Page 440 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“Yes.”
“Based on cut and modesty?”
She licked her lips.
“Come on,” I pressed. “Throw me a bone here. We’ll have a glass of wine in the hot water to wind down after the crash. I don’t know about you, but I’m still feeling the adrenaline.”
She eyed the hot tub. “I feel it too.”
“Then let’s relax. Then I’ll show you to your room and we can both get some rest.”
She sighed as she considered the offer. Her hesitation made me think she would shoot me down, but she finally caved and said, “I’ll pour the wine while you scoop the snow off the lid. I’m not going out there in my bra and panties if I have to stand in the cold while you get the cover off.”
I shivered at the thought but nodded. “Done. I’ll grab you the wine and wine glasses.”
We moved into the kitchen, where I got everything she needed to open a bottle of shiraz. Tinsely set to work while I moved to the sliding doors and promptly dropped my pants, pulled off my socks, and peeled my wet shirt off over my head. I dropped all the wet clothes on the floor and caught Tinsely watching out of the corner of her eyes while she poured a very full glass of wine.
I winked at her.
She collected herself and stopped pouring, clearing her throat as her cheeks burned red.
In nothing but my boxers, I did a little dance on the spot before working up the courage to slide the door open and plunge barefoot into the snow. The cold burned until my feet went numb as I pushed the snow off the hot tub cover, flipped it open, and got in. The water burned my cold skin, and I suffered through the pain, knowing it would abate soon.
Inside, Tinsely carried both glasses of wine to the door. She set them down on the floor, and while I watched, she began stripping out of her clothes. She turned her back to me as she did, trying to maintain some level of modesty. Perhaps I shouldn’t have looked, but I couldn’t help it. She’d seen me down to my boxers. It was only fair I saw her.
She pulled her sweater off first and let it fall to the floor. Her bra was a deep shade of green, but I wasn’t paying it much attention. My eyes were drawn to the curve of her spine and the two dimples in her lower back. While I watched, she turned back to me, shimmying her hips from side to side as she peeled off her jeans.
Tinsely had strong thighs and a narrow waist. Her panties, a thong by the looks of it, had criss-crossing straps over her hips that dared me to snap them when she got closer. I wouldn’t do such a thing, of course. I’d be a good boy. However, if I got a chance to take a peek at her bare ass, I was going to take it.
She opened the sliding door, picked up the wine, and managed to close the door again with her elbow while she squealed about how cold it was.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” she hissed through clenched teeth as she hurried through the snow. The muscles in her thighs flexed, and her cleavage jiggled, and every part of me was overcome with a rush of desire. She swung one leg over the tub as she handed me my wine before slipping over the side and plunging in right up to her chin. She closed her eyes and held her wine over the water. “Oh yeah, that’s better.”
I took a sip of my wine. “See? Not a bad suggestion.”
She cracked open one eye. “Fine. You were right.”
While Tinsely settled into one of the corner seats, I turned on the jets. The water swirled and danced, and we pressed our backs up against the best spots for high pressure water massages. I wasn’t sure about her, but my body felt pulled tight with tension after witnessing the accident and springing into action. It was a normal reaction, but the jets felt like relief nonetheless, and I found myself sinking deeper in the water as my muscles finally relaxed.
Somewhere nearby, a neighbor listened to Christmas music. The rainbow of lights still danced on the snow all around us, which grew deeper with every passing minute.
“It feels like we’re in a snow globe,” Tinsely whispered, echoing my thoughts.
“I’d spend a lot of money on a snow globe if it came with a half-naked miniature of you inside of it.”
She blinked.
I laughed. “I’m kidding! Relax, Tinsel. You take everything so seriously.”
“And you don’t take anything seriously enough.”
“Opposites attract.”
She pointed a warning finger at me. “You’re my boss, Chadwick. Don’t go forgetting that.”
“How could I when you never turn work mode off?”
“That’s not true.”
