Fast acting, p.10
Fast Acting, page 10
“I think I could learn to love it the way you do.”
He gave her a sideways glance, apparently startled. “So soon? You’ve only just started.”
She watched the line of droplets cascade off one blade of her paddle as she lifted it out of the water, then repeated the motion on the other side, the kayak scooting smoothly over the bay.
“Sometimes you just know. Know what I mean?”
Russell wasn’t at all sure that he knew what she meant.
But he knew what he hoped she meant. And he hoped she wasn’t really talking about kayaking at all.
He cleared his throat. “I…think I do?” He paddled a little more swiftly so he could turn and see her face clearly. Her hazel eyes were large, her skin pale. Since he had met her, her hair usually framed her face, but the topknot that her hair was pulled into now drew her cheekbones into relief so that she looked almost fragile.
She returned her attention to look forward, looking at a group of seagulls as they sparred in the air, squabbling over something. “Is this the kind of kayaking you usually do?” she asked.
He wondered why she felt the need to change the subject. Or maybe he really hadn’t followed her meaning and she hadn’t changed the subject at all.
“I would usually go to a local lake, back when I had my own boat,” he said.
“When you were married.”
“Yeah.” Did that bother her?
“Which lake?”
“A couple of them. I—we—lived in North Bethesda. So, Clopper Lake, Tridelphia, places like that.”
“I’ve never been. Are those nice?”
“Very. Very peaceful, very quiet. But a lot more wildlife to look at. Inlets to poke into.”
“What sort of wildlife?” Her eyes followed a gull as it glided past.
“Some birds—herons, cormorants. Sometimes a deer or a family of them. Lots of turtles.”
A glorious smile spread across her face and she turned away from the gull to hit him dead in the chest with it. “I love turtles.”
“I do too. And you can sometimes sneak up on them. Get very close while they’re sunning themselves. Kayaking is very quiet.”
She paddled a few times and nodded. “Yeah. Very stealthy.”
“You bet.” His brain circled back to an earlier point in the conversation. “Does it bother you that I was married once?”
Her head turned so fast her kayak wobbled a bit and she rested the paddle across the cockpit opening, letting her boat drift. “No.”
“Really?”
“No. Why should it?” Her eyes had a shuttered, protected look.
Why would you ask me if it bothers me that you were married once if this is all we get?
The question lingered on her palate. She could practically taste it. But to actually ask it was to burst the soap bubble, to hasten the end of this little idyllic interlude that she’d been trying to extend by pretending that this moment in time was all that existed. He hadn’t taken the meaning of her innuendo earlier. Or if he had, he hadn’t taken the opening she had given him.
Russell glanced back at the shore, then at her. His eyebrows drew together. “Did you put on sunscreen this morning?”
Kathleen almost burst out laughing at the absurdity of his sudden detour. “No,” she admitted. I didn’t even think of it this morning.” She had been too eager to clean up and get back to spending more time with him. She hadn’t even thought about spending time outdoors. And even though she knew that her pale skin meant she should wear sunscreen all the time, she wasn’t as diligent as she should be.
“Well, practice your turning. We’re heading back.”
“But we just started.” And I’m not ready for this to be over.
“By the time we get back we will have been out for about a half hour. And you look like you could burn in about five minutes.”
He wasn’t wrong. Kathleen shoved her paddle in the water, feeling the drag as the kayak pivoted around it. “Fine.”
They made their way to the shore without speaking, only the tiny plink of the blades entering and the dripdripdrip of droplets cascading off as they paddled back. Misery pooled in Kathleen’s stomach as she realized how much he must want to get back to his life, to put this weekend in a mental box labeled, “Nice memory of a hot fling.”
“Paddle hard for the shore to get enough momentum to beach the prow,” he told her, showing her how it was done, drawing strong with his own paddle, his biceps straining against the sleeves of his tee shirt. Kathleen tried to imitate him, but the crunch of her boat coming to rest against the shore was less impressive than his. He was out of his kayak in a second and grabbing the handle at the front of hers, lifting it and tugging it more securely onto the shore, her body feeling like a rag doll in the vinyl seat. “I’ll steady it so you can get out.”
Kathleen placed the paddle down as she had seen him do, bracing her hands against it and pushed herself out of the kayak, her feet splashing in the icy water. Russell dragged his boat fully onto the grass and Kathleen imitated him, surprised at the weight of the thing. He had handled it as if it was a lot lighter, even when she had been sitting in it.
“Wow. Heavy.”
“Let me put that away,” he told her. “If you could grab the paddles and bring them, that would be great.”
Fantastic. Now he was rushing things towards their inevitable end. Clearly eager to be done with her. She picked up the paddles and carried them to the little boathouse, disappointment tightening her jaw. Looking at the fastening mechanism on the paddle, she pressed a little stud and twisted the two ends apart, placing it with the others in a corner. Repeating the same action with the other paddle, she unzipped her life vest and put it on the chest. Russell was just settling the second kayak on its rack on the wall. He straightened his shoulders and turned to her, seeming to steel himself for something.
Here it is.
“Here’s the thing,” he said. “I…”
Just get it over with. “I had a nice time, but this is it.” Rip the band-aid off, already.
“…Was wondering if you wanted to stay here another day.”
Kathleen’s face was empty of expression, her mouth tight. “You what?”
The nervous knot in Russell’s gut tightened and he raised a hand. “I’m sorry. It’s presumptuous of me. When I asked the woman at the front desk about the kayaks I also asked if they had availability for one more night. But I should have known better. You have your life to get back to.”
One of her hands was on her stomach, her other came to her mouth. “What?” Her voice was weak.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
She stepped forward, placing one hand on his lips, twining the fingers of her other hand in his still upraised one. “No. Stop talking. I have nothing to get back to tomorrow. I would love to spend another night—another day—with you.”
The tension that had been racking his shoulders tighter and tighter released and he felt lightheaded. “Really?” he mumbled around her fingers.
“Really.” The hand on his mouth lowered to her side and her other hand squeezed. “I thought you wanted to get back to your life.”
“What gave you that impression?”
Her eyes slammed shut. “Verb tense.”
His brain frantically skittered over what she might mean. Came up empty. “What?”
One eye cracked open, meeting his gaze. “You said that you enjoyed our time.”
“Of course I did.” He almost laughed at the images that paraded through his head. Talking with her. Dancing with her. Making love to her. How could I not?
“Enjoyed. Past tense.”
He felt awfully slow, not quite getting what she was talking about. “I did enjoy it. And I continue to do so.”
“You were in an awful hurry to stop kayaking.”
“You were going to burn to a crisp.” He looked at her eyes, trying to gauge if she was really on board with his idea.
“Well, it sounded like you were done.” One corner of her mouth twisted up and her posture shifted, making her look unbalanced, unsure.
He unlinked his hand from hers and slid both palms around her waist. “I’m not done if you’re not.”
A tiny, uncertain smile quivered at the corner of her mouth. “I was just getting started.”
“Good.” He bent and kissed her gently, feeling they had just begun again. Her lips were soft against his, her body pliant. His pulse picked up and he dragged his consciousness to the present. “Come on.” Taking her hand in his, he led her out of the boathouse and locked up.
“Where are we going?”
“First we’re going to tell Colin that I’m not riding back with him. Then we’re going to move our stuff into the room I reserved.”
Her eyebrows went up. “You went so far as to reserve a room?”
“Like I said, presumptuous. I’m also presuming you’ll give me a ride home.”
She cocked her head. “I wouldn’t say presumptuous. I would say…that you planned ahead and expected to get what you wanted.”
“I was hoping I would get what I wanted.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m glad. I wanted it too.”
“Did you?”
“I really did.”
“Then why didn’t you reserve a room?”
“Oh,” she said. “I couldn’t be that presumptuous.” Her face was tight with the effort to hold back laughter.
He stopped and traced a finger over those lips. “I go out of my way to do something romantic and what do I get? Sass.”
“Only the best for you.” She reached up and tugged her hair loose from its knot. It fell in waves around her shoulders and Russell resisted the urge to stop and run his fingers through the silky strands.
“Stop distracting me and let’s go find Colin and Alicia.”
In the end, they found Colin and Alicia in their suite. Not, as Kathleen privately feared, interrupting anything particularly personal. Colin was finishing packing, Alicia informed them as she let them in.
“My wife is nothing if not a genius at traveling light,” Colin grumbled from the bedroom.
Alicia shrugged. “I lived out of two suitcases—at most—for years. I see no reason to start traveling with extra crap now.”
Colin emerged from the bedroom, running his fingers through his thick, shaggy hair. “Your practicality is only one of the many things I adore about you, my darling. What can we do for you, Russ?”
Butterflies unexpectedly took flight in Kathleen’s stomach as she glanced sideways at Russell. Would he change his mind at the last minute?
“Slight change of plan. I’m not riding back with you.”
Colin’s eyebrows went up and his dark eyes twinkled. “Is that so?”
Russell shrugged. “Yeah. Thought I’d give you guys some privacy on the drive back.”
Colin glanced at Alicia, then looked back at Russell. “Magnanimous of you, mate. But what exactly did you think we could get up to in a moving car with me driving?”
Kathleen could swear that Colin was a hair’s breadth from bursting into laughter. Looking at Alicia, she saw that her friend was assessing the situation with a secretive half-smile.
“It’s not that, Col. I just…it’s your honeymoon. You two should be alone. You don’t need a third wheel in the back seat.” Russell bit his lip, apparently a tell that he was out of his depth.
“Our honeymoon isn’t for two weeks. We’d hardly have Colin’s family come all the way from England and abandon them immediately. And Grace is staying with us for a few days as well before she goes back to Wisconsin for summer session.” Alicia stroked Colin’s arm with her fingertips, the secretive half-smile blossoming into a full, happy grin as he looked down at her.
Russell floundered. “Well—”
“We’re staying an extra day,” Kathleen blurted, lacing her fingers into Russell’s.
Alicia and Colin burst out laughing. “Of course you are,” Alicia said, her eyes dancing. “Took you long enough to come out with it.”
“What…are you talking about?” Russell said, his eyes narrowing.
Colin’s eyebrows lifted. “Really, mate? You thought I told you to leave your car at home because I wanted your company on the drive out? You think the timing of our arrival was an accident?”
“But Alicia had to be here earlier and you had a meeting that got cancel—oh.” Russell smacked his hand over his eyes, the fingers of his other hand squeezing Kathleen’s. “You guys are good. You should hire out for parties or something. Maybe join the CIA.”
Kathleen tried to glare at Alicia, but couldn’t keep it up for more than a half second without bursting into giggles. “You set us up?”
Alicia shrugged. “We saw potential. We established the environment for it to happen if it was going to happen. And apparently it happened.”
“Matchmaking at your own wedding. That’s…next level, Col,” Russell said, extending his hand for Colin to shake.
“Anyway,” Alicia said, flicking her fingers at them. “Shoo. Have a great time. We’ll see you back home sometime soon.”
Chapter 13
Russell jammed his Dopp kit into his luggage. “You, my friend, are apparently a disappointment,” he said to the toiletry bag. “Only one condom.” He shook his head as he zipped his suitcase, as if it was the failure of his travel gear to plan ahead, not his.
Lifting his bag and guitar case from the bed, he looked around the small room he had only slept in for a single night. He seemed to have remembered everything. Heading for the front desk, he exchanged his key card for one that would open the larger room he had booked for tonight. As he moved up the grand, curving staircase, he whistled to himself. Letting himself in, he nodded with satisfaction as he dropped his suitcase in a corner. While not being as large as Colin and Alicia’s suite, it was spacious and…poking his head into the bathroom he confirmed that in addition to a large glass shower stall, it held a huge claw-foot tub.
Perfect.
A tap at the door sent him hotfoot to open it, revealing Kathleen with her huge roller bag and almost equally large tote. “Let me help you with that,” he said, taking the tote off her shoulder. She wheeled the other bag in behind her, her head swiveling around to take in the new room.
“Very nice, Professor.”
“You haven’t seen one of the best parts,” he said, putting down her tote and taking the handle of her wheelie bag out of her grasp and pushing it to join the rest of their luggage.
Her eyes skimmed over the king-sized bed and her eyebrows lifted.
He ducked his head, suppressing a grin. “Well, that too.”
“Ooh. A treasure hunt.” Kathleen scanned the room, opened the closet, looked at him as she closed it, and then moved to the bathroom door. “Very nice. Very, very nice, Professor.”
Moving behind her, he looked at the tub over her head. “I had a feeling you might like that.” Skimming his fingers down her bare arms, he was gratified by the way she shivered under his touch.
“Oh, I think I will like it a whole lot.” Her head leaned back to rest on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her waist, breathing in the scent of her hair, closing his eyes as her body relaxed into his. He took a moment to wonder how this had happened so fast—this ease, this comfort with a woman he had only known for a couple of days.
If they had left it to the wedding weekend fling it had started as, he might have chalked the feeling up to the way you can achieve instant ease with someone in a temporary bubble—like making friends with someone at a resort or on a cruise, knowing you’ll part ways soon. But this extra day was new territory.
This felt more like real intimacy.
Kathleen turned in his arms, her eyes heavy-lidded and sultry. Her hands slid behind his neck, stroking his skin with delicate touches, sending a shiver down his spine.
“So. What do we do now?”
Kathleen felt like she had thrown herself off the top of a cliff, heedless and somehow unafraid of the free-fall. Her prior nerves and caution were a thing of the past. Earlier, she had thought the best she could hope for was that Russell would follow up after they went home, ask her out on a date, maybe.
This was way beyond anything she’d thought of.
The room was beautiful, but even better was the time. Instead of a date lasting a couple of hours, he had elected to spend a whole extra day. And a night. With her.
“What would you like?” he asked.
“Oh, no.” Kathleen stroked his cheek, rough with stubble. In all their rushing around this morning he mustn’t have taken the time to shave. “Your turn.”
“Well, if that’s the case…” He bent and nipped at her neck. She pressed her body harder against his and felt his cock begin to stir. She leaned her head back as he kissed and nibbled a path up to her ear. “I think I’d like to see you on top again,” he whispered.
“I think that can be arranged.” Kathleen lifted her arms as he drew her tee shirt up and off, loving the way his pupils dilated at the sight of her lacy bra. “Now you,” she said, nodding at his shirt. He tugged it off, revealing his broad chest. Kathleen traced her fingers over his nipples, pleased when they drew tight. She leaned forward and flicked her tongue against one, then the other, nipping for good measure. Something between a groan and a growl rumbled through him and his arms tightened around her, his hands sliding up her back to wind in her hair and tug her head back. His lips fastened on hers, hungry, searching, demanding. A thrill shot through Kathleen. This was another side of cautious, careful Russell.
“Why are you smiling?” He whispered against her lips.
“Untamed Russell. This is new.”
“Is it okay with you?”
“I like it.”
He kissed her again, his hands cradling the back of her head, fingers still tangled in her hair, tongue sweeping into her mouth. Kathleen ran her hands down his back, cupping his muscular ass through the soft denim of his jeans and squeezing.
“Holy shit, Kathleen.” He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, practically purring with pleasure as her hips settled against his erection. She felt strong, powerful. She wasn’t falling anymore, but flying. She was so absorbed in the sensations in her body, the deep, hot, thrilling kiss, that she was surprised when he leaned over and she felt the mattress against her back. She hadn’t even noticed him move across the room. His hand moved between her back and the mattress and the tight band of her bra released. Russell pulled back, stripping it off her and tossing it aside before cupping her breasts in his hands, licking and sucking on first one nipple, then the other, sending sensations zinging through her. She tightened her legs around his waist, grinding against him and he moaned against her breast, the vibrations only ramping her desire higher, delicious tension building.
