Page 11 of Rocky Mountain Desire
“Yeah, but just wait.” She snuck past him, clinging to his waist for a second. Something clattered to the floor then a drawer opened. She groped her way down his arm just before icy cold fingers pressed the hard surface of a lighter into his palm. A rosy glow filled the room as he followed her directions and lit the couple dozen tea lights arranged around the room.
“Convenient.”
“Pretty,” she corrected. “It’s a part of my relaxation therapy. Never thought I’d need them for this.”
Steam rose from the tub. “Thank God for gas hot-water heaters. I didn’t make it too hot though—you’re too cold. We can add hotter water once you’ve warmed up.”
Hope nodded. “Matt? You’re not thinking of leaving, are you?”
He was thinking things that were going to send him to hell. He undid the button on her jeans as quickly as possible, opening the zipper. Ignored her soft gasp as his cold knuckles bumped the heated skin of her bare belly. “I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay. Take off your pants and get in the tub.”
She obeyed clumsily. “You too, right?”
Bloody hell.“Yes, me too. I’m fucking freezing and I’m soaking wet. Don’t worry, it’ll be crowded, but your virtue is safe.”
Hope laughed as she lifted one long leg over the edge of the tub, the sound turning to a moan of pleasure as the water surrounded her.
Matt was a dead man walking. He couldn’t get in the tub now, not without her knowing he had a woody the size of a bull’s. How he had gotten a hard-on when he was this bloody cold, he had no idea, but the damn thing was there. Insistently there.
She was all the way in, liquid soaking her T-shirt and making it cling to her body. He stared and reconsidered. He could strip and wrap himself in blankets in the living room. He’d already taken a step toward the door when she spoke.
“Matt? I know this is awkward, but if you don’t get your ass in the tub right now I’ll track you down and make you regret it. I don’t care if you’ve got a hard-on, I’ve seen one before. I know it’s a natural reaction, and it doesn’t mean anything.”
Shit. “What the—”
“I danced for years, Matt. Put myself through school showing skin, and I know the female body turns guys on even if their brain isn’t engaged. I understand what happened this summer. Enough. It’s forgotten. Just get in the tub.”
Matt figured he was about fifty shades of red, but obeyed. Dragged his jeans down his thighs, deliberately not looking to see if she was watching. Because if she had her gaze on him and there was even a hint of attraction, he wouldn’t know what to do.
And if she was watching with total disinterest that might be worse.
He stripped to his T-shirt and boxers before glancing her way. She sat in the middle of the tub, leaning against the side. Her body was curled into a ball, head back on the tiles, eyes closed. There was enough room for him at the top of the tub to step into the heated water—he groaned as loudly as she had, it felt so damn wonderful—before he sat and tugged her into his lap.
“I’m glad you have such an open mind about things, darling, but if it weren’t for the fact I’m afraid you’d fall asleep and drown, I’d keep my carcass out of your way right now.”
Hope twisted until she lay flat out on top of him, hip tight to his groin, head turned so her cheek rested on his chest. “Fine by me, any excuse you want to use. Just get your hands back in the water before your fingers fall off and my guilty conscience forces me to sew you special gloves for the rest of your life.”
Matt snorted, but obeyed, slipping his hands around her and resting them on her belly. He linked his fingers together to be sure he didn’t accidentally touch anything he shouldn’t.
No matter how much he wanted to.
“By the way, thank you for rescuing me.” Her voice, soft and low, tickled his ears.
“No troubles.”
She shivered once more before relaxing with a deep sigh. “So, Matt Coleman. Can we start again?”
What was she up to?“Start again?”
Her body shook with soft laughter. “We’re sitting in a tub of water in our undies. This situation calls for some explaining. Since we’re not going to be lovers, I’d like us to go back to being friends. I’ve missed having you around since Helen deserted us. I’m sorry she was a shit to you, but I hope you won’t hold her actions against me.”
The matter-of-fact way she said it, with a cute, slightly sleepy after-yawn, wiped away the sexual stress and chaos of the past hours. He hadn’t realized that Helen had abandoned others as well.
Hope was smart, quick-witted…and a desirable woman, but the sexual part would just have to wait for someone other than him. “I would be honoured to be your friend, Ms. Meridan.”
She lifted one hand out of the water, palm toward him, and this time he laughed as he gave her a high-five, like he’d done off and on over the years since they’d been teenagers.
Friends. Yeah. He could do that.
