Up To Me (Shore Secrets #1)

Chapter Fifteen

Ella paced the length of the shop area of the spa. She started at the scrolling ironwork doors, walked a straight line past the candles, the reception desk, all the way to the racks of their signature fleece and satin spa bathrobes. And then back again. With every circuit, she mentally constructed an outfit for tonight’s date with Gray. With every return circuit, she rejected them. Too boring, too basic, too normal. That was the problem with not dating for three years. No just-sexy-enough clothes.

“You know we closed five minutes ago,” noted Brooke.

“Oh.” Ella twitched at her long white skirt. Looked down at her teal sneakers. Sneakers! Talk about the least sexy shoe in her closet. Even though she had about twenty pairs, none of them came close to screaming won’t you please rip all my clothes off. Which was really the look she was going for tonight. “Why are you still here?”

“Because it’s both fascinating and a little hypnotic watching you drive yourself crazy. That is what you’re doing, isn’t it? I don’t know what about, but you’re clearly going more than a bit mental. It looks like you’re patrolling the perimeter of a secret encampment.”

That stopped her in her tracks. Brooke’s vivid imagination often complicated her day. Every time she watched a horror movie, she’d keep a butcher knife in her purse the next day, “just to be on the safe side.” “Seriously? I can’t just be tense? In your mind, I have to be patrolling an encampment?”

“A secret one,” Brooke said with an earnest nod. “Isn’t that better than assuming my boss is cracking up?”

“How about none of the above?” Ella dropped onto a stool and wheeled herself around behind the desk.

“Well, when I’m the one wearing grooves into the floor, you can make up the story.”

“There’s no story. I’m…distracted. That’s all. Nervous. No, not nervous.” She bit her lip. “Filled with anticipation. Eager. Okay, a little nervous.”

“Whoa.” Brooke held up her hand, palm out. A silver bracelet with a big chunk of quartz slipped down her arm. “What is going on with you?”

“I’ve got a date with Gray tonight. I think.” She didn’t mind telling Brooke. As long as Brooke didn’t reach for her phone and text everyone she knew with the news. In addition to weaning the town from their expectation that she’d seek help for everything from them, Ella’s dating life was now officially off the table as a discussion topic. Boundaries—with cement guards—had been drawn. It felt…good. Made her feel strong. Independent. And satisfied.

“Another one? Great.” The inner tips of Brooke’s eyebrows drew together. “Wait. Why are you unclear on this?”

She was trying really, really hard not to focus on this neon warning sign. Mulling her wardrobe helped for a while. But talking about it would rip off the bandage she’d placed over this raw gash of insecurity. “He stood me up for yoga this morning.”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Ella, I skip yoga with you more often than I ever show up. You’re really good. Super bendy and calm. That’s intimidating to everyone in the class. I’m amazed you ever got him to do it with you at all.”

“No, this wasn’t the class you and I take in the gym here. It was private. An, um, stretching date. We’ve done it for a few days now.” Gray hadn’t just been a good sport. He’d really applied himself, worked on his tantric breathing. “So since he stood me up this morning, shouldn’t I be worried if he’ll show tonight?”

Brooke bit her lip, considering. “No. I mean, yes, a little bit, but mostly no. He’s on vacation. Nobody sticks to their workout routine on vacation. Not even if it involves staring at the spandexed ass of a pretty woman on a mat for an hour. Put it out of your mind.”

Yeah. She’d tried convincing herself of the same thing. Which brought Ella to her current manic state. “If I do that, I’ll start pacing again. Trying to figure out what to wear. Nothing I’ve got is right any more.”

“Why don’t you call Piper or Casey? I’m sure they’d loan you something.”

She toed the stool back and forth. “I don’t want help.”

“Ella, this is what women do. They get together before dates and pull all their clothes out of the closet and giggle together. You know this.”

“Not this time. I have to do this on my own. I have to prove to Gray, to myself, to everybody, that I can do it on my own.”

“Honey, you’ve been getting dressed on your own for years. Because if you’d ever asked for help, I would’ve told you to torch all your sneakers.” Brooke wiggled her foot in its easily four-inch red platform wedge. “Fashion should always trump comfort.”

“Says the woman who sits at a desk all day, while I stand over a massage table for hours on end.” Ella shook her head. “I want everything to do with Gray to be my choice, and mine alone. It’s got to be completely up to me.”

Brooke threw up her hands with an exasperated sigh. “Okay. I get it. But can I at least offer to drive to the mall in Corning with you and go shopping sometime soon?”

It shouldn’t matter. Gray would be gone in a matter of days. And Ella hadn’t come up with a single way to convince him to stay. To convince him to turn his back on friends and a lifestyle and a career for something utterly new, untested and uncertain. So maybe she did need to start looking toward the future. Toward whatever incredibly awesome and funny and sweet and charming and hot man she’d date next. Even though the chances of another complete package like that walking in the doors of the Manor were so slim, they could only be expressed in negative integers.

Brooke was just being a good friend. So Ella dug deep to produce a jaunty smile. “Sure. Shopping sounds great. Put it on the calendar.”

“Great. Candle check?” Brooke asked as she shouldered her immense bag. At the end of every day, they double-checked all the rooms to be sure the candles were snuffed. Sometimes triple-checked, just to be safe. And with the web of distraction snared around Ella’s brain this afternoon, it was a wise precaution.

“I’ll take care of it. You head out.”

With a wave, Ella headed down the hall. Back into the treatment room where she’d seen her last client. The room which, although she’d changed the sheets, was still lit by the flickering glow of a dozen candles. Nor had she bothered to put away the scented oils or turn off the music. Geez, where was her head? She paused, hands white-knuckling the edge of the small sink. No hiding from the answer. Every single one of Ella’s brain cells had been fixated on Gray. His body. His rumbling, baritone laugh. The way he never looked at her with pity. The way he wouldn’t let her see herself as anything less than whole and beautiful.

“I see you started the party without me.”

She whirled around as the door snicked shut behind Gray. “No. More like I didn’t clean up at the end of my work day.”

A smile teased up the corners of his mouth. “That doesn’t sound nearly as sexy.”

“How’d you get in?”

“Brooke let me in, then locked up as she left.”

Figured she’d do what little she could to play matchmaker. Brooke had offered no less than an even dozen times in as many months to set Ella up with an online dating profile. She’d never met a hot man she didn’t want to either date or pair off with a girlfriend. “What are you doing here?”

“We have a date.”

“Do we? I mean, do we still?” Uncertain, only certain that she was ill at ease, Ella moved to put the wide massage table between them. As a barrier or a shield, she wasn’t sure which.

The smile fell off his face with the speed of a cannonball dropped from the top of a skyscraper. “Because I skipped yoga with you this morning.”

Ella of two years ago, or even two months ago, would’ve waved off his comment. Would’ve stepped back from the confrontation. Wouldn’t have mustered the energy to push back. But that version of Ella was gone. Banished for good with, ironically, Gray’s help. So she stood her ground. “Well, yes. You didn’t so much skip yoga as you stood me up. I know men have different pre-date rituals from women, but let me clue you in. That was rude.”

“I know. Thoughtless and rude and unintentionally hurtful. Which is actually why I came by now. I wanted to apologize. To clear the air so that we could put it behind us before our date.”

She crossed her arms. Suddenly quite sure she’d enjoy the groveling about to ensue. “Go ahead.”

Gray cocked his head. “But I just…no, you’re right. I need to apologize, not just state my intent.” He scrubbed at the back of his neck. “The thing is, I…I uh, got a call from work.”

“In the middle of your vacation?”

That set off his pacing. From the deep shower stall with sixteen individual heads to the deep soaking tub, then across in a diagonal to the door. The space was large for a treatment room, but small enough for a man of Gray’s size to resemble a caged jaguar.

“My work…it’s complicated. Anyway, it was bad news. Put me in a foul mood. Not the let’s talk about it and things will work out kind of mood.”

“A dark, brooding mood?” she guessed.

“Exactly. I didn’t want to shake my shit off onto you. So I took off. Went for a run. Figured I’d sweat it out. Then I’d missed yoga, and I knew you were with clients for the rest of the day. Made sure to swing back as soon as you closed for the day so I could apologize.”

“Still waiting for that to happen, actually.”

“I know. Look, I don’t want to make an excuse. I just wanted you to know how it came about. But it was a poor choice. To not even let you know. I’m sorry. It was stupid. I let my temper run away with me. Literally.”

The shock of messy hair hanging over his forehead, the hangdog expression, combined with the hint of a grin was all it took. “You’re forgiven.”

“Thank you.” Gray moved closer, till his thighs butted up against the table. Looked at her with an expression she couldn’t quite nail down in the shadows.

Suddenly nervous, Ella pointed at the door. “Now go away. I’ve got to finish up here and then go primp. Our date doesn’t officially start for another hour.”

His grin widened. “Says who?”

“Well, ah, we did. Dinner at seven. I made the reservation in the main dining room.” And she’d be ready at seven. Right now, Ella was far from ready. No spritzes of her favorite perfume. No artfully tousled waves in her hair. Most of all, no time to quell her ridiculous fears as to whether or not she’d be good enough for Gray. No chance to remind herself that although it had been three long years since her last horizontal date, sex was like a bicycle. You just hopped on and screamed your head off during the ride.

Gray reached across to trail a finger down her arm, leaving goose bumps in its wake. “I’m not hungry.” His hand closed around hers. Instinct curled Ella’s fingers tight. But then she wondered—for a brief flash—if sheer instinct would be enough to make Gray happy. Which wouldn’t even have popped into her brain if she’d had the next hour to indulge in a pep talk with the mirror. Instead, Ella tried to deflect. To get back that hour of prep time she so desperately needed.

“Joel’s making us his famous Gruyère soufflé.”

“I’m sure some other lucky customer will take it.” It didn’t even take much of a stretch as he lifted one knee, then the other onto the massage table. More of a smooth movement, like that damned jaguar she’d just compared him to. Except this time he resembled the sleek cat in hunting mode, about to pounce on its prey. With his other hand, he used his knuckles to stroke from her cheekbone straight down the side of her neck.

“Gray, what are you doing?”

“Living in the moment.” His voice had dropped to a husky growl. One that resonated through Ella once he used the hand at her neck to pull her closer and put his mouth at her ear. “And this moment’s got candles, a convenient bed, mood music and a sexy woman. You do the math.”

“I suck at math.”

“I don’t.” Gray nipped at her earlobe, then kept right on going, his mouth following the path his knuckles had just traced as a shudder ran through her.

“Are we really doing this? Now, I mean?”

The question stilled his movement. Gray eased back until their joined hands were the only parts touching. “Depends on who you’re asking, I guess. Me? All I do is think about making love to you. I want to do it now. I’ll want to do it in two hours if you want to wait until after Joel’s famous soufflé. As far as I can tell, there won’t ever be a time when the thought of being inside you does less than turn my dick to pure steel.” He let go and sat back on his heels. “The real question? The question I need to hear the answer to before touching one more inch of that satiny skin is, do you want to do this? Now, I mean?”

Laughter burbled out. All this time, all their talks, all the kisses, and he’d still managed to bring it back around and give her the choice. Give her the upper hand when it counted the most. And that relaxed her more than a double shot of Ward’s best blueberry vodka. “So you’re saying it’s all up to me? Again?”

“Exactly.”

This man wasn’t just special. Gray was one in a million. How stupid would it be to throw away a single second of happiness with him? Flying high on the joy of making the decision by herself, for herself, Ella’s fears vanished.

“I do want to do this. I want to do you,” she said boldly. “Right here, right now.”

“As you wish.” Gray gave a flourishy imitation of a bow. If he’d been dressed as one of the Musketeers—or at least had a feather-plumed hat in his hand—it would’ve been impressive. Now it just looked like he was trying to crack his wrist. Oh, and it made her giggle. He vaulted off the table. Then glared at her. “You dare laugh at my courtly gesture?” Now he’d added on a really bad British accent. Along with his deep frown, it only made Ella giggle harder.

A split second later, it hit her. Gray was making her laugh on purpose. He’d noticed her nervousness from before and was trying to lighten the mood. Trying to put her at ease. Half-assed bows aside, he sure looked like a prince among men to her.

“Let’s just say it doesn’t translate well without a cloak and about a dozen courtiers behind you.” She eased around the table, neither wanting nor needing space between them anymore. “How about I make a gesture of my own to kick things off?”

Gray’s face relaxed back into an easy smile. “Whatever you want.”

“It’s true that Joel’s soufflé is a symphony of flavors and textures on the tongue. But you know what?” Ella reached for the dimmer switch and lowered the lights even more. “He’s my employee. I can get him to make us one any old time.”

Good thing Joel wasn’t nearby to hear her so grandiosely offer to boss him around. But she felt audacious, fueled by Gray’s obvious desire. She could always bribe or beg Joel into making the soufflé again. After enduring a tongue-lashing for wasting tonight’s precious version of it.

“Like I said, I’m not so much hungry. Not for food, anyway.” He snaked out an arm to catch her, but Ella darted out of his reach.

“I’m okay with skipping dinner, too. We don’t need the fancy meal or the expensive bottle of wine. We don’t need the hours of verbal foreplay.” A few turns of the wheel switched the music over to the mix she used when giving couples massages. Lots of Pink Martini and sultry French jazz. Songs that thrummed a beat straight into the blood. She lit three more candles, scented with ylang-ylang, a soft and flowery aphrodisiac. Then Ella perched on the low stool to remove her teal sneakers. “All we need is to get naked, as quickly as possible.”

Gray grabbed her hand before she could unbutton the first of the long row down the front of her teal-and-white-striped shirt. “What’s your rush?”

Um, wasn’t he the guy who’d just climbed on top of a table to get his hands on her? Ella was darn sure that she wasn’t the only one burning up with need. But, okay, she’d spell it out for him. If that’s what it took to get him to shuck those running shorts, she’d write it out a hundred times on a piece of paper. She clasped her other hand around his and craned her neck up to stare straight into those deep, dark eyes, turned pure indigo in the shadows.

“I want you, Gray. And I haven’t wanted anyone this much in a very, very long time.”

His hand tightened. Just this side of pain, he clenched so hard. “I want you, too, Ella. If you only knew how much, how I’d risk everything to be with you—”

“There’s no risk. I’m a sure thing,” she stated with a laugh.

“Not at all,” he said, his tone surprisingly serious. He dropped to his knees, bringing his head even with hers. “But I will do my damnedest to make you sure that you’ve made the right decision.”

Gray’s words verged on freaking her out. What was with the second-guessing? Now it was her turn to lighten the mood. “Have you ever successfully brought a woman to orgasm?”

It took six rapid blinks of those crazy-long dark eyelashes before he managed to answer. “What the…of course! Not just one woman. Every single one I make love to walks away satisfied. This is about mutual pleasure.”

Ella put a finger to his lips to stop him from continuing his defense. “I don’t want to count the notches on your bedpost. I just wanted to remind you that you’ve got the basic technique down. Which means I won’t ever regret a moment of our time together. As long as you quit stalling and get on with it.”

A double blink. Then he wrapped both arms tight around her back as his lips claimed hers. The move pulled her forward to the edge of the stool. Until, a moment later, the force and eagerness of his embrace pushed the whole stool back until it stopped flush with the wall.

Ella didn’t care. She wouldn’t have cared if he rolled her all the way out into the lobby. Gray could do anything as long as he kept kissing her with such ferocity. It left no doubt about how much he wanted her. His tongue swept into her mouth, and corresponding shivers of delight swept through her body. There it was—the matching hunger, the naked lust. Ella wrapped her legs tight around his waist and entangled her fingers in his hair. Wished with all her might that there weren’t two layers of clothes between all their body parts, which were currently touching.

Ripping his mouth away, Gray growled against her neck. “You brought a match to a bonfire. You ready to burn up?”

“Too late. I already am.”

Sliding his hands to her ass, he lifted her and set her on top of the massage table. His deft fingers made quick work of the top button of her shirt. Then the second. And then he looked down at the row of at least twenty more. Shook his head. Using both hands, he ripped her shirt apart, buttons tinkling against the wall in counterpoint to Ella’s surprised laughter.

In a blur of speed, regret crossed her mind at not having had a chance to change into sexy lingerie. Or at least, if not sexy, at least something more colorful than her current plain white bra. But Gray didn’t seem to mind. He pushed what was left of her shirt down her shoulders, eyes never straying from her chest.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said in a hushed, reverent tone. With one finger, he traced along the top of the cups before unfastening it and dropping it behind the table. “I can’t tell if I’d rather stare at you, or touch you.”

“ Two breasts, in case you haven’t noticed. That means you can do both things at the same time.”

“Smart and beautiful,” Gray corrected himself with a grin. And he proceeded to do just that. Palmed one breast, rubbing wide circles with his thumb, while flat out devouring the other. The flat of his tongue laved across her nipple slowly, arced around, came back to flick at it, quick and hard.

Ella didn’t know which she liked better. But she was more than happy let him keep alternating while she tried to decide which version of sensual amazingness could possibly be more fantastic. But then he planted his lips around her nipple and sucked. Hard. While his tongue did something she could only describe as semi-orgasmic at the same time. Whatever the technical term, it translated to hot pulses of passion zinging to her core. She dropped her head back and let loose a moan.

“Like that, do you?”

Moistening her suddenly dry lips, Ella said, “I’d call it a good start.”

“And you’d be right. Because this is only the beginning.”

Hmm. Good and bad news. Good, because she couldn’t wait to see what he did next. Bad, because Ella was already so worked up that it didn’t seem at all improbable she could come at any second, with just one more kiss from him.

In that way peculiar to men, Gray grabbed the back of his collar and whipped his shirt up and off. Kicked his running shoes into a corner and tossed his socks in the same general direction. Stuck his thumbs in the waistband of her white, gauzy skirt and tugged it over her hips. Ella lifted up just enough to let him scoot it out from underneath her to puddle on the floor.

This shouldn’t have felt any more naked than when they’d been in the pool together. But it did. Maybe because she knew they were about to get a whole lot more naked. Or maybe it was the way the candlelight flickered shadows across his broad muscles. The quiet intimacy of the small room, the only sound their panting, the low music and the sputtering of the wicks.

So Ella had one more moment of hesitation as he stood there, looking his fill with wide, appreciative eyes. And then she promptly slapped her self-conscious silly. This wasn’t some random hook-up just to banish the ghost of three years of celibacy. Gray was a man she knew well. A man with a quick brain and a good heart who cared for her. The man she’d fallen in love with, despite the unassailable fact she’d probably have to wave goodbye to him in a handful of days. This was miles away from being just sex. It was making love, and there was no way she’d waste another second of it with self-doubt.

Ella slowly trailed her hands down his chest. From sharp collarbone, across defined pecs to linger in the line of dark hair along his sternum. Then she spread her hands wider to fully take in the six-pack effect of his abs. Raked her nails across that tanned skin just to make him shiver.

He looped his arm around her legs and lifted them onto the heated table. Gray gently unknotted the scarf around her ponytail. Combed through the strands with his fingers, eyes closed and a half smile on his face. Rubbed them against his cheek, inhaling deeply. Then he pressed her down, spreading her hair out across the pillow.

Eyes flying open, he asked, “Stupid question. But I’m pretty desperate, and I didn’t plan on doing this right now.” Gray shot a wild glance from the cabinets over to the corner shelf unit. “I don’t suppose you stock condoms in here?”

Funny. Timing really was everything. “Normally, no. But we do in the room where we give couples massages. I’d planned to restock and hadn’t made it there yet. So there’s about twenty in that glazed clay bowl on the counter.”

He padded over, grabbed one and tore a strip off the top of the package with his teeth before tossing onto the edge of the table. “That ought to hold us—until tomorrow.”

“I like this goal-oriented side of you.”

“Then you’re going to love what happens next.” Gray pulled off her panties, turning the simple act of undressing into a lingering, sensual caress of both her legs. To her surprise, he walked back to the counter and rustled around.

“Uh, nobody called for a time-out.”

“Just getting prepped. Now close your eyes and roll over.”

Ella complied, thoroughly confused. She pillowed her cheek on her hands and wondered what on earth he planned to do. And how long it would postpone him from being inside her, which she so fervently desired right now.

“You work so hard, Ella. People care about you, but I don’t see that anyone cares for you. I told you on our first official date I wanted to make you feel special. This won’t be near as good as one of yours, so I hope you cut me a little slack. A solid hour of watching YouTube videos didn’t come close to making me an expert.”

Well-oiled hands softly stroked down her back. Ella arched into his touch. Back up he went, then down lower all the way over the curve of her ass. Up to her shoulders, where he used his thumbs on the solid knot of muscles corded across her shoulders. It felt…heavenly.

“Is this okay?” he whispered. The uncertainty in his voice touched her heart. Almost as much as the fact that he’d gone to the trouble to study how to massage her.

“It’s wonderful, Gray. Thank you.” Ella flipped her head to the other side to catch a glimpse of him in the mirror on the back of the door. The bunched line of muscles on his back as he worked on her was one of the sexiest things she’d ever seen. Minutes passed as she grew hypnotized from the combination of staring at him and feeling his hands mold their way down her back. Her eyes fluttered shut in delight as the strong kneading of her ass softened into a caress. And then it became impossible to hold still.

With a firm nudge on her hip and arm, Ella got the clue to turn back over. As she flipped, she watched Gray shed his shorts. And gasped. Running on pure instinct and need, she reached out a hand, bursting with impatience to touch the long, hard length jutting out from a thick nest of dark hair. Again, he pushed her away. Didn’t he realize that she craved the feel of his body as much as he did hers?

“To further clarify my answer to your earlier question, I’m not aiming to give you a successful orgasm. I want to give you a spectacular one.” Gray lifted the squeeze bottle of her massage oil high, then loosed a steady drizzle onto her nipple.

Ella’s eyes must’ve rolled back in her head. Or she’d closed them. She just knew that instead of Gray’s face, she was suddenly seeing stars. The stream of oil moved over to her other breast. Needing to touch him even more, she flailed out an arm. Grabbed onto his thigh and clung, digging her fingers into the solid core of muscle.

He knelt on the table. Straddled her, which brought his dick tantalizingly close. The tip brushed against her, but not enough to give any relief. Using both hands, Gray spread the oil in slowly widening circles across her torso. Ella quivered. His slick touch set her aflame. Again, she wrapped both her hands around his thighs, trying to tug him closer.

Instead, he sat back. Picked up the bottle again and drizzled a line down her stomach, past her bellybutton, until the warm oil fell directly on the burning center of all her desire. Ella thrashed. There was no other word for it. She needed him inside her like she’d never needed anything else in her life. Her hips bucked. And then he covered her mound with one big, warm palm and spread the oil there, too.

“Gray, please, please, please,” she chanted. “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

Another quicksilver flash of a grin. “As long as you’re sure.” He rolled on the condom, then lowered himself until his wonderful heaviness covered her from chest to toe. Slowly, he nudged her legs apart. Ella let her knees fall open. In one long, deliberate thrust, he entered her. Then held perfectly still. “Christ, Ella, you’re so tight and hot. You’re—” Gray shuddered out a breath. Dropped his head to the curve of her neck. “You’re hotter than the sun.”

“Let’s burn up together.” She moved her hips, writhing sinuously beneath him. Gray matched her rhythm. Stroke after stroke. Sigh after gasp after moan. In sync, they sped up. He seemed as much in a hurry all of a sudden as she was. Driving into her harder and harder, Gray covered her mouth in a deep kiss. Ella arched up, screaming into him as he set off a chain reaction throughout her body that culminated in a firestorm of passion exploding. One final thrust, and a guttural moan tore out of his throat as he spasmed inside her.

They lay together, able to do no more than gasp in unison for a few moments. Ella didn’t know what to say. Those first words after sex set a tone for everything that happened after. And in her experience, no matter what either person said, it always sounded inane. Like nothing could possibly compare to the actual experience.

This time, with Gray, that was particularly true. He’d exploded her senses. Made Ella see fireworks and feel earthquakes and gasp at the shooting stars of sensation pulsing through her body. No way to put that into words without basically calling him a sexual superhero. So she waited. Let Gray bumble his way through it first.

“Ella…you…I…wow.”

Whew. Totally lame. Anything she said would sound Shakespearean compared to that. Ella lazily stroked the line of his toned, tight ass. Guess all that running he did paid off. She’d cut him more slack for skipping yoga with these kinds of results from pounding on the pavement. “That’s all you’ve got to say? Thought you were a smooth talker,” she teased.

Gray raised himself on his elbows to what was an impressive plank position. Not that she’d break the moment to tell him so. A hank of dark hair that she’d personally disheveled fell over his forehead, lending him a youthful rakishness. Then he cradled her face, broad thumbs tracing the line of her cheekbones.

“You’re the one who’s smooth. Ella, you smooth over all the cracks in my heart. Filling in spaces I didn’t even know I still cared about. Thank you.”

She took it all back. There were perfect words for after making love for the first time, after all. Gray had just spoken them to her. And she’d remember them forever. But first she had to figure out how to respond. Because the only words that came to mind—there were three of them, and they’d been known for centuries to send men running the opposite direction the world over—were the three words Ella could not, under any circumstance, risk telling Gray.

He shifted his forearms, laying them flat on the table. “Is this thing heated?”

“Of course.”

“Nice. For round two, you definitely have to be on top so I get a warm backside while you warm my front side.”

“There’s going to be a round two? Here?”

“We’ve still got what—nineteen condoms left? I’d planned to relocate to your room to shower off the oil…” His voice trailed off. “That’s a Swiss shower over there.”

“Mmm-hmm. Sixteen shower heads. Big enough for two.”

Gray turned his head, checking out the rest of the room. “And is that a full-length mirror on the door?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t know how I missed that before. Gives me all sorts of ideas. Sweetheart, we could be camped out in here all night. Don’t plan on seeing your bed before breakfast.”