Chapter Five
ADRIAN
Bar Harbor, ME
Five hours and forty minutes. Five fucking hours and forty minutes after we left Boston, I was pulling up to the parking lot at the hotel where the conference was being held with a semi in my pants and a raging attraction to the woman in my passenger seat.
I’d always thought that Isobel was gorgeous. Of course, I had, but I hadn’t realized how funny she was outside of staff meetings or when she was biting my head off for saying something stupid. She’d loosened up when we were throwing axes at a target, showing me a whole new side of herself, but this morning was surprisingly fun.
When we’d left her apartment, I’d thought the annoyed, sleepy grump would be a pain in the ass to ride in the car with for hours on end. But then she turned on a level of sass over croissant and coffee that I never imagined seeing. And I have to say, I appreciated her fire…more than I cared to admit. She was sarcastic and quick-witted, and I found my armor dropping as I engaged with her.
Isobel clearly didn’t know how to handle my teasing when it wasn’t mean-spirited or downright offensive, her posture changing to one of surprise at my unintentionally flirtatious comments. But then, when we stopped for lunch, and she’d continued the playful banter, I couldn’t help pouring on the charm .
I knew how to flirt with women with intention, and I knew I shouldn’t be doing it over a lunch that was technically being paid for by our publisher and was not a date, but her reactions made me want to tease her more and more.
The urge to lean down and kiss the back of her neck when I was helping her into her sweater before lunch had been strong, and it’d grown exponentially after all the innuendo while we were eating. She’d been a quick study in oyster eating protocol and had easily devoured the rest of her lunch, licking butter off her fingers from the lobster roll and moaning her way through the chowder. It was the sexiest display of food porn I’d ever witnessed firsthand. Isobel wasn’t afraid to eat, making me want to find more foods that brought out those little moans.
I’d been tempted to ask the server for a dessert to share, thinking there was no way Isobel could finish a blueberry crumble with all she’d eaten, but she’d hovered over that warm bowl like she was in prison, and I was going to shank her for it. I had to think of Pop’s wrinkly nutsack just to keep myself from getting hard as I watched her tongue dart out to lick the fresh cream from her lips. Correction—I had to think of that horrifying scene to stop myself from getting hard- er .
“Here we are,” I said, breaking the silence that’d settled in the car.
As I pulled up to the main entrance overhang, slowly depressing the brake and moving the car into park, I felt like this was a pivotal moment in this trip. Would she go back to not so secretly despising me once she had other people to spend her time with, or would we continue to build this tension between us until someone caved?
“Yup, here we are,” she murmured, looking down at her lap.
“You go on ahead to the check-in desk. I’ll bring in your bag,” I offered as I looked over at her fidgeting with the strap of her bag. She seemed to do that when she was angry or nervous, her fingers fixating on whatever was closest and mindlessly playing with it.
“I’m perfectly capable of rolling a small suitcase.”
“Not saying you aren’t, but if you go get the keys to your room while I’m parking the car, you won’t have to wait as long to escape me. It looks like people are starting to arrive.”
The parking lot was gradually filling, and I knew the place would be crawling with publishing industry professionals vying for each other’s attention in a few hours.
“Thank you for offering to drive up here,” she mumbled, taking a deep breath, her chest heaving before she slowly let it out. A few stray hairs had escaped from her ponytail, and I suddenly had the urge to tuck them behind her ear—or just rip the hair tie out of her hair and sink my fingers in. I clenched my hands in my lap, so I wasn’t tempted to touch her. I’d meant what I said to her the night of the team-building exercise that’d thrown us together. I didn’t want to kiss or touch her in a stolen moment or out of pity. I wanted her to desire my hands or lips on her, but I knew it was a long shot for that to happen. It was a good thing I possessed a fuck ton of patience. Either that, or I was delusionally hopeful.
“Just pop the trunk so I can grab it. Thank you for offering, but I’d like to get up to my room and unpack. I wanted to go over the schedule before tonight.”
And we were back to the professional behavior, our earlier teasing gone before I could fully appreciate it.
“If that’s what you want.”
Before I could comment further, she was out the passenger door, briskly walking toward the back of the car with one hand holding her sweater closed at the neck. The further north we’d traveled, the more the temperature had dropped, the breeze from the water carrying a chill. I hoped she’d packed a jacket because it seemed like a loss to spend the entire weekend indoors.
While Hutch and I typically stayed a little more inland in our explorations, we’d driven up to the Acadia National Park to hike quite a bit as teenagers during the off-season. We’d both tossed around the idea of hiking the Appalachian trail someday, but with his leg being like it was, I wasn’t sure we’d ever be able to do the whole thing and rough it on the trail. But maybe we could take the time to complete part of it. With forty-one rapidly approaching, it wasn’t like we could wait forever. I was already starting to feel my age sometimes.
The trunk slammed, pulling me out of my wandering thoughts and back to the confusing woman I worked with, watching her figure pass through the hotel’s front doors. I knew we’d have to spend the five-hour car trip home with each other, but I wondered if this was the last I’d see of her the next four days except in passing.
Pulling into a spot in the corner of the parking lot, I shifted the car into park and scrubbed my hand over my jaw, trying to clear my head. Sloane had texted me late last night that the conference organizers had wanted to put me in a slot to speak during a workshop, one of the other presenters having to miss the conference at the last minute.
I confirmed I’d do it, but now I was second-guessing myself, not wanting to take the opportunity away from Isobel if she’d wished for it. I’d spoken at things like these a few times and had a vague idea of what I could talk about, but I knew Isobel felt like her genre was often overlooked at general industry events.
Rumor had it that she was typically a big hit at romance writing events, but this wasn’t a conference geared toward romance writers and editors; this was a group of our peers from every genre. I still remembered being in awe of the presenters and speakers at the first few conferences I’d attended before working at Vivid, wondering if I’d ever get to that point in my career.
Isobel was nowhere to be found when I entered the building, joining the line at the reception desk to get checked in. Part of me wished this was being held at one of the larger hotel chains because I had reward member status at most of them and never had to wait in lines because of how much I typically traveled, but I had to admit, this local resort was beautiful. And the water views couldn’t be replicated at some generic box hotel chain.
Growing up close to the ocean had always been something I’d taken for granted, but with my travel all over the country, I’d still come back to New England in a heartbeat. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. The food, the people—despite some being dicks—and the views couldn’t be found anywhere else.
When I was younger, I would have looked for any viable reason to get outta Southie, but even that changed as time passed. I thought baseball would always be my dream, but sometimes priorities change when entering the real world.
My single season riding the bench in the majors and the few brutal seasons in the minors before that pushed me to finish my graduate degree and start focusing on my career like I should have been doing. It’d been a no-brainer to retire when my grandma was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Sometimes we have to let go of childish dreams and come to terms with reality. Maybe that was why I’d clung so hard to the hardened exterior I showed everyone else.
“Your colleague has already checked in,” the woman at the reception desk said after I handed her my ID and my corporate credit card. “But like I told her, your rooms are adjoining, so you’ll be near each other.”
Well, that changed things. Maybe Isobel wouldn’t be able to avoid me so easily after all. We’d be passing each other in the hallway. Our schedules were supposed to be similar, except for the few sessions Sloane wanted us to attend that were scheduled simultaneously.
The elevator ride to our floor was quiet, my mind whirring with fantasies I knew would never play out. One, in particular, was of me throwing open those adjoining doors and letting this budding attraction play out. She would never admit it, but I’d seen lingering glances on her end. Her hatred may have been the more prevalent of her feelings for me, but there was attraction there too.
As I walked down the hallway toward my room, the door next to mine slipped open, Isobel not noticing my arrival while she stared down at the phone in her hand.
“Guess you couldn’t escape me after all.”
Her shoulders stiffened when she heard my voice, her eyes slowly rising to meet mine. “Guess not. Lucky me.”
As she tried to step past me, my hand shot out, halting her forward movement as my fingers brushed the sleeve of her coat. “Where’re you off to?”
She hesitated, toying with the zipper as I scanned her face. Her sensible skirt and ballet flats had been swapped out for some joggers and what appeared to be trail running shoes. “Going for a little hike. The concierge said there is a trailhead not far from here. Wanted to work off some energy before dinner since the weather is so nice.”
“Want some company?” I asked, and she paused as she took in my outfit. While it wouldn’t be ideal, my pants were loose enough that I could handle a little hike if I put on my trail sneakers. I’d also planned to sneak off during our stay here to explore the local trails, but I couldn’t deny the company would make it exponentially better. “Unless you don’t think you can keep up. The trails around here aren’t always for beginners.”
Her eyes narrowed, her face morphing into one of annoyance as she took the bait I’d placed in her path. “I think I can keep up fine with you .”
Biting my lip, I tried to conceal my amusement at the competitiveness in her voice. “Didn’t say you couldn’t. Not everything needs to be a competition.”
“You’ve got ten minutes, and then I’m leaving without you. Hopefully, you can get your primping in that quickly.”
“I’m sure I can manage,” I chuckled, reaching over to swipe my key card across the reader on my door. “I’m not as high maintenance as some people. ”
A cute little growl sounded from her throat at my dig, and she stepped around me, not turning around while I watched her disappear toward the elevator. She was so easy to wind up. “Go change your damn clothes. The clock is ticking.”
Tossing my luggage on the large king-sized bed, I unzipped it, pulling out the little zipper bag that held my shoes. Yes, even my suitcase was packed using storage cubes. Organization tripped my trigger. I couldn’t help it, and it made packing and unpacking easier. When you spent half your year in hotels, you tired of digging through a messy suitcase.
Isobel was pacing off to the side of the parking lot when I walked out the front entrance to the building, her mouth moving like she was muttering to herself while she stared at the phone in her hand. Hopefully, she’d disconnect for a while and attempt to enjoy the beautiful scenery of this part of coastal Maine.
The water was calm today, the surface gently rippling and dotted with thick patches of ice. The seasonal thaw would begin in a few weeks from now, and everything would bloom when spring set in.
“Did you bring water?” I asked as I flipped one of the bottles in my hand, catching it in my palm easily after the first rotation.
“It’s not a very long hike,” she scoffed, finally looking up at me before tucking her phone into her vest pocket and zipping it shut.
“Guess it’s a good thing I grabbed two from the front desk,” I smiled, extending the one I’d been tossing in her direction. “You should never go hiking without fresh water.”
“I would’ve been fine. I wasn’t planning to stay out that long.”
“Hmm,” I hummed as I fell into step beside her as she made her way along a path to the side of the property that led along the coastline.
“You don’t have to be such a know-it-all. I am capable of doing basic things like keeping myself hydrated. ”
“Don’t worry, I don’t doubt your ability to quench your thirstiness.”
She frowned, taking a few steps away. “If you weren’t such a dick to me all the time, I wouldn’t have to be so defensive around you.”
“I haven’t been a total dick to you today, have I?”
Unlike when we were in the office, I’d been trying to keep the mask off around her, resorting to teasing because that was my natural personality, not actively antagonizing her.
“No, just maybe a tiny dick.”
I hummed, quickening my pace to walk beside her again. Lowering my voice, I whispered in her ear as I leaned closer. “Not the typical adjective women use when talking about my dick.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Although, you have been known to exaggerate quite a bit. I’ll find my magnifying glass if your dick comes up again. Not that there’s anything wrong with you if it can’t rise to the occasion, I’ve heard it’s common at your advanced age.”
“You’re like a year younger than me,” I chuckled, and watched as a crease formed on her forehead. She was probably surprised I knew that. But she wasn’t the only one capable of being observant. Her tenure with Vivid was longer, but we were nearly the same age and likely had similar experiences in our career paths.
We walked side by side down the trail, the path winding in and out of the wooded trail to hug the rocky coast. The air was crisp and cool, but it felt invigorating after spending so much time confined in the car.
“So, do you hike a lot?” I asked while she played with the edge of the label on the bottle clasped tightly in her hands.
“Some. Mostly in college in upstate New York. We didn’t have places like this back home. I mean, you could find places with some hills or forests, but nothing this pretty.”
“And where is home?” I asked, realizing I knew little about her besides her educational pedigree and career .
“Cumming, Iowa.”
“Seriously?” I laughed. There was no way that was the name of a town.
“Yes, seriously,” she huffed. “Go ahead and make the joke now, it’s not anything I haven’t heard before.”
“Sounds like someone is a little sensitive about Cumming .”
“That wasn’t even funny.”
“Wasn’t trying to be funny, I’m not a total dick all the time.”
“I don’t even want to imagine the things that would come out of your mouth otherwise.”
“I prefer to come other places.”
“You’re an idiot.” She rolled her eyes, but she smiled so she couldn’t be that annoyed with me.
“And what’s in Cumming, Iowa?”
She slowed her pace as she began to peel back the corner of the water bottle label. “My parent’s farm, my sisters and their hordes of children. Mostly boredom.”
“I can’t imagine you on a farm,” I laughed, somehow unable to reconcile the polished business attire and conservative apparel she opted to wear with the imagery of ripped jeans, matching braids, and a worn baseball cap.
“Well, I can’t imagine you in anything but a tailored suit, and yet here we are,” she said, gesturing toward my jeans and button-up shirt I’d thrown a lightweight coat over.
“I’m capable of being casual. I wore sweatpants for most of my time at B.C.”
“Yeah, okay,” she scoffed, clearly not believing me.
“Or baseball pants. But that was only for games.”
She turned to look over at me. “You played baseball in college?”
“I’m a man of many talents,” I joked, earning an eye roll. “But yeah. Centerfield. All of undergrad.” And those few years after, when I’d thought I might have some genuine talent.
“Ah, so you weren’t a very good baseball player. They stick all the slackers in the outfield. ”
“Excuse me? Maybe in little league, but not in college.” I corrected; my bottle perched at my lips as I looked over at her in disbelief. Collegiate baseball was hardly little league. You had to be able to haul ass to be an outfielder and have a rocket arm. My team had some solid wins in my tenure, several of us moving onto the minors after we earned a spot in the College World Series. Not very good, my ass.
“Oh, come on, you can unclench now. I was joking. I was a catcher throughout high school. I’m familiar with the sport.”
“Ah, so that explains why your ass is so spectacular,” I teased, watching a blush form on her cheeks.
“Well, my squat routine isn’t what it was twenty years ago, so I don’t know about spectacular…”
Exaggerating my movements as I leaned back and pretended to study her ass, I appreciated her selection of pants. They accentuated her narrow waist, tapering into the alluring curve of her ass. It was the perfect amount of bubble. I appreciated that Isobel took care of herself but still had some amazing curves. The more muscular women who lacked them at the gym weren’t nearly as fun to cuddle—and do other things with. I liked my women to be a handful, apparently in personality as well, since my attraction to Isobel continued to grow.
“I’m sticking with spectacular. Maybe even bordering on magnificent.”
“Quit staring at my ass,” she laughed, reaching back to cover herself.
“Hey, don’t cover up my view. Didn’t you know I came on this hike for the scenery?”
“How about you enjoy the nature on the trail instead of making crude comments about one of your colleagues’ rear ends?”
“If I were being crude, I would have told you I often imagine biting it. Or fantasizing about seeing if you really could bounce a quarter off someone’s posterior.”
“There’s something wrong with you,” she muttered, picking up the pace and leaving me admiring the view again .
“But I think you like it,” I called after her.
She may have acted annoyed by my flirting and admittedly inappropriate comments, but she couldn’t hide from me with that blush. It was a dead giveaway that I made her flustered.
As we reached the trailhead, Isobel kept a steady pace, veering onto a path that hugged the coast. We walked in silence; me staring blatantly at the slightly cranky woman in front of me and her looking around in awe at our surroundings.
“Can we go down to that beach?”
I shrugged, gesturing for her to lead me down the small path to a rocky beach leading out to the calm water. It wasn’t ideal for swimming, but it had a breathtaking panoramic view of the coastline. Inhaling deeply, I took in the fresh scent of the ocean, closing my eyes and enjoying the slight breeze on my face.
“Should I brave it and dip my toes in?” Isobel asked quietly from her place at my side.
“If you want to lose a few. You realize that water is freezing, right?”
She paused for a moment, nibbling on the corner of her lip as she debated this impulsive decision. “I’m going for it.”
“Should I be prepared to carry you back with frostbitten toes?”
She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips, not looking the slightest bit intimidating. “Laugh it up, buzz kill. I’m trying to enjoy myself.”
“Personally, I quite enjoy having my toes intact.”
“Wimp,” she muttered before she leaned down to untie her shoes, her joggers pulling snugly over her ass. Her squat routine may not be the same as when she was a catcher, but whatever she did worked.
“Man, you are an old fuddy-duddy,” she laughed while she rolled up the cuffs of her pants. I surely hoped to God she wasn’t planning to wade in there. February was still squarely in the winter season .
“Well, I spend a lot of my free time with octogenarians,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.
She paused, straightening back up and turning in my direction. “Seriously? Why?”
“Why not?” I laughed at the confused expression on her face. “They’re easy to school at cards.”
“So, let me get this straight. You regularly seek out the elderly to take advantage of them at card games? Wow.” At this point, I wasn’t sure how anything I said still surprised her. Or that she took any of it seriously.
“Nah, they usually end up wiping the floor with me. Those old dudes cheat like crazy.” Pop’s crew ran the bridge league and the older people’s poker ring in the neighborhood without mercy. Not only did they trash talk, but they had decades of experience and were brutal with their strategy. It also didn’t hurt that their poker faces were exceptional because they’d spent years exaggerating the stories of their youth and were expert liars.
“That’s kind of cute. You play cards with the elderly. I wasn’t aware you possessed compassion toward a marginalized demographic.”
I knew she was making a dig at my comments about her authors—and the romance genre in general—but I had to be prepared to take the backlash when I said something offensive.
“You’d be surprised about what else I possess.”
She rolled her eyes, peeling off her socks and tucking them inside her shoes. “Of course, you’re talking about your dick again.”
“I wasn’t, but clearly, you’ve been thinking about it. You keep bringing it up.” In more than just conversation.
“Shut up,” she growled while I squinted at the hint of a tattoo on her ankle that peaked from beneath the hem of her pants. How had I never noticed that before? If she wouldn’t smack me, I’d roll her pants up more, so I could read the text disappearing beneath them. And maybe trace it…with my tongue .
“You’re seriously doing this?” I asked, mildly concerned for the well-being of her feet, but she clearly didn’t care for my opinion. I hadn’t been joking when I’d told her the water would be frigid. I’d done enough polar plunges in my time to know the Atlantic during the spring was brutal. And February was practically arctic.
“Come on, join me,” she urged as she extended her palm toward me. “Maybe dipping your toes in freezing water will short circuit your brain, and you’ll stop being a dickhead all the time.”
Chuckling, I reached down to untie my shoes and pull them off with my socks. She was trying to hide a smile as she watched me. “If you’re that desperate to hold my hand, I’ll join you, but I’m not carrying you back when your feet hurt.”
“I’d never expect you to be a gentleman. Don’t worry about that,” she shot back, her eyes dancing with humor.
“Oh, she’s got jokes,” I laughed, grabbing her hand and tugging her toward the waterline—the feeling of the stones under my feet was like freezing little pricks against my skin. “We’ll see how much you’re laughing in a minute.”
Isobel’s giggle as I tugged her forward was infectious, and I found myself laughing while I watched her reaction when our toes hit the water. “Oh, fuck!” she shrieked, reaching out to cling to my shoulders. “It’s so cold! Oh my God, it hurts!”
Chuckling, I reached forward and grasped her waist, lifted her to my chest and banded my arms around her thighs before I walked back toward the rock where we’d left our shoes. “Happy now?”
“Oh, come on,” she giggled as she looked down at me. “You barely got your feet wet.”
“Just put your shoes on. We’ve only got an hour before we need to get changed.”
Isobel pouted as I leaned forward, depositing her on the ground next to our shoes. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she laughed, her hand grasping the side of my neck. Before I could react, she’d run her fingers up the back of my neck and ruffled my hair. “I forgot you’d need time for your beauty routine.”
Deciding to call her bluff, I left my hair in the chaotic mess she’d created, reaching down to unroll the denim at my ankles.
“Oh no, I made him mad,” she laughed while she tugged her socks over her wet feet, wincing as she rubbed her cold toes.
“Sit down,” I ordered, shoving my socked feet into my shoes and gesturing to a boulder on the shore behind her.
“What? Why?” she asked, picking up her shoes. I grabbed them from her and stepped forward, causing her to back into the rock, her eyes widening as she looked up at me.
“Just sit.”
She stumbled backward, bracing her arms on the rock behind her while I crouched down at her feet. “What are you doing?”
“Taking care of you.” Reaching forward to cup one of her feet, I slowly righted the damp sock on her foot and rubbed her toes with my much warmer hands. She’d survive, but I was sure she was feeling the sting of the frigid water. Normally I wouldn’t advocate hiking in wet socks, but it wasn’t like she’d left us with an option. Thankfully, the trail was on the short side and would dump us back on the other side of the hotel parking lot.
“You don’t need to… oh …” she gasped as I did the same to her other foot, leaning forward to exhale a stream of hot air at the tips of her covered toes before rubbing them with my palms.
“Don’t need you slowing us down if I’m going to do something to this mess,” I chuckled, gesturing to the riot of hair on top of my head and reaching for one of her shoes.
She watched with wide eyes while I slipped on her other shoe and quickly tied the laces, reaching out to extend my hand in her direction.
Her gaze softened when she leaned forward, drawing her fingers through my disheveled hair and slowly combing the strands back into place .
“There. I don’t think you’ll frighten off the wildlife anymore.”
Isobel’s chest heaved while her fingers lingered near one of my sideburns, slowly rubbing the short strands, sending a bolt of lust straight through my system.
“And here I was, hoping to show off my manly prowess to protect you.” My voice was an octave lower, my hands lingering at her delicate ankles once her shoes were securely in place.
Her eyes connected with mine as she continued to rub her fingers against my skin. My fingers twitched with the urge to cover hers, but I stayed where I was, under the spell of her gaze.
“We should go,” she whispered, drawing her hand back and flexing her fingers while I stood.
“Ladies first,” I smiled, gesturing back to the trail.
“You just want to stare at my ass again.”
Wiggling my eyebrows as I stepped back for her to get in front of me, I confirmed her suspicions. “Damn straight, I do.”
And surprisingly, she didn’t say anything as I fell into step directly behind her.