Ashley
I DO BELIEVE that’s morning wood nestled against my backside.
Batter, batter, batter, schwing.
Julian’s arm is resting on my waist, and I can easily imagine starting each day like this. If I move, I’ll wake him, and that would be unnecessarily rude. Since I’m a considerate person, I’ll lie here and let him sleep. Such a chore.
He was wearing a shirt when we went to bed last night. Now, though, his chest and my shoulders are making skin-to-skin contact, and the twisted T is draped over the footboard. Okay, maybe I’ll shift a bit. Just to get more comfortable.
The hand on my waist slides to my hip—and freezes.
Any minute now, he’ll spring away, and we’ll have a good laugh about his morning woodpecker.
Any minute now . . .
Any. Minute. Now.
But he lightly squeezes my hip, and oh God, the urge to draw his hand between my thighs makes that empty space ache.
I fake a light snore, and he snatches his hand away.
“Shit,” he whispers as he rolls on his back.
I don’t want Julian to beat himself up over this, so I yawn and stretch and generally pretend to be waking from a deep, uninterrupted slumber. The moment he shifts, I climb out of bed and escape to the bathroom.
When I return minutes later, he’s resting his elbows on his knees and cradling his temples. The view of his smooth, broad back transfixes me. I’d love to kneel behind him and massage his muscles. I’d like to be the person who gets to do that for him. But I know his position, and as much as I wish this weren’t the case, I’m not the person he needs.
I stride across the room and throw open my suitcase, hoping the sudden activity will change the tense energy in the air. My back is to him when I say good morning.
“Mornin’,” he slurs.
His rough voice scrapes against my skin, a worthy substitute for the five-o’clock shadow I wish he’d sweep across my breasts. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him slide his arms behind him, extending his torso, and then he raises his face to the ceiling.
What a cruel, cruel man.
To stop myself from staring, I focus instead on choosing my outfit for the day. “It’s been a while since I’ve gone zip-lining, but I remember the harness doesn’t do very nice things for your crotch. It’s like you’re signing up for a wedgie, or worse, a camel toe. I think I’ll go with leggings.”
He straightens and massages the back of his head. “How many times have you done it?”
“Four, five times maybe. Did it in Costa Rica once after my first international flight. There’s nothing like soaring above the treetops and seeing waterfalls and wildlife on your way down. It was so fast, too. Like flying through the air.”
He stands abruptly and rushes to the restroom. Nature calls, I guess.
When he reemerges minutes later, water droplets dot his forehead, as if he splashed his face, and his lips are set in a thin line. Maybe my assumption that he’s a morning person is wrong.
Well, I’m not poking that bear, even if he poked me first. I gather my clothes and toiletries and whizz past him to the bathroom. Before I close the door, I say, “It’ll be yours in ten minutes.”
“Take your time,” he says in that gruff voice that makes me wish we were having drowsy morning sex.
As promised, I’m done quickly, and I leave the room in search of coffee. I find Tori and Eva sitting at the table in the small eat-in kitchen, chatting and each nursing a mug.
“Well, good morning, sunshine,” Tori says.
“Damn, you’re glowing,” Eva says. “Am I the only one not having sex on a regular basis?”
For a few seconds, I do nothing but blink at her and shake my head. Oh, right. Eva doesn’t know Julian and I aren’t really dating. The question is, should I tell her? I don’t know her very well, but I’d like to. And I trust my future sister-in-law to surround herself with good people. After filling my mug with coffee, I join them at the table.
I listen for sounds of Lydia.
“She’s at the main house,” Tori says. “Carter’s gone, too. It’s just us.”
I think this might be the first time a girlfriend has known what I was thinking without me saying so. My joy might be a bit out of proportion to the circumstances, but whatever, I love it.
Leaning in, I say, “Julian and I aren’t really dating. It’s all a ruse.”
Eva scrunches her face. “Why?”
I sigh. Yeah, Ashley. Why? “Well, as you can probably tell, there are a few pains in the asses in my family, and I thought my time here would go more smoothly if they thought I was seriously dating someone. I have a reputation for being a bit of a rolling stone, and I thought Julian’s presence would deter them from asking questions about my life and future.”
Eva sets down her mug and peers at me. “Sounds like you thought wrong.”
“Seems that way, but now we’re stuck with the charade through Sunday.”
“You’re a very convincing couple,” Eva says. “Are you saying there’s nothing there, there?”
I chance a glance at Tori, who’s all ears while she sips her coffee. “Are we attracted to each other? Sure. Will we do anything about it? Nope.”
“Why the hell not?” Eva asks, a touch of exasperation lacing her tone.
I lift an eyebrow.
“Sorry,” she says. “I think the sexual tension is getting to me. Y’all need to take care of it—for the sisterhood.”
“It’s not that simple, I assure you.”
“It never is,” she mumbles.
I sigh into my cup. “I don’t want to compete with my brother for Julian’s time. And Julian’s always been uneasy about mixing his personal and business lives. Being Carter’s agent is his exception. Dating me would upset the order of things.”
“Well, let me ask you this then,” Eva says. “Why do you think he agreed to the charade?”
Now that’s an easy one. “Lydia. She’s been after him forever. This served his purposes, too.”
“Wait. You say he’s not comfortable representing Carter because of their personal connection?”
I nod. “That’s right.”
“But he agrees to a fake relationship with his client’s sister so he can dodge a woman who has a crush on him?”
Eva and Tori share a knowing look.
“Ding, ding, ding,” Tori says. “I’ll take Things That Are Obvious for six hundred, Alex.”
I pinch my lips together, unsure what to say. I know he’s attracted to me, but could there be more to this for him than lust? As usual, I have no answers, so I groan instead. “This is a mess and—”
The door to our bedroom opens, and Julian walks out in a pair of shorts that are no match for his powerful thighs. “Morning, ladies.”
Tori and Eva both say, “Good morning, Charlie” and high-five each other.
Eva waves her hands excitedly. “Oh, we could take Charlie’s Angels to the next level.” She stands and drops into a fighting pose. “I call dibs on the middle, though. I can rock a Farrah Fawcett wig like a boss.”
“Who’d play Charlie?” Julian asks, grinning. “I can’t act at all.”
“Not sure I agree with you there,” Eva says with a smug smile. “But to answer your question, I’d choose Chris Pine. No, what am I thinking? Idris Elba. Definitely. Could you imagine that British accent wishing you good morning?” She flutters her eyelashes. “I’d be like, ‘Good morning, Idris’ and drop my panties in the same breath.”
Julian stares at her with a blank expression. “Okay, that’s my cue to leave. Where’s Carter?”
“He’s with his mother,” Tori says. “And I need to say hello to my parents before Susan takes them to the flea market.” She rises from her chair. “We’ll meet outside at eleven thirty, okay? The zip-lining center is twenty minutes away.”
Julian swallows hard and smiles. “Can’t wait.”
But the sheen of perspiration on his face suggests he’s lying through his bright white teeth. Huh. What’s that about?
“JULIAN, YOU DON’T look so great, man,” Carter says as he clips a part of the harness around his right thigh. “You okay?”
Julian nods as he breathes out. “I’m fine.”
We’re under a canopy of tall trees at Sunny Creek Adventure Park. Our instructor checks that each of our harnesses is secure and gives us a thumbs-up. After a ten-minute safety briefing, he leads us to the first set of trails and points to the color-coded flags at their entrances. “The flags will tell you the level of difficulty. Blue is a less-challenging trail. The climbing bridge is suspended at thirty feet. Green is at fifty.”
Carter and Tori smile at each other.
“Green, right?” Carter asks, and Tori nods enthusiastically.
Anthony, who looks compelling in his athletic wear and totally in his element, turns to Eva. “We should do this in pairs. What’s your pleasure?”
“Not to be paired with you,” Eva replies.
Anthony chuckles, the muscles in his chest flexing as he does. Oh, I bet he could make his pecs twerk.
“Suit yourself,” he says as he follows Tori and Carter up the ladder leading to the green trail.
Eva rolls her eyes and jogs after him.
“Fifty feet, you say?” Julian asks our instructor.
“Yeah. But you’ll get wonderful views from thirty feet, too.”
Julian licks his lips like he’s trying to quench his thirst from that act alone. When he’s done, he rubs his fingers over his mouth as he considers the trails. I’ve never seen him indecisive about anything, but he’s hesitating now.
He’s scared.
I grab his hand. “Care Bear, I’m not sure about green. Could we do blue instead?”
His gaze darts to my face, and then the tightness in his pinched expression disappears. “Yeah, let’s do it. But call me Care Bear in public one more time and I’ll tell everyone your snore sounds like a running lawnmower.”
I scrunch my brows and give him the evil eye. “Rude.”
Our instructor waves us off, shaking his head at our antics. “Have fun, folks.”
I climb the ladder first and wait for Julian on the first platform. Ahead of us, a woman snaps the suspension lock to the steel cable that runs the length of the bridge and beyond. Once engaged, the harness system prevents anyone from advancing without being secured to the cable.
Julian pulls himself up over the ledge, giving me an awesome view of his broad shoulders and ripped arms. He stands and peeks around me to survey the bridge. “You’ve done this a bunch of times. Why’d you decide on this one?”
I go for a nonchalant tone. “Because you’re afraid of heights.”
His chest caves, and he drops his chin. “I can handle heights when I’m in the cabin of a plane. But suspended in air with only a thin cable between me and the dirt below? I’m terrified.”
I’ll admit to being gratified that he shared this with me and no one else. “We’ll get through it together, okay?”
He grunts. “We’ll see.”
“C’mon, Julian, let’s approach this with a little positivity.”
He straightens, rolls his shoulders, and puffs out a breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”
We work together to get through the trail, pausing only when the next suspension bridge looms a short distance away.
“That’s higher than the last one,” he observes.
“Try looking up instead of down in between steps.”
He raises his face to the sky, and the sun highlights the planes of his face, like it’s gathering energy directly from him. Then he opens one eye and steps forward.
“You’re doing great, Julian.”
“How are you doing over there?” Carter bellows from a higher platform to our right.
“Awesome,” I yell back.
“I can do this,” Julian chants. “I can do this.”
“Yes, you can,” I whisper near his ear.
He shivers, and I step back to give him the room he needs to advance. As he grows more comfortable with the climb, I point out the creek below us and a hummingbird that whizzes by.
“Thanks for having patience with me,” he says, stepping forward to the next challenge bridge.
I readjust my gloves and slap my hands together before unclipping my harness from the last cable and snapping it onto the new one. “The zip line is coming up after this.”
Behind me, Julian stumbles. “I might need an airlift.”
“No, you won’t. You’re going to handle the zip line like you handle a negotiation for one of your clients. Make it your bitch.”
He laughs. “Okay, that’s not how I handle my business, but I get your point.”
We approach the zip line, where a member of the park’s staff waits to assist us.
“How ya doin’, folks? Who’s going first?” the woman asks.
Julian steps up. “Do you mind if I go first, Ash? I need to get this over with.”
“Not at all. Go for it.”
The woman rechecks Julian’s helmet and helps him secure the harness to the cable. “This one’s a steep fall, so you might feel a little queasy on the way down. Luckily, the landing is clear. Lots of dirt and no branches. You know how to hang on, yes?”
Julian reaches up and hangs on to the handles of the pulley that’ll soon be gliding with him in the air. “Yeah.”
“Okay,” she says. “Just let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll help you with a push.”
Julian scans the area, his pupils dilated to I’m-going-to-die size. “Okay.”
She places a hand on his back.
“No. Wait. I was saying okay to letting you know when I’m ready, not telling you I am, in fact, ready. Hang on a minute.”
He mutters something to himself.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I tell him.
“Um, yeah, he does,” the woman says. “Unless we think an airlift is necessary. It’s not safe to double back.” She speaks into her walkie-talkie. “Code green on Trail Blue.”
Well, this is escalating in a way I hadn’t anticipated. What to do? What to do? He’s frightened. So he needs a distraction. Then it comes to me.
“Can you give us a sec?” I ask the woman.
“Sure,” she says, stepping away.
I face Julian. When his eyes are trained on mine, I lean over and whisper. “Just so you know, watching you today in those cute athletic shorts has been a hell of a turn-on. Your ass is amazing, and I’ve wanted to grab it all day. In fact, I’m so horny my nipples might poke holes through my shirt.”
He jerks and drops his heated gaze to my chest.
Then I push him.