Chapter 9
Aftermath
What was it about this woman that made it nearly impossible to get her out of his mind?
Guilt had been niggling at him since they’d parted ways. She might never plan to speak to him again, but he had to apologize for taking her trust and bending it backward. He resolved to track her down first thing.
After snatching a few hours of sleep, he showered, dressed, and made his way to the restaurant.
It looked different than it had last night.
Sunbeams reflected off polished marble pillars.
On crisp white linen-covered tables, silverware sparkled and turquoise glasses mirrored the dazzling water beyond.
A hostess approached as a flash of auburn caught his eye, and he waved the woman away. He headed for Lexi, seated at a table, her back to him, mahogany hair caught in a high ponytail that waved down her back. She turned when he reached her, and those green eyes went wide.
Suddenly off-balance, he stammered, “H-hey.”
“Hey.” That one simple word was about as warm as a walk-in freezer.
He sat without being invited. “I owe you an apology for last night.”
Her delicate brows knitted together, and her full mouth firmed into a thin line.
God, she was adorable even when she was pissed off!
But then she leaned back in her seat, drawing his gaze to what she wore: a tiny flowery bikini top in bright blues that tied behind her neck.
Covering it was a black mesh cover-up thing that did nothing to hide the enticing swell of her breasts.
Maybe her article had been spot-on after all.
His dirty mind darted to her in nothing but the black mesh, and his cock roared to life.
Suddenly, she wasn’t so adorable anymore. She was sex on a stick.
Words stuck in his throat. He never had trouble chirping players on the ice or talking to women in bars, but this one had a habit of leaving him tongue-tied.
She lifted a coffee cup to her lips and sipped. “Apology for what?”
“A couple of things. First, for not coming clean with you in the first place.” Josh checked their surroundings before continuing in a quieter voice. “I thought you seeing how Neil operates rather than me telling you would leave a stronger impression.”
“Oh, it did that all right. Like a puck to the head. I’ve been studying.”
Had she stayed up last night too? Checking out hockey videos? Why this possibility pleased him, he couldn’t say.
He leaned in, his forearms on the table. “I’m really sorry. I should have considered the shock factor and how it might hurt you.”
Her shoulders lowered a fraction, and she looked to the side, her expression softening.
“Second,” he went on, “for lying when I told you the kiss was all an act.”
Her head immediately swiveled back to him. She faced him fully, her expression cloaked. “Why would you do that?”
“Honestly? My intention was to make Neil sorry. I meant for it to be fake, but …” Searching for the right words, he fastened his gaze on hers. “Something shifted when I started kissing you, and I kind of … lost it. I think I freaked myself out when I realized how far I’d gone.”
One side of her mouth quirked. Did that mean they’d struck a temporary truce? “Did you … enjoy it?” she ventured.
“You couldn’t tell?” he snorted. “I enjoyed it way too much.” Weight that had been pressing him down seemed to lift with the admission. “I’m probably going to regret asking, but did you enjoy it?”
She seemed to fight a smile. “Way too much.”
He couldn’t keep a stupid grin from sprouting. An impulse seized him, and as he’d been doing too much around Lexi, he ran with it. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
Her mouth parted in surprise.
“I want to make up for last night,” he rushed to add. “Better yet, have lunch with me.” He pointed at the tabletop. “Or breakfast.”
She giggled. He took it as a win. “I just ate.”
“After-breakfast cocktails on the beach, then.”
Now she positively gaped. “At nine in the morning?”
“We’re on vacation, aren’t we? We can go with mocktails, if you’d rather.
” Yeah, he was coming on a little too strong, but he wanted to spend time with her—and see her in that bikini minus the mesh thing.
He pulled on his libido’s reins and slowed his advances.
“If your girlfriend were here, what would you guys be doing right now?”
“Sleeping in?”
“Really? And waste a gorgeous day like this?” Hand in the air, he made a grand sweep. The gesture brought a waiter running.
“Coffee, sir?”
Lexi pressed her lips together as though fighting a smile.
“Uh, only if the lady’s going to have a refill.” Josh raised expectant eyebrows at her.
She covered her cup. “I’m good, thanks.”
“So am I,” Josh told the waiter. He could have used the caffeine, but he wanted Lexi more.
When the server strode off to a different table, Josh focused all his attention back on Lexi. “So back to what you’d be doing if your girlfriend was here. Let’s pretend I’m her … What’s my name?”
Lexi’s quirking lips nearly blossomed into a full smile. “Anna.”
“Great. I’m Anna.” In a falsetto, he said, “Lexi, it’s such a beautiful day.
Get your lazy bones out of bed and let’s go do something fun.
” He batted his lashes for extra effect, then lowered his voice to its normal range.
“What would that something fun be?” He was making a complete ass of himself, but Lexi was positively fizzing, so the antics were worth the cost. Besides, he loved how easily he could make her laugh, and it egged him on to try even harder. His chest ballooned.
“Probably having cocktails by the infinity pool … or walking on the beach. What about you? I mean, if you were here with your brother.”
“Same as you. Cocktails by the pool or tossing a football on the beach.”
“I don’t know how to toss a football.”
“Then how about we keep it simple and go for a walk on the beach?”
She chewed that bottom lip he was dying to taste again. “I-I guess?”
“Perfect. I just need to change into swim trunks.” He wasn’t going to give her hesitation any room to bloom.
“I should get my hat.”
She had already paid for her meal, so they made their way to the elevators, where they stood in awkward silence.
The awkwardness ramped up when Josh spotted Neil strutting through the lobby with a different bombshell.
Fortunately, Lexi didn’t seem to notice, and when the doors opened, he hurried her inside the car with a nudge to her lower back.
As they stepped into the car, they both went for the identical button.
“You’re on the third floor?” they said at the same time.
“Yes, I am,” they answered together before bursting into laughter.
He pressed the button and leaned against the wall opposite her.
What he was sure was a goofy grin was plastered on his face.
He didn’t take his eyes off her, and she reddened and looked away—so he sneaked in some outright ogling, trailing his gaze from her pretty pink toenails to her lustrous auburn ponytail, lingering in between to make mental notes of her matching bikini bottoms, flat stomach, and the way her top strained to hold her in behind a screen of black mesh.
The black mesh cover-up hit her mid-thigh, exposing her smooth, shapely legs. What it didn’t hide it hinted at, teasing him with velvety curves that made his imagination run amok. Her features were a killer combination that, when put together in one package, added up to stunning.
The earlier image of her locks curling around her perfect breasts made an unexpected appearance in his head, and he shoved his hands in his shorts pockets to keep his dick from standing up and announcing its readiness to play.
Jesus Christ!
What was he, a fifteen-year-old with spiking levels of testosterone? No, dumbshit. You’re a thirty-two-year-old man who reacts to this woman with spiking levels of testosterone.
The elevator doors slid open, and they both headed in the same direction. She stopped in front of a door and waved her key card. “This is me.”
He recorded the room number and pointed down the hall. “I’m just a few doors down in 319.”
“Do you want to wait while I get my hat, then we can go to your room?”
Panic flared inside him as his mind took mental inventory.
His tangled sheets were a mess from his extracurricular activities in the middle of the night.
He hadn’t expected guests, so one chair was piled with his dirty clothes from yesterday, the other with clean underwear he hadn’t put away yet.
He was already pushing uphill to make a good impression, and he didn’t need her thinking—knowing—he was a slob.
“Uh, no. I’ll change into my bathing suit and swing by so we can go down together.”
A shy smile curved her mouth and popped a pair of adorable dimples he hadn’t noticed before. “See you in a few.”
He dashed to his door the moment she disappeared behind hers, his heart chugging like a freight train. In his room, he yanked off his shorts and boxers, adding them to the pile on the chair before skinning on his trunks.
He brushed his teeth again and gave himself a critical going-over in the mirror, disappointed with the reflection looking back at him.
Jesus, when was the last time he’d had his hair cut?
He hurriedly ran an electric razor over his face, but it didn’t improve much.
Then he reminded himself it didn’t matter how he looked.
Did it? He wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
Merely spending time walking on a beach with a girl he barely knew.
Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that, bro.
Back at her door, he rapped a little too enthusiastically.
She whipped it open with almost as much enthusiasm, a smile brightening her face.
She held a wide-brimmed straw hat in one hand.
Beyond her, the room expanded into a sumptuous suite in ivory and various shades of blue.
More impressive than the room, though, was the lanai and the ocean view beyond.
“Wow! That’s quite a view.”