Chapter 12
BECKETT
IWAS IN trouble.
I couldn’t even deny it at this point, and it wasn’t just because of the lie.
It was because somewhere between last night, on the other side of that stupid pillow barrier, and watching Sawyer take off across that obstacle course like he had something to prove, I’d stopped pretending I was just here to play a part.
I wanted Sawyer. And that was a problem.
Stepping out onto the deck, I set the towels on one of the loungers and then flipped the cover off the hot tub. Steam curled up, the jets hummed, and the water beckoned. Beside it I’d set the champagne in a bucket of ice with two glasses…and strawberries.
The strawberries were a spur-of-the-moment decision, and now I was wondering if they were too much.
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw, debating whether to leave them there. I didn’t do things like this, at least not without a reason that made sense. Although nothing about our time together so far had made sense—so fine, the strawberries would stay.
The door slid open behind me.
“Please tell me this is for me and not some other lucky guest who won a medal I don’t know about.
” Sawyer stepped out, freshly rinsed off, hair damp and pushed back from his face.
He’d thrown on a pair of vibrant turquoise swim trunks, and they rode low on his hips, showing off his lean body that had put in the work this morning.
“Depends,” I said, trailing my eyes over him and not doing a thing to hide it. “You win anything I should know about?”
“You mean aside from crushing my brothers’ dreams of a win and proving I’m the superior Montgomery? No big deal.”
“Bragging rights for life?”
“And beyond.” He glanced past me at the setup, and did a double take. His mouth parted slightly. “This is… Wow. You really committed to the bit, huh?”
“There’s a bit?”
“Oh, definitely,” he said, moving toward the tub. “You know, hot guy shows up, fixes my shoulder, sets up a whole spa situation to prove he’s the best fake boyfriend out there. Although…you forgot the rose petals on the bed.”
“You have to earn that.”
Sawyer snorted out a laugh, but it turned into a groan as he sank into the water. “Oh my God. I’d do that course ten times over for this.”
“Count me out. Once was enough.”
“See? You’re the brains of this duo.”
He said it so casually, thinking of us as a duo, that I had to remind myself that none of this was real. I stepped in, settling across the tub from him to watch as he tipped his head back and exhaled.
“I think my muscles are actually forgiving me for the hell I just put them through,” he said.
“Good. That’s the goal.”
His eyes closed, his chest rising and falling with each deep, steady breath he took.
It felt selfish to get to watch him like this.
Skin glistening, beautiful body on display, completely at ease in the relative privacy of the cabin.
From the front porch there were rocking chairs and a view of the lake, but back here was more closed off by trees that blocked out most of the sun—and did a good job of shielding us from the view of anyone nearby.
“This is almost perfect,” Sawyer said with a contented sigh.
“Almost?” Not me over here wondering what I could do to take it from almost to fucking perfect.
He cracked an eye open. “Yeah. I really wish I wasn’t allergic to strawberries.”
“What?” Shit, I didn’t even think to ask if he was allergic to anything. I could call the concierge back, ask for—
“Becks? I’m kidding. You should see your face, though. You look like I just told you Santa isn’t real.”
“Santa isn’t real?”
He laughed, shaking his head before his gaze landed on me and lingered. “Do you always do this? Like…this level of attention to detail?”
“Depends on the person.”
He flicked a leaf that fell in the water out of the tub. “Well, for the record, I’m impressed. And maybe a little concerned about getting emotionally attached to this hot tub.”
“It could be worse. You could still—” I stopped myself, but I’d already said too much.
Every run-in we had with Sawyer’s ex made me wonder what kind of act he’d put on to gain Sawyer’s trust in the first place.
It was prime manipulative behavior the way he kept waiting until Sawyer was alone to pull him aside.
“Still be emotionally attached to Peter?” he finished for me. “If you’d asked me a few days ago, I probably would’ve disagreed, but…I think you might be right.”
He stood up, reached for the platter of strawberries, and held it out to me, and only after I helped myself did he grab one off the top.
My teeth sank into the sweet, ripe flesh as I watched Sawyer’s lips wrap around the juicy fruit, staining them red.
“Peter always hated stuff like this,” he said, waving a hand at the setup. “Never felt like it was worth the effort. Which, in hindsight, should’ve been a giant red flag, but you know…” He shrugged and finished off the strawberry. “You don’t always see that stuff when you’re in it.”
“No. You don’t,” I said, trying not to watch the way he licked the juice off his thumb.
“You ever have that? Where you’re like…wow, I really bent over backward for someone who barely made an effort.”
“Yes. I have.”
“Really?” His brows pulled together slightly. “What happened?”
I hesitated for a second, then shrugged. “He wanted something that looked good on paper. Easy. Predictable.”
“He already sounds wrong for you.”
“I didn’t fit into his plans. And I think the more I tried, the worse it got.”
“God, that’s…” He blew out a breath. “Yeah. That tracks.”
For a while he just looked at the water, his hand skimming lightly along the surface.
“That’s basically the same conversation we just had,” he said. “Apparently I’m ‘too much’ and Alec’s ‘less complicated.’ Can you believe that?”
“Can I believe Peter can’t handle you? Yes. He’s an idiot.”
“Right? I kept thinking if I gave him more, he’d meet me halfway.”
“And he didn’t.”
“No. Was it the same for you?” When I nodded, he scrubbed a hand over his face before letting it drop back into the water. “God, why do we do that? Accept the bare minimum? Like, cool, I’ll just go out of my way until the relationship implodes and you leave me and tell me I’m too much.”
“You don’t seem like the settling type.”
“Yeah, well, apparently I needed a reminder.”
“Sawyer.” I held his gaze, wanting him to hear my words over his idiot ex’s. “You’re not too much.”
Something flickered across his face at that—but it was gone before I could fully catch it.
“Yeah,” he said, biting his lip. “I know.”
The silence that fell then wasn’t awkward, but it did feel heavier. More real.
After a long moment, Sawyer exhaled and leaned his head back against the rim of the tub. “Well, this is fun. Nothing like a hot tub and emotional damage to really set the mood.”
“Sometimes you just have to let it out. Can’t keep all that shit pent up inside.”
“Finally, someone who gets it.” A hint of a smile crossed his lips. “You always this easy to talk to, or am I just special?”
“Why can’t it be both?”
“Good answer.” He sat up, but I caught the slight wince before he rolled his shoulders back. “Okay, maybe I take it back. The hot tub feels great, but it doesn’t have magical healing powers, unfortunately.”
“Is it your shoulder bothering you again?”
“I think just a general ache all over. Tight, you know.”
I watched him stretch for a bit then arched a brow. “You gonna ask or just complain about it?”
His mouth twitched. “You offering?”
“You asking?”
He let out a laugh and moved smoothly through the water to my side of the hot tub, presenting his back to me. Then he glanced over his shoulder. “You gonna help me out or what, Becks?”
“Since you asked so nicely.”
“I can be nicer if you want…” He waggled his brows at me, teasing, but that wasn’t the way my body took it. Not when he was close enough to touch, not when all that bare skin was just begging for my attention. My cock stirred, temptation rising.
Sliding closer behind him, I anchored him between my thighs and let my hands skim along his back beneath the water.
“Tell me if it hurts,” I said.
“Please. I just survived that obstacle course. I can handle you.”
Can you? I wanted to say, more than willing to put that statement to the test.
Instead, I let my hands explore, searching for the tight spots and working them, one by one.
“Oh yeaaah,” he said, his head dropping forward. “There it is. That’s the good stuff.”
He had no idea what these hands could really do when I didn’t hold myself back. Already his body loosened, his breath shifted, and he leaned into my touch without even realizing he was doing it.
“You’re way too good at this. Have I mentioned that?”
“I get a lot of practice.”
“With clients?”
“With people who need it,” I said, keeping it vague.
He hummed softly, like he was filing that away.
I kept my hands moving, long, slow strokes across the expanse of his back, him sitting between my thighs, his arms rested on my knees, our position more intimate than I would be with any of my usual clients.
Sawyer’s lower back had the most tension, and every time my hands slid down his muscles, my fingers flirted with the edge of his swimsuit. Did I dip my fingers just beneath them to finish the rubdown?
Yeah I fucking did.
With every stroke and every moment that passed, the air between us grew thicker, crackling with electricity. I’d given up hope that my dick would get the message that nothing was happening, because it seemed content to stay half hard, like it was biding its time until it got some action.
Sawyer’s soft groans weren’t helping the situation. It was all I could do to be this close, my body practically wrapped around his and my hearing those sounds. Feeling the strong, lean muscle beneath my fingers—
He turned, and suddenly we were face to face, only this time we were closer than before, his body still between my spread thighs.
“Okay,” he said, a little breathless. “New rule.”
I arched a brow but didn’t take my hands off him, waiting for his direction. “Yes?”
He wet his lips as his gaze dropped to mine before coming back up. “You’re not allowed to be this good at literally everything. No one will ever surpass these standards.”
“I’ll work on that.”
“Please do. For my sanity.” His voice softened at the end, the humor still there, but something else was going on, his breaths coming a bit quicker now.
Neither of us moved, and I was acutely aware that I was still holding him. The water lapped around us, and I swore he was moving closer…closer.
Then his eyes dropped to my mouth again, and this time he didn’t look away.
“I’m just gonna…” He leaned in, and the second his lips met mine, everything in me went completely still.
Fuck. This wasn’t part of the plan.
But God his lips were soft and warm and—
Fuck the plan.
I kissed him back. Slow at first, my hand coming up to the nape of his neck, fingers threading into his damp hair as I pulled him to me, closing the distance he’d left between us as his hand gripped my arm like he needed something steady to hold on to.
My back hit the edge of the tub as I teased at the seam of his lips with my tongue, and when his mouth parted, I angled my head and went for it.
The second the kiss deepened, a rush of hunger shot through me, so fast and sudden that it took me off guard. I curled the hand I had on his waist around him, holding him tight against me, giving me confirmation that he was feeling this everywhere too.
He tasted so sweet, strawberry still lingering on his tongue as it swept against mine.
Our breathing was uneven as the water lapped around us and we got caught up in the kiss.
I moved my hand from the back of his neck to cup his jaw, angling in for a deeper taste of him.
Moving slow, dragging it out because I didn’t want this to end.
Or have to think about what it meant. Or, more likely, what it didn’t.
Sawyer’s fingers trailed up my arms to my chest, making me shiver.
“Beckett…” His voice sounded more than a little wrecked, and when I pulled back just enough to look at him, my chest physically ached.
He was so damn beautiful—lips swollen and parted, his pupils huge and unfocused as he tried to catch his breath.
“Wow,” he said so quietly I almost missed it. “That was—”
“Yeah,” I finished for him. It was rare I couldn’t reach for the words I needed, but kissing Sawyer had left my brain a little scrambled.
Interesting.
“I, um. Damn. You’re even good at that.” He let out a shaky laugh and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I should…should probably go shower. Before I…we…” He didn’t finish that sentence, only stared at me like he was trying to decide the best course of action here.
I knew what our bodies both wanted, could feel how hard he was against me.
I watched him, not stopping him, not pushing. Just letting him have the space to figure out what he wanted to do next.
He wasn’t ready. And as hot as the kiss had been, and as much as it confirmed what I already knew about my growing desire, it wasn’t the right time.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “Probably a good idea.”
Sawyer nodded, like my answer confirmed his thoughts, and let his hands fall away from me. He turned and stepped out of the hot tub, grabbed his towel, and wrapped it low around his hips before I could see the proof of his erection.
Then, for a long moment, he just stood there. Like he might say something else, or hell, like he might come back.
But then he shook his head and went inside, the door sliding shut behind him.
I sat there for a long time after he left, the water bubbling up around me and my lips still tingling from the kiss.
And all I could think was, when would it happen again?