Chapter 23 #2
A hand wraps around my ankle and tugs. I sit up, but that only helps him drag my ass out of bed. I try to pull away but the man has a grip of steel.
“Okay, okay, stop, I’ll get up.”
I focus on him. He’s wearing shorts and nothing else. And yeah, I ogle his broad, muscled chest because seriously, if I’m opening my eyes this early I need some kind of compensation.
“Come over here,” he says, his voice sweet as honey. He walks to the window and the light bounces off his tan skin.
“Why are you so awake?” I ask him, putting my bare feet on the floor. Ooh, he has underfloor heating. Maybe I’m not so mad after all. “Don’t you sleep? Are you some kind of vampire?”
He ignores me and holds out his hand. I wrinkle my nose and take it. He pulls me in front of him, so I’m sandwiched between his chest and the window. His arms wrap around me as I finally look out.
“It’s snowing.”
“Yep.”
It’s a Hollywood kind of snow. Soft flakes that drift down, coating the trees and grass. Just a blanketing, but enough to make everything look like a Winter Wonderland.
“Are we going to get snowed in?” I ask him. A mixture of hope and dread pull at my chest. Hope because if we do, I won’t be there for my family’s arrival into town. Dread, because I have no idea who will rein them in if I’m not there.
“Sadly not,” he says, kissing the top of my head. The man is hard again. I can feel him pressing against my behind.
I wiggle and he chuckles.
“It’s going to warm up after ten,” he says. “The snow will be gone by the time we leave.”
“At least we’ll have our memories,” I say, feeling a little sad that our time at his cabin will be over soon. “Can we go out in it?”
“I was going to suggest we get in the hot tub,” he says. “But we can go for a walk if you prefer?”
I tap my finger against my lip. “A hot naked guy in a hot tub or a cold walk around a freezing lake. Let me think about that.”
He smirks.
“I’m gonna go for the walk,” I say, reconciled to the fact that I can’t get back to bed. I grab some clothes from my case and head for the bathroom.
“You’d choose a walk over a naked hot guy?” he asks as I open the bathroom door.
“It was a close second,” I tell him.
His phone rings, and he groans. I take the opportunity to jump in the shower, because last night we made a mess of ourselves and the bed.
Again.
I’m under the steaming hot spray when Eli puts his head around the door. “What are we doing on Tuesday?” he asks me.
“I’m going to be trying to not murder my sister,” I remind him. She messaged me last week to tell me she and her partner in the ice skating show are flying in early. The show wants to record them practicing on the ice in front of the team.
And she’s decided that rather than stay at Gramps’ house with the rest of the family, and a lot of the production crew, she’ll stay with me.
I can’t wait.
“Ah right.” Eli looks disappointed. “Liam and Sophie will be in town. Wanted to know if we’re free for dinner. I’ll tell them no.”
“You can go,” I point out. “I’ll be with Isabella.”
“She could come, too?” he suggests. His face is kind. Understanding. And it makes me feel worse.
It’s so lovely in this little cocoon of the two of us. With nobody else to talk about us or judge us. Or film us.
But I know he’s going slow because of me. My fears. Yes, I wore his number on my back, but we still haven’t gone out in public together and it’s not because of him, it’s because of me.
I’ve been kidding myself that if I pretend it’s just for now, I can walk away and not be hurt. But I care too much about him for that.
“She doesn’t know about us.” I pause and then get strong. “Yet.”
“Yet?”
My throat tightens. I feel exposed standing naked in the shower as he watches me. I have to do this. Show him how I feel. It’s not fair to him that I’m holding back because I’m scarred by something that happened all those years ago.
“I can’t tell her until I tell my parents,” I say.
“And knowing my dad he’ll want to catch it all on camera.
” There’s no way I’m having my love life exposed to millions of reality TV watchers.
“So I thought I’d tell them after the game.
Once the filming is over and he can’t make a thing out of it for ratings. ”
The softest expression washes over his face. “You’re okay with telling them about us?”
I take a deep breath. “Yes. I want to. I just need to time it right.” I wait for him to say something but he doesn’t.
“You want me to, right?” I ask, not understanding his silence.
He walks into the shower, still wearing his shorts and scoops me into his arms.
“Your phone,” I tell him.
“Oh shit.” He looks at his cell still in his hands. “Ah well.” He puts it outside the shower and comes back to hold me again. Water is pouring down his hair, his face, his body. And he’s got a smile as wide as the ocean.
“Are you okay with me telling them?” I ask again, needing the reassurance.
“Hell, yes I’m okay. I’m fucking ecstatic,” Eli says, still grinning.
The weird thing is, so am I.