Page 33 of His Build

As Graydon pulled into the drive, he cleared his throat. “Where’s your room?”

Lucy jerked her face towards him. “My r-room?”

“So I can drop you on the right side of the building.”

Lucy laughed, a little too loud. She gripped the seat next to her legs, willing herself to relax.

Sadie’s voice came back again.You’re acting like this is a big deal. It’s not a big deal.

“It’s on the backside, facing the lake.” She was glad not to have to go through the front. She didn’t want to face Toby like this—he’d see right through her. Worse, if she got up the nerve to ask Graydon to come upstairs, he’d know all about it.

“Nice,” Graydon said. “The lake view rooms are the best, obviously. I led a remodel here a couple of years ago.”

Of course he did.

Lucy’s mouth was dry yet again, but she swallowed and attempted to speak. “Well, you did a great job. I love the balcony—it’s a nice way to start the day, sitting out there with my morning coffee.”

“I love that too—I have a deck looking over the other end of the lake.”

“Sounds amazing,” she said. She meant it, too. What she wouldn’t give to have a whole deck out here.

Lucy straightened up as he pulled around the building.

Was she going to do this?

“There aren’t too many other guests here right now,” she said. “Definitely nobody taking in the lake like I am.”

“You’re swimming already?”

“Is it not normal to do that?”

“No, I mean, I love it.” Graydon swung into the parking lot. Behind them was a thick cluster of trees and to the right, the water. “It’s pretty brisk still though.” He cut the engine.

“I find it good for… clearing my head,” she said, flushing. As if he would know she jumped in this morning trying to wash her mind of the image of him naked. “I’ve been going every day. Twice a day actually, and three times on the weekend. I could live here.”

“I wish you did,” Graydon said. When she looked over at him he was looking at her with such intensity, she couldn’t turn away if she tried. She could feel the ions in the air around her, the very cells of her body, pointed towards him.

Her body took over before her logical mind could stop it.

She unbuckled her seatbelt, and it slipped off her with a whoosh, the sound deafening in the silence of the car.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I shouldn’t have—”

But his words fell away as she drew herself up onto her knees. She rested her hands on his shoulders so she was looking down on him. There were tiny flecks of gold in his eyes she hadn’t noticed before. They were only visible from this close.

“Lucy,” he said. “Are you—”

“Shh,” she said, pulling the soft worn fabric of his shirt into her fists. His eyes went liquid as he reached for her waist. His hands were warm through the fabric of her t-shirt. Hot even. A fire burned between them, wood popping, sparks snapping. She moved closer, feeling the heat of him against her, stopping when their lips were an inch apart.

For a moment she didn’t move, breathing in his scent. Then Graydon made a sound, something between a grunt and a growl, and gripped her thighs. Before Lucy even knew what was happening he was hoisting her, gasping, onto his lap. She landed on the taut muscles of his legs and a hardness between them that twitched as she sank into him.

“Lucy…” he said, “If you don’t kiss me I’m going to explode.”

“Which part?” she breathed.

He groaned.

She leaned in and kissed him, the fire inside her rising up around them. It raged in her ears and on her tongue and in her blood. Graydon’s tongue probed her lips, searching with desperate need at her warm depths. Her hands slipped into his hair and when she finally pulled away, they both took in a ragged breath.

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