Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“I’m an early riser.” He watched her walk around the bench.
Unable to stop herself, Alex loosened the belt of her robe and tossed a leg over him.
She was wearing a nightgown. One she’d tossed in her bag at the last minute in hopes of a moment like this one. Otherwise, she’d be in no more than a T-shirt.
Instead, the black silk spaghetti strap nightgown did a great job of enhancing her natural assets.
The kind Hawk had enjoyed the night before.
She should probably give the man a chance to rest but ... Alex had some making up to do.
Undesired celibacy had a way of making one think of sex way too much.
Hawk groaned, those weights still in his fists.
His eyes, however, were boring into hers.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked, teasing.
Alex wiggled her hips until she felt the rapidly growing length of him press between the folds of her sex. Even through their limited clothing, she felt his warmth. “That’s better.”
She traced a finger over his torso, outlining the muscles on display.
Hawk hadn’t moved.
“You can continue with your workout. Don’t let me stop you.”
Those weights hit the floor, and Hawk’s hands rested on her exposed thighs. “You’re fulfilling a lifelong fantasy.”
“I am?” She flicked one of his nipples and gave it a little pinch. “Which one is that?”
His hands traveled up as hers traveled down.
“A beautiful woman walks in, catches me in a vulnerable position, and takes advantage of me.” He pushed his hips up, bringing his pulsating heat into a much more pleasurable position.
“You don’t look vulnerable.”
His eyes rolled back when she rolled her hips against his. “Take advantage of me anyway?”
Alex shrugged her robe off and did exactly that.
“It’s beautiful up here. You and Chase need to make the trip. Max and Sarah, too. It’s ridiculous that it sits vacant.”
Alex convinced herself that one check in was perfectly acceptable on her third day at the cabin. She’d told Piper about the house, the toys ... the two feet of snow with the promise of more.
“You sound relaxed,” Piper told her.
“I am. I needed this.”
“Everyone but you knew that.”
Alex took a deep breath and asked what she really wanted to know. “How is everything at the office?”
“Well, dammit,” Piper cussed.
“What?”
“I lost the bet.”
“What bet?” Alex asked.
“The one between Chase, Max, me, and Sarah. Chase said you’d ask about the office right after you said hello. Max said it would be somewhere between thirty seconds to a minute, and I gave you three whole minutes.”
Alex couldn’t help but laugh. “And Sarah?”
“She thought you’d wait until right before you hung up.”
“Ahh, I knew I liked Sarah best.” Alex curled her legs under her and stared out at the view. There were too many clouds in the sky to see the mountains behind the house, but the winter wonderland was stunning without them.
Piper laughed. “The office is fine. Chase hasn’t burned the place down, and nobody has been fired.”
“Not even Floyd?”
“Sadly.”
“Have we heard any more from Regent’s law—”
“Nope. Don’t even finish that question. You are on vacation, the only thing that needs to be considered is if you’re going to have a cocktail or a glass of wine. Snowboarding or shopping. None of us are going to give you one answer to any work questions.”
Alex grumbled, and Piper laughed.
“Fine.”
That just made Piper laugh harder.
Resigned to talk about other things, Alex asked something she’d wondered since they’d first arrived. “How much time did my father spend up here?”
“Not a lot. A handful of long weekends. Three, maybe four over the last few years he was alive.”
“And Melissa?”
“No. She hated the cold. I assumed he found someone else there to occupy his time.”
“That’s gross. Not surprising, but gross.”
“I don’t know for sure. He never asked me to send flowers to anyone in Colorado.”
Aaron Stone had made a habit of asking his assistant to send “It was wonderful to meet you” flowers, along with “I miss you” flowers to his wife. Often at the same time.
“Did he work up here?”
“Your dad always worked.”
“But there isn’t an office. No printer, no computer. The desk looked like something you’d sit your kids down in to do their homework.”
“That’s strange. He could have brought his laptop with him. I don’t remember.”
“I can’t even find a cabinet with any homeowner files. You know, like manuals for the appliances or warranties for the ATVs.”
“Maybe those are here.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“You said it’s a big house. Maybe you just haven’t found them yet,” Piper said.
Alex shook her head. “The good thing is, there is nothing of him here to remind me of who slept here. Not as much as a forgotten sock.”
“Maybe the caretakers went in and got rid of it all.”
“Someone would have said something if that was the case. If you get a chance, can you ask Stuart? Not that it really matters, I guess. But it would be nice to know if there were instructions to empty the place out.” Stuart was her father’s estate attorney and executor of his trust. The man that had known Aaron Stone better than any of them.
“That’s an easy phone call.”
“Thanks.”
Piper let out a sigh. “Now that we have all that out of the way ... how is Hawk?”
Alex sunk deeper in her chair with a sigh. “Unexpected.”
Piper all but purred on the other end of the phone. “This, I need to know more about.”
The front door opened and the man in question walked in, along with a gust of cold air.
“That’s going to have to wait,” Alex said.
“He’s there, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” Alex smiled at Hawk.
He looked between the phone and her eyes. “I leave you alone for thirty minutes and you’re on the phone.”
She huffed unapologetically. “You shouldn’t leave me alone.”
Piper was laughing. “I will take the sound of that and let my imagination run wild,” she said in Alex’s ear.
“Give my niece a kiss,” Alex said, avoiding Piper’s imagination.
“You guys be safe. I heard the storm is pretty big.”
Hawk took his coat off, hung it up to dry.
“I’ll text and let you know we’re okay ... so long as the phone police gives me the opportunity.”
The phone police was shaking his head.
“Don’t give us an extra thought. I’m sure Hawk will take care of you.”
Hawk walked directly to her.
Alex let her eyes feast. “I’m sure he will.”