23. Goldie
TWENTY-THREE
GOLDIE
I believed Ace. Not because I touched him and saw the truth. As a matter of fact, I realized that when I touched him, I didn’t see anything. There was no electrical current, not even a tingle. I believed him, because I knew in my heart he was telling me the truth about Gideon.
The little town was quaint, but every store had closed by the time we got there. Ace picked me up a toothbrush and some facewash and then we headed out of town, towards the cabin he’d rented.
The road was a single lane and the snowbanks were up to the windows of the truck. “Where are you taking me?” I marveled. We seemed to be driving into the woods, not to a lakeside cabin.
“I’m just following her instructions.” He pointed to his phone. “Look, we’re close.”
The sun had dropped in the sky and the road just seemed to be getting narrower. We passed laneways that weren’t plowed. Ace really was driving me into the middle of nowhere.
When the GPS finally told us we’d reached our destination, Ace turned onto a driveway that was freshly plowed and sanded. “This is it.” He put the truck into four-wheel drive and we crept down a steep hill.
We turned a corner and the “cabin” came into view. I gasped. “Ace, this isn’t a cabin.”
“Sure, it is.” He grinned. “Just a big one. I didn’t want you to feel like you were roughing it.”
The cabin was bigger than my dad’s house. It looked modern and had soaring peaks topped with copper cupolas. Ace punched the code in the door and we stepped into the most beautiful cottage I’d ever seen. “This isn’t a cabin, it’s a mansion. A cansion.” I laughed.
“Or a mabin.” Ace set down his bag. Morton peed on the snowbank and then trotted inside like he was the owner of the place.
“I think I prefer cansion.” I heard a crackling sound and ventured into the main room of the building. The ceilings were vaulted and soared high above my head. A fireplace was the centerpiece of the room and a roaring fire crackled in the hearth. “Ace, there’s a fire in here.”
He slipped his arms through mine and pulled me close to him. “The caretaker lit it for us. He also brought in some groceries. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I had him get us a few options.”
“Ace, this is too much.”
“Too much?” He opened the fridge. “With you, there’s no such thing.” He pulled out a shrimp ring and set it on the counter.
“Is it dog friendly?” Morton had curled up on the sofa in front of the fireplace—sans dog blanket.
Ace shrugged. “Sure is.” He pointed to the bowls on the floor, already filled with dog food.
“I wonder who owns this place?” I stepped into the kitchen and marveled at the six-burner Wolf range and marble countertop. “This place has to be worth… Geez, I don’t even know.”
“Ten point five,” Ace said matter-of-factly.
“How do you know that?” I asked. “Look at this.” I opened a fridge that was stocked exclusively with champagne. “It’s not even a wine fridge, it’s a champagne fridge.”
Ace popped a shrimp into his mouth. “That’s because the wine cellar is in the basement.”
He took a bottle of champagne out of the fridge. “Should we celebrate?”
“Celebrate what? Are we allowed to drink that?”
Ace unscrewed the little wire cage that surrounded the cork. “Yes, we just have to pay for it.”
“Do you know how much it is? It looks fancy.” I took the bottle from his hand. It was Armand de Brignac. “I’ve never heard of this.”
“Me neither.” Ace pointed to the glass front cupboard. “I think I see some champagne glasses in there.”
The man was determined to open the bottle. I took out two champagne flutes and set them on the counter. Ace popped the cork and filled the glasses, handing one to me. “To the Tigers’ winning streak.”
“To the streak.” I couldn’t help but smile. My dad wasn’t the only one misusing the term. We tapped the glasses together and they made that musical tinkling sound that only fine crystal made.
“To the person responsible for the streak.” He winked.
I sipped the champagne and rested my hand on his chest. “That would be you, Ace. You’re the one responsible for the…streak.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me tightly to him. My heart thudded in my chest and it wasn’t because of the champagne. “We all know that’s not true,” he whispered in my ear. “You made the plan; I executed it.”
“Ace, there’s something I need to tell—” His lips were on mine before I could finish my sentence. “No more serious talk tonight, Goldie. I don’t care if it was a fluke, or a guess, or whatever. You’re incredible and I’m so grateful to have you in my life.”
I melted. “I feel the same way, Ace. I’ve never met a man like you. But we really need to discuss a couple things.”
He put his finger on my lips. “Can they wait until tomorrow?”
Secretly, I was relieved. I had one more day to figure out how to tell him that I was the slightly crazy daughter of Coach Swanson. “Sure, Ace. We can talk about it tomorrow.”
“Good. Now dance with me.” He pushed some buttons on an iPad and music filled the great room. “Do you like Van Morrison?”
“Who doesn’t?” I set down my glass and leaned into Ace’s chest. The song “Moondance” filled the room, but the sound of Ace’s heart beating through his T-shirt was even more magical. We swayed in front of the crackling fireplace. Ace’s big hand rested on my lower back while he held my left hand with his right, all while Morton snored lightly in the background.
It was the most beautiful moment of my life. As the song finished, I realized I had been in Ace’s embrace, holding his hand, listening to his heartbeat, yet I hadn’t had any visions. Maybe what had been happening to me was temporary insanity. I could lose myself in Ace’s embrace and not see anything—and I loved it.
I loved him, but it was way too early to tell him. He still didn’t even know my last name.
The song finished and he twirled me back into the kitchen and fed me a shrimp. I washed it down with the champagne.
“What do you think of it?” he asked.
“The shrimp is delicious, but I’m not really a champagne connoisseur.”
“Me neither.” Ace burped. “I think I got some bubbles in my nose.”
I giggled. I was tipsy from the champagne and drunk on Ace. “What made you pick this place? It’s definitely not a cabin.”
“Let’s explore.” He refilled both of our glasses. Together we held hands, sipped champagne, and explored the mansion. I was convinced that each bedroom we entered was the primary suite. Every bedroom had their own en suite and balcony overlooking what I assumed was the lake. It was too dark to see anything outside. Some lights twinkled in the distance, but otherwise, it was dark and quiet. When we finally entered the massive bedroom, it was obvious. The bed was bigger than king-sized, which I didn’t think was possible. There was a massive bathroom, a walk-in closet bigger than the carriage house, and another bathroom with a huge soaker tub and sauna overlooking the lake.
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Do you like it?” Ace asked.
“I mean, it’s beautiful, but who needs all this?”
“Wait until you see the boathouse. The pictures of it online were incredible.” Ace’s eyes sparkled as he looked around the room.
“Do you like it?” I watched his face to see his reaction.
His eyes met mine. “I love it, Goldie. I’m thinking about buying it.”
“What?” I dropped the glass, but Ace’s athlete reflexes kicked in and he snapped it out of the air before it could hit the ground.
“Lucky it was empty.” He set it on a nightstand. “Come on, Goldie. Let’s check out the sauna.”
“Stop, Ace. What do you mean you’re thinking about buying this?”
He opened the door to the sauna and stripped naked. “Come in here and I’ll tell you all about it.” He gestured for me to join him. “I’m letting all the heat out.”
With the two wins under his belt, it seemed as though Ace’s confidence had exploded. I always felt like he was living in his brother’s shadow, and now, he had stepped out and was casting his own. And it was big in every way. I didn’t think he could get any hotter, but confident Ace Bailey was the sexiest man I’d ever met. He didn’t have to ask me twice.
I pulled off my shirt and ran to the sauna, shimmied out of my pants, unhooked my bra, and tossed it on the floor. When I stepped into the sauna, Ace was on the top bench, bathed in red light. The stones hissed as he threw some water on them. “Tell me, Goldie, have you ever made love in a sauna?”
“Does a blowjob count?” I faced him and rested my hands on his knees. “Because you’re about to get one.” Ace wasn’t the only one who had gained confidence. He brought out a side of me I didn’t even know existed. I wanted Ace to do things to me, the kinds of things I thought were reserved for porn stars. Kneeling on the bench seat below him, I was able to rest my elbows on his thighs as I took his stiff cock in my mouth.
That was the first of three locations we had sex that night. The first was the sauna, then the shower, and the last was in the massive bed. Up until the bed, we’d been fucking. My back had been pressed up against the glass shower wall, my legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust into me. He’d bent me over the sink and gripped my thighs so hard I knew there would be bruises there in the morning, and I’d liked it.
Now, we were making love in the ridiculously soft sheets. He laced his fingers through mine and held my arms over my head. His eyes and mine were glued to each other as he slowly moved inside me, his body grazing the most sensitive spots on mine. He didn’t let go of my hands, or break eye contact, until he stiffened. “Oh my God, Goldie. I’m going to come.”
“Me too, Ace. I’m going to—” I couldn’t finish. My orgasm spread from between my legs; a surge of pleasure rushed through my torso to my fingertips. Ace slid his hands under my ass and pressed even deeper into me as his body bucked. We moaned and writhed together, each of us riding our waves separately, but together.
When we finished, he collapsed on top of me. “Goldie, if we’re together, I’m never going to have to do cardio again,” he panted. “You’re so fucking beautiful. I’m the luckiest person in the world.”
“No, Ace. That’s me. I’m the luckiest. You’re the best person I’ve ever met.”
He rose to a kneeling position and pulled me up to meet him. Moonlight pored in through the window. He traced my cheek with his thumb and then opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, but then closed it.
In the beam of the moonlight, after our very own moondance, Ace and I held on to each other, and I didn’t see anything. It was perfect.