Chapter 19
Trey
Sedona, Arizona
“This is it?” Jessie asks from the passenger seat of the rental car.
The sun has set, and we’re in the middle of nowhere.
When Greg—the sponsorship manager for Off Road Rage—sent me my itinerary, including check-in information, I was expecting a swanky hotel like they’ve booked in the past. Not an address and lockbox code for an Airbnb. Not just an Airbnb, a tiny home Airbnb.
“Yeah, this is it,” I answer hesitantly. There is no way this thing has two bedrooms.
“Hm,” she hums. “Well, let’s go check it out.” She climbs out and heads up the steps before I can even process what we’re in for.
I know she’s excited. After she changed her mind about coming, I saw her Googling the area, restaurants, things to do, and local hikes. She was practically vibrating while we waited to board the plane.
“The code is 3862,” I tell her, shutting my door behind me.
Beep.
The lock releases, and Jessie heads straight in. She doesn’t bother to wait for me, likely to assess the situation I’ve gotten us into.
“Trey!” she screams.
I run the last few steps and blast through the door, imagining a hobo sitting naked on the couch or something. Nope. Hobo-free.
Jessie bounces up and down, pointing through a sliding patio door to a back deck with a hot tub. Her red hair flies around her as a little squeak sneaks its way through her lips.
I let out a breath and rake my fingers through my hair. “You scared the shit out of me, Hawkins.”
“I love hot tubs.”
“You packed a suit, right?”
“No, I’ll just go naked,” she says, her back turned to me.
This woman is trying to kill me, I know it.
When I don’t respond, she peeks over her shoulder, a coy smile on her face. “Kidding. Of course I did.”
That’s too bad.
I glance around the rest of the space at the same moment she does. It’s high-end for a tiny home with Southwestern decor and furnishings. It’s a studio apartment style with one small bathroom, a kitchen, a living area with a TV, two chairs, and one bed.
No. Nope. Nuh-uh. Will not work. My dick can’t handle it.
I pull out my phone to call Greg. “I didn’t realize it was a one-bedroom. I honestly didn’t even realize it was an Airbnb until today. I’ll call Greg and have him find us somewhere else.”
She swallows and nods once. A look I can’t decipher flashes across her face. Is she . . . disappointed?
Greg picks up on the second ring. “Hey, Champ. Make it in okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I was wondering if maybe we could stay somewhere else? I don’t mean to be a pain, but this is a one-bedroom.”
“Oh, um, I can check. I’m sorry, I just assumed she was your girlfriend.”
Ha, in my dreams. Literally. “No, we’d like a place with two bedrooms, if you can.”
Jessie walks back to the patio door and looks out at the hot tub. Damn it, she was so excited. There isn’t even a couch I could sleep on.
“Let me call around, and I’ll get back to you.”
“Wait, one more thing. If you can find another place with a hot tub, that would be great.”
“You got it.”
I hang up and move to stand by Jessie.
Greg
Every place within an hour from here is booked. Do you want me to book you a place in the city? The drive will suck getting out here every morning, but I’ll book whatever you want.
Did I do something in a past life to deserve this sick form of punishment?
Not only am I living with the woman of my dreams, but now I might very well be sharing a bed with her.
And unfortunately, we have a strict no-underwear-touching rule.
Underwear I’ve now seen and which is burned into my brain.
“What’d he say?” Jessie asks.
I plop down on a chair in the tiny living space. “Everything is booked. We’re staying here or driving back to the city, and I’ll commute out each morning.”
She sits in the chair next to me and brings her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
She glances around the space again before seeming to come to a decision.
“We’re both mature adults. We can share a bed for a few nights.
The city is too far, and I really want to get in that hot tub.
” She grins before adding, “Unless you can’t handle it.
We can leave if you don’t want to share—”
“No. We’ll stay, I’m good with it,” I say a little too quickly.
“Okay.” A small smile pulls at her lips.
“Okay.” I release the tension from my shoulders. “I’ll grab our bags.”
“I’ll help with the most important items.” She says as she hops down the steps in front of me and pulls out the bottle of wine we picked up on the way here.
I huff a laugh and grab our bags, following her back inside.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m standing in the small kitchen space opening the wine when Jessie comes out of the bathroom in a purple string bikini, her belly button ring catching the light. And now I have my answer: I am definitely being punished.
I’m not sure I can muster the willpower I need to sleep in the same bed as this woman without trying something.
Not with the way she’s been looking at me the last few days.
Our little game of strip gin has the sexual tension in the house at an all-time high.
Maybe if I roll myself in a blanket like a baby being swaddled so I literally can’t move. That’ll keep my self-control in check.
My eyes are still on the tiny bow holding the two pieces of her bottoms together when she snaps her fingers. “My eyes are up here.” She fights her smile, busting me for checking her out.
“And they are beautiful.” I wink at her, recovering quickly.
She grabs a wine glass, fills it, and disappears out the door.
After changing into my swim trunks, I take my glass of wine and slide open the patio door.
Jessie has country music playing softly on her phone on a small patio table.
She’s submerged up to her neck, head against the headrest. Her red waves are tied in a messy bun.
The only light comes from inside the house and the soft white lights of the hot tub.
Wild beauty. That’s what she is. I want to tell her, but I don’t.
Sharing a bed is going to be difficult enough; I don’t need to make it worse.
Besides, Knox is probably right—we’re fire and gasoline.
Someone is bound to get burned when we finally collide .
. . but for a few wild seconds, it would be pure, unfiltered heat.
“Is it everything you hoped and dreamed of?” I ask.
“It’s almost better than sex.”
The look that crosses my face makes her burst out laughing. I shake my head. “You need to have better sex, then.”
I climb into the tub, taking the seat across from her—as far away from her and that purple bikini as possible.
“There are so many stars out tonight.” She’s looking up, taking in the view.
I don’t bother; I can’t stop looking at her. She stares at the stars for a few minutes, then takes a sip of her wine before making eye contact with me. “Let’s play a game.”
“Because the last time we played a game went so well . . .” I say under my breath.
She must catch it though; the narrowing of her eyes tells me she doesn’t find me funny.
“What do you have in mind?”
“You pick,” she says. “One of the classics like truth or dare, two truths and a lie, or never have I ever.”
“Never have I ever kicks my ass every time, so how about two truths and a lie?”
“Ha, somehow I’m not surprised. Okay, you start.” She takes another sip from her glass.
“Hm . . . let me think.” I tap my pointer finger on my chin. “Okay, I’ve got it. I’ve skinny-dipped in three different states.”
Jessie bursts out laughing. “Of course you bring up skinny dipping while we’re in a hot tub.”
“Hush, I’m not done. I’ve never been bucked off in under 3 seconds, and I stood naked on top of a mountain in Wyoming.”
She crinkles her nose. “I’m seeing a trend here . . . a naked one.” I smile innocently at her. “But, I’ve seen you get bucked off in under 3 seconds, so that is the lie.”
“Alright, you got me there. There isn’t a bull rider alive who hasn’t gotten dick-slammed in 0.70 seconds. Do you want to know about the mountain—”
“Nope.” She pops the ‘p’ in her reply.
I chuckle. “Alright, your turn.”
She starts to tick them off on her fingers. “I have a hidden tattoo. I stitched up my own hand in my kitchen once. I don’t like Christmas or Nickelback.”
I gasp. “That better be the lie!” I push out of my seat and move to float in the middle of the hot tub, closer to her.
She laughs, shaking her head.
“How do you not like Christmas or Nickelback? That’s sacrilegious in two religions.”
“Nickelback is not a religion, you goof. And I always work Christmas, it pays extra. Now go, it’s your turn again, and I’m one ahead.”
“Wait, what’s the lie?”
“You don’t get to know—you lost. Now go.”
“Fine, but we will be revisiting this. Jesus Christ and Chad Kroeger are good for the soul. You’ll see.”
She takes a sip of wine, waiting for me to continue.
“I rode a horse into a bar and got served. I bummed a smoke from a homeless man once. I got tied to a hotel bed, and the maid found me naked the next morning.”
“Again with the nudity.” She smiles, moving out of her seat, nearer to the middle of the hot tub with me. “I would love to say the hotel bed is a lie . . . but unfortunately, I know you.”
“Hey!”
“And I know you don’t care for horses. So the horse in the bar is the lie.”
“Ha, I win. That was the truth. I might not like horses, but I was hammered, and his name was Elvis.”
“Ugh. So what’s the lie?”
I make a disgusted face. “Smoking is gross, and homeless people scare me. There was an incident once.” Her foot brushes my calf as she kicks, circling around the tub.
“I don’t even want to know. Okay, my turn. I’ve hooked up in a hospital supply closet. I’ve worn lingerie under my scrubs to boost my self-confidence. And—”
“Wait a minute now . . . how often are we talking here? Like once a month? Couple times a week?”
She smirks with a twinkle in her eye, not answering me.
“Do not tell me every day,” I groan.
She laughs.
Evil woman.
“And I’ve never kissed anyone in a hot tub before.”
I eye her suspiciously. I don’t want to be wrong again, but I find the hot tub kiss oddly specific.
She takes her job seriously and is a professional, so I highly doubt she’s ever hooked up in a supply closet.
But who wouldn’t kiss this woman in a hot tub given the chance?
The lingerie isn’t a question—the flush on her cheeks when I dug into that one gave her away.
My knee brushes her thigh as we slowly move closer to each other, like magnets. “You are far too beautiful to take to a supply closet.”
She nods once—I’ve won.
“I do have one question, though.”
“What’s that?” She sets her wine down, pausing our dance.
“Do you want to be kissed in a hot tub?”
Her eyes dance in the dim light. “I wouldn’t say no if the opportunity presented itself.”
I can’t help myself, and I move in close and give her a quick peck on the lips. So quick that it was more of a brush than a peck. She didn’t even have time to prepare. “Wish granted. You’re welcome. You have now been kissed in a hot tub.”
She laughs and swims closer, her knees now between my legs. “I would hardly call that a kiss. I thought you were supposed to be some kind of pro or something.”
Jessie has been flirting with me for weeks now, but this is at another level.
I’m not sure if she’s serious or not. Until our little game of strip gin, she’d made it pretty damn clear over the last year she wants nothing to do with me in that way.
But the look she’s giving me now screams the opposite, and unlike strip gin, she’s had less than a glass of wine.
Fuck it.
I slide one hand across her ribs, wrapping it around her back and pulling her toward me. “This is a bad idea,” I whisper.
“Probably,” she agrees, a little breathless. But she doesn’t pull away. Her rose and vanilla scent surrounds me.
I run my other hand up her neck and tangle my fingers in her loosely-bound strands. I pull her in slowly, tilting her head to give me better access before our lips meet.
The kiss starts out slow and tender. Her lips are soft and I can’t stop myself from asking for more, deepening the kiss. When I run my tongue along her lower lip, she arches her back, leaning into me while opening her mouth, giving me what I asked for.
More.
When her hand drifts up my chest and into my hair, I can’t stop the moan that rumbles low in my throat. That seems to only encourage her. The kiss becomes more heated, passionate, and demanding.
She nips at my lip before brushing her tongue along mine. I tighten my grip on her hair, drawing a whimper of pleasure from her, causing my dick to twitch. We kiss like it’s the first time and the last.
I haven’t even realized my hand drifted from her back to her thigh when she wraps her legs around my hips. My hand immediately tightens, pulling her closer, her center pressed against my growing erection.
I lose control. I push my tongue into her mouth and playfully brush it around hers. She moans, rocking her hips into me, causing me to react on instinct, pushing up into her.
She gasps, ripping her mouth away from mine before untangling her limbs and backing away from me. Her wide, panicked eyes meet mine—face flushed, chest heaving—before she darts out of the hot tub.
Fuck.