Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
He was a man who lived by spreadsheets and schedules.
And being with Nora meant throwing all of those things away.
They were supposed to be getting ready for dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, but instead, he was standing in his bathroom, watching her bury herself under a mountain of bubbles in his tub.
“That seems a little…excessive,” he teased, leaning against the doorjamb.
“Clearly you’ve just never experienced the wonders of a bubble bath. This is how it’s done.”
“Somehow I doubt that.” He glanced at his watch. “Our dinner reservations are in thirty minutes and the drive should take around twenty, so…”
Her head rested against the back of the tub, her eyes closed. “Some things can’t be rushed. I’ve never been in a tub this big. It’s practically a religious experience.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“If you want me to get out, you’ll have to swim in and get me.”
He looked at his watch again and considered the options. He could move their reservation, but that would mean changing the time for the car to pick them up and bring them home, and maybe there wouldn’t be a later reservation open, and…
“I can hear you thinking from here,” she said mildly, never moving from her relaxed position.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to…change things.” Something he really hated doing. “But just for reference’s sake, how long does a bubble bath take?”
“Milo…”
“Okay, okay, okay. Forget I asked.” Quietly, he turned and walked back into the bedroom and went in search of his phone.
First, he called the restaurant and changed their arrival time.
The owners knew him, and he was pleased when they said it wouldn’t be a problem.
Then he texted his driver and updated him as well.
With that done, he slowly padded back to the bathroom and found Nora exactly as he had left her.
As quietly as he could, he undressed and approached the tub, crouching down beside it. Gently, he cleared his throat and waited for her to open her eyes and look at him.
“Did you know that there are jets you can turn on?”
“I did, but I didn’t want to just assume it was okay to use them.”
“What’s mine is yours,” he said, and it surprised him how true that was. Yes, this was his home and these were his things, but she was important to him and he wanted her to be comfortable here. Reaching over, he turned the jets on low. “Mind if I join you?”
Her entire face lit up. “Are you kidding me? I was hoping you would!”
It was awkward as hell, but he climbed in behind her so she could relax against his chest. This was a first, and once they fitted themselves together, he found it was quite a pleasant experience, one he wouldn’t mind repeating when they didn’t have anything else to do.
They sat in the tub, letting the jets pulse over their bodies as the bubbles seemed to multiply. Milo rested his head next to Nora’s and simply enjoyed the sensation of having her in his arms. After several long minutes, he whispered, “Okay. I can see the appeal of a bubble bath.”
She hummed with appreciation. “Mmm…right? Can we sleep here?”
Laughing softly, he said, “We’d be pruney by morning.”
“I don’t have the strength to care,” she murmured, shifting slightly. They returned to an amicable silence; the sound of the water jets was the only thing they could hear.
It was nice that they didn’t feel the need to keep talking.
Actually, it was nice to see Nora so comfortable being still. The woman was always on the move, and she rarely seemed to take time to just relax. So, when she did, he let her.
Sometime later, he felt the water cooling and whispered Nora’s name. “I think it’s time to pull the plug.” She sat forward as he stood and carefully stepped from the tub. Grabbing one of the towels from the heated rack, he wrapped it around his waist before grabbing a second one for her.
She stood, heedless of her own nakedness, and he swore he’d never seen a sexier sight as the water cascaded off her magnificent body. Swallowing hard, all he could think of was how she looked like Aphrodite, and she took his breath away.
When she shivered, he wrapped the plush towel around her and held her hand as she gracefully climbed from the tub. “Wait here,” he said as he stepped away and walked over to his closet. In less than a minute, he came back with a robe for her.
“Thanks,” she said with a serene smile. “Mine is in my suitcase and I think it’s still by the front door.” After quickly drying off, she turned and let him help her put it on. “Is this silk? You don’t strike me as the silk robe type.”
That made him chuckle. “I’m really not, but my parents think I should be. They call it a lounging robe, but…I’ve never lounged and I certainly never wore it. But it looks good on you.”
“Aww…you’re sweet.” She gave him a soft kiss. “How late did I make us for dinner?”
“Not late at all. I moved our reservation.” And then he returned the favor and kissed her just as softly. “But if you really don’t want to go out, we can order in just as easily.”
Stepping around him, she shook her head. “No, I want to go out, I just couldn’t resist that tub. Thank you for indulging me.”
“Believe me, it was my pleasure.”
“Not this time, but next time we’ll make it a sexy bath.”
His eyes went a little wide. “A sexy bath?”
“Yup. This was all about relaxing after a long travel day and some super energetic sex. Next time we’ll have to see how dirty we can get.”
“While in the water? That doesn’t…”
Throwing her head back, she laughed with frustration. “Work with me, Milo!” When she looked at him, she let out a soft breath. “Think of all the touching we did in bed and doing it under the bubbles.”
“Oh.” And then he imagined it. “ Oh! Sexy bath. Gotcha. I’m there.”
Her laugh this time was practically lyrical as she walked out of the bathroom. “Let’s get ready. I’m starving!”
For the next three days, Milo balanced work and Nora.
It wasn’t something he thought about when they were back at the resort, but being in Seattle where his entire life was, he thought it would be a struggle.
Granted, there was no way he was going to stay in the office all day when he knew he had a beautiful woman waiting for him at home. And while he was at work, she had been using all the amenities his building offered and doing a little sightseeing.
That last one bummed him out because he wanted to be the one to show her the sights, but by the second day he realized she knew more about the area than he did.
Still, it was hard to be mad when he started the day making love to Nora and ended his day the same way. He’d never been more satisfied in his entire life.
He’d brought her to the office one day and introduced her to his staff.
She and his assistant Evie had become fast friends, and thankfully they had gone to lunch together when he got stuck on a call.
Evie had been wildly amused to see him so eager to leave each day, but he refused to let it bother him.
They had two more days before they had to fly back to New York, and he wanted to make the most out of it.
Once they were back, Nora was going to be working—doing hikes and tours and whatnot—and he was going to dive into the amphitheater project with all the information he had worked on with his team this week.
And that meant going back to not seeing each other much during the day. The end of the season would be here before they knew it, and even though the resort was open year-round, things were going to slow down.
However, none of them knew what that was going to look like yet. Reservations were still decent, but depending on the weather, they had no idea how many of the activities were going to be workable.
And he had no idea what that meant for Nora’s job.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Keene,” Jeffrey said as Milo entered the building. “Hope you’re having a good day.”
“Can’t complain,” he replied easily, smiling as the doorman opened the door that led to the elevators. “Is Ms. Wilder in?”
“Yes, sir. She returned about an hour ago.” He hit the elevator button. “Is there anything I can get for you?”
“No, but thank you. I’m planning on ordering dinner in tonight, so…”
“I will call you as soon as it arrives and bring it up promptly.”
“Thanks, Jeffrey,” he said just as the elevator doors opened. “I’ll see you later.”
As he rode up to the twenty-fifth floor, he felt…happy. He was filled with anticipation at the thought of seeing Nora, even though he had only been gone for four hours.
“I’ve got it bad,” he murmured. Honestly, he’d never felt like this for a woman before, and he wasn’t sure if he was just supposed to keep his feelings to himself or tell her.
The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off, but it seemed like something he should share so she knew how important she was to him.
And she was.
More than that, she was becoming vital to him. He couldn’t imagine a day without her. He couldn’t imagine what his life was going to be like when he was done working on the amphitheater project and returned to Seattle.
And that day was coming.
Sooner than he thought, thanks to the work his developers had handed in today.
He now had all the plans to do almost everything he had talked to Reece and Walker about, and he’d already emailed it to the engineers so they could start working on the stuff on their end.
If he had to take a guess, he’d say he had another three to four weeks where he could justify staying at the resort.
After that, he had no idea what was going to happen between him and Nora.
And it scared him because he didn’t want to lose her.
But he didn’t know how to keep her either.
Or if she even wanted him to.
The doors opened and for a moment, he just stared at it—like he was bracing himself for…something.
“So much for my good mood,” he mumbled, unlocking the door and letting himself in. “Nora?”
No answer.