Chapter 6 #2
Soon, wet beads were forming on her skin—whether it was sweat or just the steam, she didn’t know.
Her lungs calmed down and she could catch an almost-normal breath, inhaling the lavender scent from the scrub and a pleasant minty smell in the steam room.
She leaned back and tried to relax, assuming the sweat was good for her.
Why else would Shanna have her come in here?
Sweat stung her eyes, and she felt light-headed.
No wonder Shanna had handed her that water bottle, but she’d left it outside with the robe.
She liked to be warm, but she was an Arizona girl and was craving dry heat.
This didn’t feel very relaxing to her, but maybe it was good research for a …
torture scene? No. She wasn’t staying in here any longer.
She was burning hot and praying she’d lasted long enough to do something good for her skin.
Grabbing the container of scrub, she hurried out of the steam room, rinsed off quickly, and went straight for the cold plunge. She ran up the steps and leapt.
Ice-cold water enveloped her body. She screamed as her head went under. Bursting up out of the water, she screamed again. After being so hot, the freezing cold wasn’t quite as miserable as she’d imagined.
A deep, appealing male chuckle came from her right. Whipping around, Kari stared as a man materialized from the steam next to the steam room. “Gavin?” she whispered. She hurried up the steps of the cold plunge and down to meet him.
He was smiling at her, really smiling at her, and it was glorious. “You didn’t like the cold plunge?”
“No! It was almost as torturous as the steam room.” She grabbed his hand. “Let’s get in a hot one.”
He kept grinning at her and let her tug him toward the closest hot pool.
Kari let her eyes trail over his smiling, handsome face and down to his broad muscular shoulders, nicely muscled chest, and flat abdomen.
My, oh my, he looked good in a swimsuit.
She thought this scene might be more fun to write than the one of him teaching her to snow ski.
She was definitely putting a trip to the spa in her next book.
The hot water stung her toes, but she didn’t care. Rushing into the pool, she let the warmth envelop her. “Ahh. That is so much better.”
Gavin’s broad grin had settled to the half smile that she usually got out of him. “It does feel good.” He relaxed back into the seat.
“Thank you so much for the treatments this morning,” she gushed. “I loved every second of it.”
“I’m glad you liked them.”
“Do I look five years younger?” She winked; that was what the esthetician had told her while doing the facial.
His eyes swept over her. “You look incredible … but you looked incredible before the treatments.”
“Thank you.”
Gavin nodded, his eyes focused on her face. He leaned closer and she was pretty certain they were going to have more than just a moment. When their lips connected, it would rock her world.
“The next pool has jets that massage every part of your body,” Gavin said. “Do you want to try them?”
“Oh, um, sure.” Surprise and disappointment filled her.
She really wanted to kiss him, but if that wasn’t possible because he was so closed off and slower to instigate than any hero she’d ever written, she’d be content to just stare at him.
She also wanted to ask him if he came here regularly, if it was coincidence that he’d found her, or if her dreams were coming true and this meeting showed he was as interested in her as she was in him.
He climbed back out of the pool, and she savored the view as he walked to a panel and twisted a button. His calves flexed nicely, and she let her eyes rove over the muscles in his upper body. She wasn’t ogling; she was doing … research.
The water in the next pool over started bubbling. Pipes emerged from the ceiling, from the sides, and from below, sending jets of water into pool. Gavin waited as she climbed out, and he led the way into the pool. “Okay, start with the head and work down?”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
He took her hand and directed her to the jets from above that made the shower look like a man-made waterfall.
She was afraid it would hurt, but he guided her underneath with one perfectly manly hand on her waist, and she liked the water massaging her scalp almost as much as she liked his hand lingering on her waist. Next was another waterfall-type spout for her shoulders and neck.
She couldn’t stop little moans of “Ahhh” as the jets relieved the tension in her shoulders from typing so much, almost as good as the incredible massage she’d had earlier.
She noticed Gavin watching her with his half smile, but it was combined with a look of desire that warmed her more than the water ever could.
After that, she sat in a special seat where a variety of jets mounted in the wall of the spa massaged her neck, the back of her shoulders, and her upper back; the next seat over focused on her mid and lower back.
Finally, they walked to a spot where the unique streams of water massaged her legs and then her feet.
The best part of all was that Gavin stayed close. Most of the time, he kept one hand firmly on her waist, and sometimes he put the other on her arm or leg to get her in the right position. As they finished the round, he smiled at her. “What did you think?”
“I loved it,” she gushed. Mostly, she loved being close to him. “What now?”
“Now we lie in this pool.” He took her over to another pool that had two separate lie-down beds like individual hot tubs.
Each had strong jets that worked every inch of her body again.
After they enjoyed that for a long time, he took her to what they called the bubble beds.
These were gentle bubble jets that covered the entire body but were mostly comfortable and relaxing, not a pounding or massaging like the other jets had been.
“Ahh,” Kari said. “I’m going to take a nap now.”
“Good plan.”
But there was no sleeping with the likes of Gavin Strong close by.
He took her hand like he had last night.
Their arms and legs touched as the bubbles caressed her head, back, and legs.
The bubbles made a quiet, soothing sound.
She would’ve fallen asleep if she hadn’t been so keyed up and interested in the man next to her.
“Do you come here regularly?” she asked.
“Not as often as I should. It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
“Completely amazing.” She nodded. “Did your parents build it?”
“No. I came up with the idea a couple of years ago and researched a bunch of spas to find exactly what I wanted. Heath’s done something similar at two of his resorts and has plans for the other two come spring.”
She was impressed. “It’s fabulous.”
Rotating slightly on the bed, she got all kinds of brave and laid her head against his bare shoulder.
Gavin let out a soft groan, and her stomach filled with heat.
Her right hand was holding on to his left.
How she wished she dared lift her left hand and trail her fingers over his firm chest and abdomen.
Would it feel smooth and firm like her characters had described it?
How would he react? Would she internally combust from touching him so intimately?
Gavin’s right hand lifted toward her face, flooding her with a thrill of anticipation.
He gently tilted her chin up as his face turned toward hers.
Kari’s breath rushed out. His deep brown eyes were sucking her in faster than a black hole.
She knew his kiss would be sheer pleasure, but it might be dangerous for her.
She had no real-world experience with men, and here she’d landed in the arms of the most incredible man she’d ever met.
Far more incredible than any man she could’ve dreamt up. Could he really be interested in her?
“Kari,” he murmured, his lips growing ever closer.
She wanted to grab his head, pull him down to meet her, and finally, finally kiss him, but she sensed that he needed to be the one to cross those inches.
If a man this incredible wasn’t involved with someone, he’d probably been hurt before.
Well, she could be the woman to heal those hurts. She hoped.
His watch rang, startling them both. Gavin muttered a soft curse, and it made her smile that he seemed as upset as she felt about their near miss. Pulling back slightly, he looked at his watch and then cursed louder. “Austin!”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m going to be late to pick up Austin.” He released his grip on her and scrambled out of the pool.
“It’s one already?” Had she really been so crazy invested in him that over an hour had passed without her noticing? She hadn’t even felt hungry for lunch.
“One-ten.” He rushed for the male locker room.
Kari panicked. She hurried out of the pool but didn’t catch him as he ran through the door and disappeared.
She stopped in her tracks but then hurried for the women’s locker room and the showers.
Rinsing off as quickly as she could, she reasoned that yesterday he’d offered to have her go with him to pick up Austin and would still want her.
She slipped into her underwear and sweats and ran through the spa.
“Everything okay?” asked Shanna, who’d been so sweet with her all day.
“Um … Gavin?”
Shanna’s blue eyes filled with uncertainty and a bit of compassion. “He rushed out of here half a minute ago. Maybe you could catch him?” Her voice didn’t sound as if she believed that.
“Thanks.” Kari ran out the door and searched the parking lot. She couldn’t see his sport utility anywhere, and she swore she saw a black vehicle disappearing down the road toward town.
Her shoulders slumped, and the cold bit her cheeks and seemed to freeze her wet hair.
He’d asked her to come with him, but apparently he’d …
forgotten her? That stung, and she wasn’t sure what to do.
Slowly, she turned back to the spa. She might as well get cleaned up properly and use the fabulous products Shanna had set out for her.
Forcing a smile as she reentered the open area of the spa, she said, “Guess I missed him.” Her voice only cracked slightly.
“Sorry.” Shanna apologized as if she were responsible for her boss not wanting Kari.
“It’s fine.” She walked with her head held high back to the locker room. What had she done to upset Gavin enough to ditch her? She had to believe he was just concerned for Austin. So why did it hurt so badly?