17. Kimberly
KIMBERLY
I yawned, turned from one side of the bed to the other, and bumped into a wall of muscle.
Drake was still asleep. My heart went from a steady rhythm to beating so fast, I felt it might jump out of my chest. Last night came back to me in a rush, and my face exploded into a satisfied grin.
Oh yeah, the three orgasms still had a lingering effect.
I moved as gently as possible, sitting up against the pillow and watching him. He was on his belly, hugging the pillow under his head. One leg was straight, the other bent at the knee. The muscles of his ass and calves looked delicious, almost like he was posing. The man was unreal.
Touching is better than watching, the devil on my shoulder egged me on.
My fingers itched with the need to brush against his skin. I had to get out of bed before I woke him up. He deserved his sleep after last night’s performance.
I slipped into the bathroom, closing the door carefully, and almost gasped when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. How did my hair end up looking like this? It hadn't been great yesterday evening either, but this was insane.
I immediately went into the shower, thanking all the saints that I'd brought my conditioner with me; otherwise, I'd probably have to cut out all the knots. I'd always had difficult hair. It was why I very often kept it braided so it couldn't knot up.
After getting out of the shower, I used my trusty bright pink detangler and effortlessly brushed it until it looked completely knot-free. I didn't want to use the hairdryer yet because it would wake Drake up for sure.
Just thinking about him brought a smile to my lips. This trip was definitely not going the way I'd expected, and I wasn't even sorry. For the first time, I was blissfully happy, and I wasn't waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I opened the door, peeking outside. To my astonishment, Drake wasn't in bed anymore. He'd gotten up and didn't attack me in my shower? After telling me yesterday that he wished I'd been there with him?
Hmm. I was getting suspicious. Where is he?
"Thank you. Yes, we'll have coffee as well," I heard him say from the living room.
I wrapped a towel over my body and another one around my hair before going up to meet him. He was still naked. My fingers tingled again.
Touch, touch, touch, my brain singsonged.
"You're up," I said.
He turned around, looking me up and down. I felt butt naked beneath his gaze even though the towel was so huge it covered every bit of me.
"I ordered us breakfast. I thought you'd spend more time in the bathroom and wanted to surprise you. They have pancakes."
Something funny happened to my stomach. It seemed to flutter and then completely still. "Thanks."
He grabbed the robe from the couch, putting it on himself.
"Why did you do that?" I asked.
"So I'm decent when they bring the food."
"Oh, that. Can you also wrap it tightly?" I said, then stepped closer, doing the job myself. "Don't want anyone seeing your pecs."
He threw his head back, laughing. It was the second time he'd done it, and he looked young and carefree. I kissed the base of his neck, and he straightened up right away, glancing at me with mischief in his eyes.
"I'm going to go blow-dry my hair real quick before they bring the breakfast. I didn't want to wake you up before."
He fondled my ass as I turned around. I looked at him over my shoulder. "Touching is better than looking, don’t you agree?"
"Fuck yes."
I was dancing for no reason while I dried my hair. Some catchy lyrics came to mind, and I mouthed them while I felt the air against my face. I didn't even recognize myself. This was a happy, happy day.
Afterward, I grabbed a robe from the hook on the door and slid it on. It was fluffy and comforting.
I found Drake in the living room. Our breakfast was already here, and the pancakes looked amazing. They’d also brought maple syrup in a small bottle as well as an assortment of fruit. I double-checked Drake's robe.
"What are you doing?" he asked as I sat down next to him on the couch.
"Looking to see if anyone could peek."
"They couldn’t."
His phone lit up in front of us. He'd gotten a message from Suze.
"Did she send you baby pics? Oops, sorry for peeking," I said, immediately focusing on my pancakes as my heart beat out of my chest.
Why did I look?
“Yeah, she sent me pics of Michael. Want to see?"
I stared at him incredulously. "Sure. Again, I'm sorry I looked before."
He frowned as he unlocked the phone. "Why do you keep saying you're sorry? The phone was there. I don’t have anything to hide."
"I just didn't want you to think I was checking it or something."
"Kimberly, as I said, I have nothing to hide. I don't care if you look."
I jerked my head back.
He frowned. "Why is that such a surprise to you?"
"I don't think I've ever heard a man say that. Everyone's usually so cagey with their phone."
"I'm not. I don't care. But someone must have made you feel shitty about it."
I swallowed hard, shrugging. "Yeah, my ex went ballistic every time I even brought him his phone.
To be honest, that always made me feel like shit.
I was sure he had stuff to hide. I mean, why else would you get uptight like that?
Once, in the very early days of our dating, an ex called him.
I'd seen the missed call because it rang while he was in the shower, and I told him.
He was absolutely furious with me, accusing me of checking his phone.
Isn't that insane? I asked him why he was still in touch with his ex, and he turned it all on me. "
"Yeah, my sister's ex was like that. I never liked him. She actually realized he wanted to leave her because she saw some messages on his phone. And instead of the fight being about him leaving, it was about her not trusting him. Come on, eat your pancakes before they get cold."
"Could I see the pics first?" I asked. "I love babies."
He looked at me with surprise in his gaze. Nodding, he held the phone for me to see the pics. "You can scroll through the photos. She sent me more."
Holy crap, have I stepped into an alternate universe? Is he really handing me his phone to browse through it on my own? Isn't he afraid I'll see something I'm not supposed to? I felt like this might be a trap, but I scrolled anyway.
Michael was truly adorable pink. "He looks so tiny in the pics."
"Like I said, he was born prematurely. My sister went into labor weeks before she was due, after her ex told her he wanted a divorce."
My whole body shook. I couldn't believe anyone would tell his pregnant wife he wanted a divorce. I'd punch that dude myself and then ask all my cousins to take a swing too.
"How is your sister handling it?"
"She's very stubborn. I barely convinced her to ask a nanny to come every other night so she can rest a bit more. She's afraid of leaving the baby with a stranger."
"That's understandable," I said. "If I had a baby, I'd probably keep it strapped to me 24-7. You should see me with my cousins’ kids. My family basically has to barter with me for time with them. Even the parents."
I gave him back the phone, then turned to my pancakes, eating them at lightning speed. "I didn't even know I was hungry."
He ate slowly, chuckling. "Neither did I."
I sipped my coffee while Drake finished his pancakes, and then I turned to him. "Would it help if I spoke to your sister?"
He put his fork and knife down, turning sideways to me. "Regarding what?"
"I don't know. Life, kids, and nieces and nephews. I don’t technically have nieces, but I consider my cousins like my brothers, so I see myself as their aunt. And I’ve seen the toll it takes to raise a kid.
And it’s even harder for your sister. Maybe try to convince her that getting help isn't such a bad thing. "
"You would do that? Why?"
I shrugged. "Why not? I think sometimes we get into this rut, especially when we're desperate. Maybe she's feeling guilty that the little one doesn't have a dad in his life and thinks she should do everything by herself."
"Thanks, Kimberly. I do think it would help."
"Okay, then I'll do that."
"You're done with your coffee?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yes. Why?"
"Because I've been dying to do this since you woke up."
Before I realized what was happening, he pulled me into his lap so I was straddling him on the couch. Grinning, I arranged my robe so my lady bits were on display, and then I pushed his robe apart as well. I had skin-on-skin contact with his cock.
I groaned, dropping my head back. "Oh yeah, this is how every morning should start."
I felt him tense, his fingers pushing into my skin.
Crap, Kimberly. Way to scare him away.
"I didn't mean…." I sighed. "I'm not even sure what I meant."
"Kimberly, I know you've had a shitty experience by getting involved with someone you worked with before."
I held up a finger. "Shitty doesn't begin to cover it.
It was a disaster. I screwed things up so bad.
" Biting my lip, I decided to lay out my fears.
"I don't want to screw things up again. The hotel is really important to Travis and to all of us.
I don't want things to go down the drain because of me.
What if things get so bad between us that you decide to go, and there is no general manager? "
His jaw ticked. "Already seeing the end, huh?"
"No." I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm just trying to foresee what might happen in a worst-case scenario because I've already been through one. It wasn't pretty."
"Kimberly, I like you." He cupped my face, putting his fingers on my cheek and his thumb under my jaw, the way he seemed to do every time he wanted me to take him seriously. "I'm not an asshole. All I want is for you to stop focusing on bleak scenarios."
I loved how he effortlessly put me at ease. He didn't brush off my fears but rationalized them, and he was right. He was bringing out a different side of me. The one who didn't always search for a distant "bleak scenario," as he called it.
"Okay." I nodded.
"Promise." His eyes searched mine, and I melted.
I sucked in my breath. "I promise."
"Good." He smiled wickedly. "Now, where did we leave off last night?"
I grinned. "I believe you said something about the shower. Hmm, what else could we try? Oh, I know." I wiggled my eyebrows. "The couch."
"I was going to suggest we start here first. Great minds think alike." He glanced at the clock. "We have three hours until we need to be at the airport. That's plenty of time to christen everything in this room."
When we landed in Chicago on Sunday, Travis was waiting for us at the airport. He and Reese decided to fly with an airline after all. It would take too long with the helicopter. But they were flying tomorrow. Why was he here?
"Travis, you didn't have to pick us up," Drake said.
"Nonsense, I wanted to hear your first impressions in person." Travis looked at me, eyebrow raised. "Why did you take a big bag?" He took it from me and started rolling it through the terminal.
I shrugged. "I don't like cramming everything into a carry-on."
"Okay," he said as he went with us to the parking lot. "Shoot. Tell me.”
"I think we should move forward," I started. "Reese is crunching numbers as we speak. But I do think Aspen is one of the places that will give us the same benefits as any city hotel, with the bonus of the skiing season. It's a year-round destination."
Drake nodded. “Kimberly put it perfectly. I wouldn't push it so much if the property's location wasn't so perfect. In my experience, something like that rarely comes along, and it's an opportunity you don't want to miss.”
“How long until we could open?” Travis asked.
"That's hard to tell," Drake said. I liked his honesty. He never made a statement to get someone off his back. He was straightforward, and I appreciated that as much in business as I did in my personal life.
When we reached Travis's car, he took out his wallet and groaned.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"The parking ticket fell out of my wallet." He looked around, groaning again. “I'll go to the information desk and deal with that. You two can wait in the car. Here's the keys." He handed them to me.
"Thanks."
"I'll take care of the luggage," Drake said as I unlocked the car. He opened the trunk, loading the bags.
I sighed as I watched.
"What?" he asked.
"I love seeing your muscles flex when you lift the bags," I said casually and touched his arm, squeezing it lightly.
He laughed. "Really? You can see that through my coat?"
“Oh yeah.”
He closed the trunk, turning to me.
"We didn't speak about how we're going to handle things between us," I stated.
He looked at me seriously. "Your call."
"Why?" I asked, stunned.
"Kimberly, I don't want you to feel pressured into anything. But here's a hint: I don't like sneaking around. Besides, it would make spoiling you much harder."
Oh, he's making a very good case.
"Fuck, I want to kiss you so badly," he said.
“So do it."
The next second, his mouth was on mine, hot and exquisitely delicious, especially with the Chicago cold surrounding us.
My whole body lit up: my belly, my limbs… and my lady bits were completely on fire. I felt as if my panties were going to combust any second now. He put one arm around my back. I rose on my tiptoes and then dropped back on my heels. Energy coursed through me. I wanted to jump him.
"What the hell is this?" Travis's voice boomed behind us.
I gasped and jumped to one side, turning to face him. He looked furious, glancing between us before focusing on Drake. "You piece of shit."
"Travis," I exclaimed.
"That is my cousin. I won't allow you to take advantage of her."
"This is mutual, Travis," Drake said. He sounded surprisingly calm.
I was pissed at my cousin for jumping to conclusions. "Travis, you can't react like that. Come on."
"How long has this been going on?" he asked.
"It's none of your business," I replied.
"Yeah, it is. One, you're my cousin, and two, we all work together. I can't believe it."
I tried to rein in my anger. I knew he was protective because he cared about me, but I didn't want him to make a scene.
"Travis," I said in as calm a voice as I could muster, "Drake and I are just exploring things between us."
Travis's eyes bulged. "What does that even mean?"
"That I would appreciate it if you wouldn't butt in and would just accept things as they are."
Travis looked at me intently for a few seconds before nodding. Then he turned to Drake. "Fine. But if I get even a hint that you're hurting her, you'll be very sorry."
"That sounds like a fair deal," Drake said.