Chapter 40
Nic bundled some clothes into a bag, picked up his wallet and car keys and went looking for Aria.
He tried to remember if she was working today.
Maybe he could drop her off on his way out of town if she was quick to grab her coat and lunch.
Walking towards the shore, he saw her dog pushing his way through the bushes with a yellow toy in his mouth.
‘Hey, Tiger, where’s your mum?’ The pug dropped the toy at his feet.
Nic called Aria’s name and when there was no reply he walked to the hut and knocked on the door.
No sign. Maybe he’d send a text, leaving her in charge of the house for a few days.
She could now use the control panel comfortably, access wifi and all the passcodes, and seemed to have a handle on most of the appliances.
He’d taken two steps back up the beach when he heard a commotion from the side of the hut and was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted him.
A juicy peach of an ass, handed to him on a plate – the bottom he’d fantasised about in bed yesterday afternoon.
Revenge for his apron trick? He laughed with glee.
Sticking out of the window from the waist down, wearing only his spare dressing gown, she was wiggling her bum like a mating dance.
Actually, comparing her bare bottom to a peach didn’t do it justice.
It was soft as a ripe apricot – full, sweet, fleshy, beckoning him to take it in two hands and bite.
She thrust a palm out and grabbed at the material, but didn’t seem to know he was there as she was muttering about whether boobs could be subject to water or wine retention because hers had clearly blown up like balloons.
Nope, he thought, they’ve always been as fun and bouncy as an inflatable, but he had no idea her butt would be quite so tasty.
He considered his next move, all thoughts of his brother and business in jeopardy taking a back seat to the heat of his groin and the desire to have this glorious creature. When he cleared his throat, she instantly stilled – as still as a woman could be while dangling from a window.
Her voice was quiet and subdued. ‘Is that Nic? I’m both glad you are here and blushing horribly at being stuck like this. But mostly I’m landing on the side of relief.’
He answered, unable to take his eyes off two very different cheeks, ‘Er, right. Well. I have to go to London. Theo is having a meltdown, and I need to persuade him out of resigning. Can I help you in any way?’
Her voice became exasperated. ‘Oh, not at all. Being jammed into a window like a cork shoved back into a wine bottle is the perfect cure for a hangover. Why don’t you just pootle off to the big city and I will hang out here, quite literally stuck between inside and outside.
And later I can iron my boobs to take the creases out.
’ Bloody hell, that was a kink he shouldn’t be thinking about at any time, but especially not when he was so close to her naked flesh.
The last twenty-four hours had been like a jigsaw of body parts – and now he had enough information to create a whole picture in his mind.
That would keep him going on his journey to London.
But first he had to help her out. ‘I don’t want to rush you, but the blood has gone to my head here.
Why are you still standing around?’ she shouted.
Jumping into action, he informed her he’d heave her out, although he had no guarantee her inflated top half would successfully slide back through a gap made to accommodate a light breeze.
Placing a hand around each hip, careful to grab at towelling and not skin, he put his back into it while she grunted.
A few seconds later she was free. As she tugged the dressing gown over thighs he was struggling to look away from, she seemed unaware she’d already shown him the best of the real estate.
‘Thanks. This time Rapunzel did ask to be rescued, so I won’t bollock you for it,’ she said.
‘Excellent news,’ he replied, knowing bollocks weren’t the image that would stick in his mind. ‘You have the code to get back into my house. Oh, and Sophie’s coming to clean so you might want to—’
Pressing her lips together, she informed him she would be getting dressed immediately.
‘I suggest you give one of us a spare key to the hut in future. See you in a day or two. Don’t miss me too much,’ he joked. But as he walked up the path, he realised he’d be the one to miss her. Still, they’d have all the time in the world to really get to know each other when he returned.