into his pocket. “You have something to cross off.”

I took the piece of paper from him as he produced a pen from his pocket. The items I had crossed off myself had a straight line drawn through them, while Trace’s lines were squigglier.