Chapter 23
Fumble – when Hudson loses control of the date
Hudson
I offer Nova my arm. “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready. I just don’t know why I had to wear a swimsuit underneath my dress. It’s not warm enough to swim in the ocean.” She shivers.
“You don’t enjoy swimming in the ocean.”
Her nose wrinkles. “There are creepy crawlers and things with sharp teeth in the water.”
I chuckle as I open the door for her and usher her outside. She heads toward my truck but I steer her in the other direction.
“Is this the part where you lure me into the woods to drink my blood?”
I cough to hide my amusement. “Drink your blood?”
“Maya is on a vampire romance kick.”
“Vampires aren’t real.”
“I know but don’t tell Maya. She would be majorly disappointed.”
“I promise not to tell Maya vampires don’t exist even though they don’t.”
“If we’re not going into the woods for you to suck my blood, where are we going? And is it far? I wore these sandals for our date but I hadn’t expected to do much walking.”
She kicks up one foot to show me her sandals. The silky straps wrap around her ankles up to her knees. They’re sexy as fuck. I’d leave them on while I flipped up her dress and buried myself deep inside her. My cock twitches in agreement.
I blow out a breath. I’m not having sex with Nova tonight. She needs to realize there’s more to us than our incredible chemistry in bed.
“These sandals are not made for walking.”
“Do you want me to carry you?”
She skids to a stop. “Carry me? You’re going to carry me all the way to this mystery place we’re going to?”
I shrug. “I blew out my Achilles’ tendon but my arms still work.”
“Based on the amount of running you do every morning, your Achilles isn’t slowing you down any.”
Except it ruined my career. What is an athlete when he can’t play pro ball? A resort owner, apparently. I scowl. Resort owner was nowhere on my list of career goals.
I shake those thoughts out of my mind. I’m not going to be all melancholy on my date with the woman I’m falling for. She deserves my attention. She deserves everything.
“Do you want me to carry you?”
“Depends. How far are we going?”
“You’re not very good at handling surprises, are you?”
She shrugs. “None of my friends are.”
“Considering who your friends are, I’m not surprised.”
She elbows me. “Hey, don’t speak badly about my friends. They’re my ride and dies. If you’re with me, you’re with them.”
“I wasn’t speaking badly of them. I was merely pointing out how your friends couldn’t wait to find out where senior skip day was so they broke into the principal’s office to figure it out.”
“They should have never teased us about it being the best senior skip day ever. Who can resist the temptation?”
“Not you.” I chuckle.
“You laughed. I win!”
I shake my head. Nova is funny. What was I thinking? Avoiding her since I came home three years ago? I’ve lost three years with my funny sunshine.
We reach the resort chalets furthest from the main building.
“Are we having dinner at the resort restaurant?” Nova asks.
“No.”
“But we are going to the resort?”
“Maybe.”
She pinches me. “You’re no fun.”
“Trust me, Sunshine. I’m lots of fun.”
Her eyes flare and she licks her bottom lip. I’m tempted to touch those lips. Taste her mouth. Explore every inch of her. But I inhale a deep breath instead.
I want to give Nova a night to remember.
“Shall we?” I motion to the structure behind the main building.
“What’s in here?” She doesn’t wait for an answer before opening the door and entering. She squeals. “It’s a pool!”
“I closed the pool for the night.”
“There’s no one else coming?”
I motion to the table set up next to the pool in one of the cabanas. “Except for the wait staff.”
She hurries to the table and sinks into one of the lounge chairs. She groans as she settles in. “You’re going to have to haul me out of this chair after dinner.”
“I’ll haul you anywhere you want to go.”
And I do mean anywhere. Anything Nova wants, she gets. I plan to spoil her rotten. I’m going to get her addicted to me. She won’t want to ever leave me. Not that I’m ever going to let her. She leaves me, I’m chasing her down.
I sit across from her and motion to the waitress waiting by the entrance to the pool. She arrives with a bottle of champagne.
Nova holds up her hand. “None for me.” She points to her belly.
“Good thing it’s non-alcoholic.”
She makes a face. “Non-alcoholic champagne?”
I pour her a glass. “Just try it.”
She lifts her glass and sniffs the liquid before drinking a small sip. “Hmm. Not bad.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving. I had a sandwich for lunch but it fell apart and well....”
She motions to the front of her dress and I know exactly what happened.
“Let me feed you.”
Thirty minutes later, Nova falls back in her chair with a moan. “I’m so full. I ate too much. I don’t think I can move. Maybe you will have to carry me back to your chalet after all.”
Our chalet, I think but don’t correct her. She was wary enough to go on a date with me. She’ll freak out if she knows I don’t intend for her to return to her house ever again.
“It’s too bad you can’t move.” I motion to the pool. “I had plans for us.”
She springs to her feet, whips off her dress, and rushes to the pool but screeches to a halt before she reaches the water. “Oops. I forgot I have shoes on.”
I kneel in front of her. “I’ve got you.”
She places her hands on my shoulders as I unwind the silk straps from her calves until she can toe off her shoe. I massage her foot before switching to the other foot to remove her remaining shoe.
“I think I want someone to remove my shoes from now on.”
I glance up at her. “I’m at your service.”
She laughs and her stomach jiggles. She squeaks before grabbing her stomach. “No making fun of how fat I am.”
I was excited when I noticed her belly had popped a few days ago. But I didn’t mention it since I don’t know what the protocol is. I’m glad I didn’t as she appears insecure.
I push to my feet and place my hands on her belly. “You’re not fat. You’re pregnant. You’re growing our baby in there. I can’t wait to meet him or her.”
She places her hands over mine. “Me too.”
“I hope Sprog is a girl.”
Her smile lights up her face. “You do?”
“A little girl who has your eyes and your smile. She’ll be beautiful the way her mother is.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not beautiful. Chloe’s the beautiful one.”
“Disagree. You’re beautiful.”
Her cheeks flush. I need to call her beautiful more often if this is the way she looks when I do. I lean down to kiss her. I miss her taste.
Her eyes catch on my mouth and she bites her bottom lip. It’s an invitation I can’t refuse.
My mouth is nearly on hers when the door bangs open and the waitress walks in. “Oops. Sorry.”
“You can pick this up in the morning,” I growl at her.
She hurries outside but it’s too late. The moment has passed.
“Last one in the pool’s a rotten egg!” Nova shouts before doing a cannonball into the pool. Water splashes everywhere.
“What are you waiting for?” she asks when she surfaces. “Do you enjoy being a rotten egg?”
She swims closer and splashes me. “Is Mr. Big Shot Football Player afraid of the water?”
I whip off my belt and her eyes follow the motion. My cock twitches but I warn it to calm down. Nova’s interested but she’s also wary. I don’t want to push too hard too soon. The next time I sink into her, I want her one-hundred percent behind our relationship. Not hesitant.
“I’ll have you know I grew up on an island.”
“You did? I didn’t know Double Crown grew up on an island.”
Double Crown? She knows how much I hate the nickname. I’ll get her back for teasing me. I pull off my t-shirt before kicking off my shoes and letting my pants drop to the ground. Her eyes travel over my body.
“Do you want me to turn around?”
Her gaze lifts to my face at my question. “Turn around?”
“To give you a better view.”
She swallows. But my girl doesn’t give in. She never does. She’s a survivor.
“You’re stalling. You’re afraid of the water.”
She splashes me again and I leap into the pool. I land next to her.
“Who’s afraid now?” I ask.
“I’m not afraid. I was in the water long before you, chicken pants.”
“Chicken pants?”
She shrugs. “If the scrawny legs fit.”
“My legs are scrawny?”
I swim to her and she retreats as she splashes.
“Stick legs is what I’ve heard people call them.” She giggles at her own joke.
And I’m done. I lunge for her and catch her before she has the chance to get away. She giggles as she splashes more water at me. I tighten my arms around her and do what I’ve wanted to do since the second she walked into the living room wearing those sexy sandals.
I meld my lips to hers. I can feel the smile on her soft lips and I smile in return before plunging my tongue into her mouth.
Her fingers dig into my shoulders as she moans. Her smell of wildflowers surround me and her taste fills my senses. It’s a taste unique to Nova. A taste I’d recognize anywhere. A taste I hope to indulge in every day for the rest of my life.
I lift her higher until I can press my hard length into her core. She wraps her legs around me. I—
Ta dum.
Nova pulls away from me and glances around. “What’s going on? Why am I hearing Netflix?”
“It’s a movie.” I motion to the screen I had set up. “A cockblocking movie,” I mutter.
She bursts into laughter. Still laughing, she pushes away from me. I let her go since the moment has passed. Again.
She swims to her raft and gets on. “Movie time!”
I swim toward my own raft. I’d follow Nova anywhere. Even if it leads to blue balls.