15. Willa
Chapter 15
Willa
L IKE EVERY SUNDAY that I have off, it’s yoga-and-a-pier-stroll with Matty. And if anyone needs to bend and stretch and push themselves to empty their brain of a certain hot policeman next door, it’s me. I’ve tried ignoring him the best as I can. What happened the other night can’t happen again.
I mean, let’s be clear: I want it to happen again. Repeatedly. Daily. I could live in that experience and be perfectly content. But he’s scary. He’s too much: too confident, too dangerous, too gorgeous, too police-y. He’s everything I never wanted. And yes, this is precisely where I’m supposed to list out the kind of person I do want, but every time I try to recall my list, it poofs away and reveals Hottie McHotFace himself instead of what I actually want.
Every time I see him, it’s clear he wants more. More of what , I couldn’t say. But my control is flailing. I’ve given the wand in my bedside table far more workouts these days than ever before, and it’s all because of Reid and his chest and his tongue and his legs and…well. Everything.
But for the next ninety minutes, I’m going to get some peace.
I’ve got my back to the door when a buzz seems to move through the air. I turn, and my limbs stiffen, then liquefy. Because the very man who won’t leave my brain or my fantasies is now strolling into the yoga studio with a kitten strapped to his chest, looking sinfully, irrevocably hot.
Fighting the urge to fan my face, I rip my eyes away from him, say a prayer for my frayed nerves, and snap my yoga mat in the air, glaring at Matty as I bend to arrange it on the shiny wooden floor in front of me. “Really?” I hiss, fully aware of how literally everyone in the studio, woman and man, have turned to look at the deliciousness that is Reid with pussy.
Reid with a kitten, I mean.
A kitten. A fuzzy, four-legged creature.
Jesus Christ.
Matty, who is wholly unaffected by the performance that Reid is giving solely by existing, shrugs and grins at me. “Give him a chance, Willa.”
I sigh. That’s impossible, and Matty knows it. In mere moments, Midnight has been loosed and is running to pounce on my feet, her fuzzy black hair sticking straight up all over her tiny body as though she’s just been struck by lightning, and Reid is strolling toward me in black athletic shorts and a loose tank. My stomach flip-flops.
Dear lord, I whisper, help me to be strong .
“Good morning,” Reid says as he comes up and unrolls his mat beside me.
I force a smile and command my body to get a hold of itself.
His grin is blinding. “Matty said you’d be here and invited me. I’ve never done yoga. Is it hard?”
Your muscles are hard is what my brain helpfully supplies in response. And while I manage to bite that back, I don’t manage to keep my eyes to myself. There’s no stopping the way they roam over his broad chest and muscular arms and long fingers. Fingers that have been inside me, stroking me to heights I have never reached before .
Focus. I need to focus. I take control of myself again and meet his eyes, which are freaking twinkling . “It’s…challenging. This class isn’t meant for beginners.”
He shrugs, moving those rock-hard shoulders up and down. “Guess I’ll do my best.”
Thirty minutes later, it’s all I can do to maintain any kind of concentration, let alone sanity, as Midnight wends around the room and Reid stretches, bends, and breathes next to me. Never in my life did I think that yoga was erotic.
Now?
Now, I think that Reid could make a mint selling videos of him doing yoga and breathing. Holy. Mother. Of God. I need help.
Matty smirks next to me.
“I hate you,” I mouth.
He widens his eyes and purses his mouth, his version of “Shut up and let the man give you more orgasms.”
But I can’t. Because he’s going to leave. And what’s the point of getting all up in my feels with the man if he’s going to bolt?
Never mind the orgasm. Maybe me passing out afterward was my body’s way of protecting myself.
Because mouthwatering Reid just caught me watching him.
He winks, dipping into a pose like he’s most definitely done this before.
My heart hitches as I look away. God dammit .
After yoga, Matty very unhelpfully invites Reid to go with us to the pier.
Reid beams. “I’d love to. You wouldn’t mind, right, Willa?”
“Um, no?”
“Great! It’s nice to finally get some quality time with you.” He raises his eyebrows and smirks.
I huff. It’s clear that he and Matty have hoodwinked me into this entire operation, and I don’t like it. I glare at Matty, who makes a show of ignoring me.
Reid plucks Midnight off the floor, and she takes up her rightful residence in the sling against his chest. I’m not gonna lie, I’m beginning to have a rather unhealthy jealousy of that damn kitten.
Who I love.
Who is incredibly lucky and has no idea how many women, me especially, would kill to be snuggled up against Reid MacKinnon’s chest.
Sigh.
We’ve barely begun our walk to the end of the pier before a shout comes from behind us. “Wait up!”
I turn and smile, grateful for the backup. “Hey, sis!”
Goldie wraps me in a hug, breathless from her sprint to join us. “You didn’t tell me the Willa and Matty Yoga and Pier Walk was open to others.” She shoots a playful look at Reid. “Not really fair that some new-to-town stranger gets to do it when I’ve been asking for years.”
Reid quirks a wily smile. “Did I intrude on something?”
“Yes,” I say.
“Not at all.” Matty’s voice overrides mine as he shoves me just enough to send me stumbling into Reid’s very muscular arm. I glare at my former best friend and mouth, “ Asshole.”
He smiles a shit-eating grin right back, entirely unapologetic for his meddling activities, then holds his arm out for Goldie. She threads her arm through his without hesitation, and it almost looks as though there’s a faint blush on her cheeks as she does it.
Matty lets out a satisfied grunt. “Ah, look at us, spending quality time together.”
“It’s really nice,” Reid agrees.
Goldie shoots a look at me, and I guess whatever she sees has her elbowing Matty in my defense.
They don’t get it. I know they want to see me happy, and I love them for it. But what’s the point in any of this if the only thing that waits for me at the end is Reid going back to Miami?
“Come on,” I grumble. “Let’s at least go check on my yacht. ”
Reid’s head whips to me. “You have a yacht?”
We all laugh. “Hardly. But we’ve all claimed a vessel,” I gesture to the line of beautifully appointed yachts and boats. “Mine is way down there, at the end.”
Reid looks where I’m pointing. “The Shakespeare ?”
I shake my head. “No, the really big one on the other side. The Bear .”
He chuckles. “For someone as unassuming as you, you really swing for the fences with your boats, huh?”
I shrug. “It’s a fantasy. Why not?”
We continue talking as we walk, the four of us joking and having a good time. I let myself relax into the camaraderie, and by the time we make our way back up the pier, Matty and Willa are making excuses to leave. Because of course they are.
Reid waves as they hustle away. “Are they a thing?”
I snort a laugh. “Matty and my sister? No way.”
He hums thoughtfully.
I reach up to pet Midnight, and she bats at my hand playfully.
“Ride home with me?” Reid asks.
I glance up at him. “Well, considering that Matty’s abandoned me, sure. I’d love to.”
At the house, Reid puts his truck in park and looks over at me, where I’ve got Midnight bundled into a ball on my lap and purring contentedly. “Want to explain to me why you’ve been ignoring me?”
I freeze. “I?—”
“Because I like you, Willa. I want to spend time with you. I thought you wanted the same thing. If I’m wrong?—”
“You’re not wrong.” I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth.
“Then what is it?”
“None of this is real !” I blurt, my heart racing. “You, me…it’s not real.” I exhale and keep my eyes on my shaking hands.
Silently, he reaches over and wraps his palms around them. His touch is so calm, so reassuring. Finally, he speaks. “Does it feel real?”
I swallow.
“Because if it does, then maybe we take it for what it is.”
“What is it?” I whisper.
“A gift,” he answers softly. “A beautiful gift that I can’t turn away from, no matter how hard I try.”
My gaze snaps to his. Those gorgeous greens are filled with sincerity and tenderness, and his voice is thick when he speaks again. “Come over.”
Yes. No. Yes . Never in my life have I identified more with the concept of an angel on one side and a devil on the other, arguing with each other about what their person should do.
He must see my hesitation, because his eyes darken as they sweep over my body. I feel every inch of his perusal. “Come on, Willa Dean. What’s a few minutes?”
I fake a scowl. “It’s just Willa.”
He laughs gently and gets out of the cab, meeting me on the other side as I’m stepping out with Midnight.
“Want me to take her?”
“I’ve got her.” I slide out of the truck, knowing that I have a choice to make: Go to my house and put the final nail in the coffin of whatever this is with Reid before it starts, or go to his and let myself enjoy him the rest of the time he’s here.