Chapter Twenty-Four
Andrew helps me back to the shack so I can nap while the rest of the contestants get ready to strip. Something I am very glad I get to miss.
“You might want to tone down the happiness at missing the challenge or people will think you got hurt on purpose,” Andrew says when we get to my dilapidated home away from home.
I smile up at him. “I wish I had thought of that days ago.”
He shakes his head at me. “Here,” he says, handing me one of his granola bars. I notice he has a brand-new box of them in his messenger bag.
“Ooh, thank you. I worked up an appetite passing the banana.”
He grins. “You didn’t even get that far.”
I go to playfully punch him, but because I can’t put weight on my ankle, I end up wobbling. He puts his hands on my hips to steady me. Then he shakes his head teasingly. “You’re too injured for violence.”
I look down at his hands on my hips and smile slowly.
“I’ve suddenly forgotten all about my ankle.
” His eyes blaze and his grip on me tightens.
A small gasp leaves my lips. I take a quick scan; we’re all alone.
No one would ever know . . . Andrew catches my eye and immediately knows what I’m thinking.
There’s a moment of deliberation in his eyes as the heat I felt on the beach passes between us again.
Then he says the words I’ve been dying to hear. “Fuck it.”
His lips crash into mine, and the tension from the last few days finally explodes. I can’t control myself. I press even closer to him and kiss him back with an intensity I’ve never felt before.
Andrew squeezes my hips tighter as I press my body into his.
Heat flares at the contact, and I realize that if Andrew weren’t holding on to me, I would probably collapse into a puddle of hormones at his feet.
When I feel his hand brush the bare skin on my back, I pant as a shiver ripples through me.
When I bite his bottom lip in response, he groans into my mouth.
He kisses my neck, and I whisper “yes” into his ear.
I realize that we kiss like we fight. For every sweep of his tongue, I match him.
For every nibble I take, he returns the favor.
It’s a back-and-forth that’s so well matched that there’s no doubt we’re both winning.
As I lose myself in him, I forget about the fact that we’re not supposed to be doing this. All I can think about is that this is even hotter than I had imagined. And how I wouldn’t mind doing this all day every day.
Andrew changes the angle of his mouth and I’m breathing heavily.
He must be able to tell that I’m about to pull him into my shack and throw him down on my bedroll because he makes the difficult decision for the both of us.
He slowly pulls back, giving me one last lingering kiss.
We look at each other, dazed. His hair is messy—I must’ve been running my hands through it.
I touch my lips, and a slow smile spreads across his face.
I absently say, “Wow, for a suit, you can really kiss.”
He laughs. “You’re not bad yourself, Sexy Scientist.”
I give him a dirty look at the nickname and he grins. Then he remembers where he is and his professional switch flips back on. He looks around to make sure no one has seen us and rubs the back of his neck. “I should go.”
He really should. Before I jump him. Reluctantly, I nod. “Thanks for walking me back,” I tell him with a sly smile.
“The pleasure was all mine,” he says with a smugness that has suddenly become sexy. “I’ll see you later, Grace.” But he lingers in the doorway. Looking at my lips. Then he mutters, “Fuck,” under his breath and turns to go.
I laugh and yell after him, “Now who has an affinity for swearing?”
It takes me a solid five minutes to come down from kissing Andrew.
I even debate stealing one of Beth Anne’s Evians to quench my lusty thirst. When I’m finally recovered from post-kiss bliss, I hop over to my suitcase and throw on a comfy pair of joggers and one of my dad’s motivational T-shirts.
I debate calling Cassie on the burner phone, but I don’t want to interrupt them if they’re still doing the test subject release.
I hope it’s going well. As much as the sexy obstacle course sucked, at least it kept my mind off worrying about my frogs.
And making out with a sexy lawyer was an unexpected and welcome distraction.
I use a towel I stole from the pool to add more padding to my “bed” so I can nap on the floor. We’ve had such long days, plus drinking in the sun, becoming hungover, and being forced to participate in athletics, that I’m beyond exhausted.
A loud banging on the door wakes me up. My first thought is, Yay! It’s Andrew and he’s back for more kissing. And then I remember I’m in the creepy-ass shack alone, so my second thought is, What if it’s a serial killer? But surely a serial killer wouldn’t knock. Right?
“Who is it?” I call.
“Kristina.”
I’d prefer the serial killer. I fix my hair and make sure there are no signs of the illicit make-out session, then call, “Come in.” I don’t have a choice; there are no locks on the shack door.
Kristina enters, trailed by a camera operator.
For a moment I’m worried that she somehow found out about Andrew and is here to kick me off the show, but she just looks at my ankle, which has already turned black and blue, and says, “Gross.” She doesn’t bother asking me how I’m doing.
Instead, she explains that they need footage of me injured in the shack to explain why I wasn’t at the striptease challenge.
“Who won the challenge?” I ask as the camera operator films me icing my ankle.
“Beth Anne, of course. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a side hustle at the Spearmint Rhino.”
I’m not familiar with that particular establishment, but I have a guess as to what kind of services they offer.
After they get the footage they need, Kristina tells me that everyone is meeting by the pool for the next segment. She stares at me until I realize she’s expecting me to go. “But I’m injured,” I plead. “The medics said I should rest.”
“You’re perfectly fine to sit on the couch for a Shantae segment. I’ll have Blue bring you crutches.” She starts to leave but turns back around. “And clean yourself up, you look like shit.” Then she thinks about it. “Actually don’t. This works with my storyline.”