“Mr. Marshall. Miss Webster,” Lenora said their names like they were naughty school kids. “While laughter during sex is a wonderful tool, we hope you’re taking these activities seriously; especially since you indicated your sexual relationship isn’t what you’d like it to be. Sometimes people use humor to deflect their true feelings.”
She touched the crystal hanging from her neck. “Have you addressed the peridot yet?” she asked Hailey.
“Um, it hasn’t come up in the cards.”
“The cards are a tool to help open communication. Conversation starters. We hope you explore the feelings, insecurities, and desires these questions evoke. Do not limit yourself to them. Free yourself.” Even after Lenora left, her incense still floated around their table.
“Okay. So seriously.” Hailey held up the card. “Foreplay. What can we improve on?”
“I’m liking the foreplay we’ve been doing.”
“This isn’t foreplay.”
“Oh, sweetheart, it so very much is.”
“How so?” She shifted in her seat and crossed one leg over the other, her foot bumping into his knee.
“It’s the buildup. The anticipation. The slight brush of hands.” He rubbed his foot on her calf. “Or feet.”
“Feet are not a turn-on for me.”
“No?” He continued to slide his sneaker up her jean-clad leg, enjoying watching her squirm.
“Feet are gross.”
“It’s not about the feet. It’s about the touch.” Carter reached across the table and lightly skimmed her pinky with his thumb.
Her neck turned blotchy red. She brushed the hair out of her eyes, then re-crossed her legs, all while avoiding his gaze. But she didn’t pull away.
“And here I pegged you for the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of guy.” She shoved the card to the bottom of the deck and flipped the next one. As fast as she turned it over, she shoved it to the bottom.
“Nah ah. No cheating.” Carter withdrew the card and read. “Where do you like to be touched?”
“You first.”
“Everywhere,” he said honestly.
“That’s a copout.”
“Sweetheart, anywhere you want to touch me will make me one happy man.”
“Yet you didn’t want to sleep with me last night.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He stood enough so he could lean across the table and whisper in her ear. “I did sleep with you last night.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Holy hot and horny. Hailey needed a cold shower, or at least an ice-cold glass of water. Carter’s simple words, his light touches, had her more than ready to strip down and do him six ways to Sunday. Whatever the hell that meant.
She wouldn’t admit it to him, but he was right. Hell, the Freemans were right. Conversation without the distractions of phones, the world, other people, and concentrating only on the one you loved was a serious turn-on.
Not that she loved Carter. She lusted after him. Hard. If only he wasn’t a walking, talking list of contradictions. His eyes heated when he talked to her like he wanted to lick her from top to bottom. He came on to her hot and heavy, yet didn’t want to sleep with her.
And what was up with the kiss this morning on the beach? It may not have meant something to him, but damn. It went right to her core and then dropped a few inches, sending tingly sensations in all the right places.
Or wrong places, if wanting to sex him up was wrong. Not wrong. Not reciprocated.
“We slept. No sex.”
“Yet.”
Wait, what?
“Where do you like to be touched?” he asked her again. “Your neck?” He skimmed his fingers down one side of her neck then moved them to the other.
“Sure,” she squeaked.
“Your lips.” His thumb traced first her bottom lip then the top one.
“Mmhm.” Waves of heat and lust flowed through her body as her eyes drooped sleepy, satisfied. He moved his hand away, and she opened her eyes.
He sat back in his chair, a smug smile on his lips. “Anywhere else?”
If he could dish it out, she’d see how well he could take it. “Right here.” She traced her fingers between her cleavage, enjoying how quickly his eyes dropped to her chest.
She waited for him to blink. It took longer than normal, and she hid the satisfied smirk itching to escape.
“This is nice too.” She dipped her hands lower, scraping her stomach, bringing out her best stripper move—which she’d never brought out before—and cupped herself. With her hands over her jeans, and in the middle of a room surrounded by couples old enough to be her parents, she shouldn’t be turned on. Like she’d made fun of Carter, voyeurism wasn’t her thing either.
She wasn’t turned on from her hand on her crotch. With the barrier of her jeans, it wasn’t like she was doing anything erotic. Carter’s mouth turned into a painful frown, and he closed his eyes with a moan.
“You’re killing me, Hailey.”
“What?” She added an extra air of perkiness to her question. “You told me to answer the question. I like my boobs and my hoo-ha touched during sex.”
“Hoo-ha?” He opened his eyes with a laugh.
“Do you prefer technical terms? Vagina. Is that better?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Well, it’s a better answer than everywhere.”
“I stand by my answer, Hailey.” Her name was husky on his lips, and she clenched her thighs to keep her reaction at bay. “I’d be happy being touched by you anywhere and everywhere. And in return, I’d be happy touching you anywhere. And. Eve-ry. Where.”
“Our hour is up,” Paul broke the spell, speaking from the front of the room.
Hailey wetted her lips and straightened herself in her chair, thankful for the welcome distraction.
“We hope the two hours of intimacy has brought you closer together, and that you’ve started the journey in uncovering the obstacles getting in your way of having a satisfying and rewarding sex life.”
Lenora stood next to Paul adding, “We ask that you not retire to your suites for a while.”
Hailey avoided looking at Carter, but she watched as the other couples moaned in disappointment.
“Trust us,” Lenora laughed. “It will make your evening much more ... magical. It’s too easy to fall into bed the moment your sexual awakening is stirred. What will make the experience even more rewarding is by making these feelings, this closeness you have experienced, last longer.”
“The anticipation will build, and you will only grow closer from this experience. Trust me, you will have plenty of time tonight to join in intimacy.” Paul wrapped his arm around Lenora’s waist, and they stared at each other in mutual bliss.
Now this was embarrassing. A room full of horny couples wanting to get laid, and the teacher telling them they had to wait.
“Like I said,” Carter murmured in her ear. “Good things come to those who wait.
And wait they did. Even when the Freemans gave them permission to get it on after dinner, Carter only touched her like they were the stars in a Hallmark movie. Either he was a tease, or he took this foreplay thing way too seriously. No nookie happened the second night, or the following morning either.
“We hope you enjoyed your stay and were able to enhance your relationship,” Lenora said, taking Hailey’s hands in hers.
It was as if the woman was more concerned about her and Carter’s relationship than the work they were doing for the resort. They’d only spent an hour yesterday and less than that this morning interviewing the Freemans and learning more about the history of the property and how they came to be relationship therapists. The rest of the time was spent with Hailey and Carter having the true resort experience.
Carter had already put her bag in the back of the golf cart, and he and Paul were standing by it having a chat of their own.
“It was wonderful. Your resort is absolutely stunning. I only hope that I captured the essence in my pictures.
I can send you a folder, and you and Paul can select the ones you’d like for the website.”
“Oh no.” Lenora squeezed her hand. “You’re the professionals. We trust your judgement.”
“We’ll share the website with you before it goes live, and we can make any changes you and Paul suggest. I’ll be sure to blur out the guests so no faces will be seen or recognized.”
“Thank you. And you and Carter, you were able to work toward the goals you set?”
She cast a glance at him standing in the distance. Sexy as a cover model in his jeans, as casual as could be, completely unaware of his beauty.
Scratch that. Sexier.
“I don’t think I have to worry about Carter being boring in the bedroom.” While they didn’t have sex last night, or even make it to first base, the light touches to her neck, the sweet hand holding, the simple peck on her lips before bed, left her satisfied and hungry for him.
Starving. Ravished.
“Then we’ve done our job.”
“I hope we can do ours as well. Thank you, Lenora.” Hailey gave her a hug and climbed into the golf cart.
PAUL DROPPED THEM BY the ferry launch thirty minutes before it was set to depart, so he could drive the other couples back as well. While they waited, they strolled along the main road, taking in the sites and shops.
“Do you want to go in any of them?” Carter asked.
“Not really.” Hailey picked up her camera, capturing the blur of activity around the center of town.
“This reminds me of Peaks Island, only on a smaller scale. Have you ever been?”
“I can’t say I have.”
“We’ll check it out later this summer when it’s warmer.” The island off of Portland was a tourist hotspot with a lot of artistic flair. Later this summer meant they’d be ... they’d be something. Maybe. Carter could only hope.
“Oh my word,” Hailey gasped from behind her lens.
He couldn’t tell what she was oohing over. All he saw was a family with two little kids eating ice cream outside an ice cream shop.
Hailey lowered her camera and looked through the pictures she’d taken. “These are amazing,” she said to herself.
While he didn’t doubt they were, he didn’t know what the big deal was. They didn’t even have a view of the water from where they were standing on the sidewalk. People and shops were all he could see.
“She’s adorable. Look.” Hailey held up the camera for him to see. She’d captured a picture-perfect moment of the little girl’s eyes, and her huge smile as her dad handed her an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles.
The little girl’s white shirt and dark pigtails popped against the turquoise siding of the shop. Her eyes were priceless, shining with excitement. He’d guess by the hooded slant of them that she had Downs Syndrome. Next to her sat her sister. Cute too, but Hailey caught something special with the little girl in pigtails.
“It’s so cute, but I don’t know what to do with the picture. I usually post them on Instagram and tag the business.”
“That’s good exposure for your photography.”
“It’s how Mia found me. I don’t want to post a picture without asking her parents first.”
“We can go talk to the parents. I’m sure they’ll love to see it.” Carter took her hand, and they crossed the street.
“Excuse me,” Hailey said holding out her hand. “My name is Hailey Webster, and I’m a local photographer. I captured this picture of your daughter and wanted to share it with you.” She held out her camera so the couple could see.
“Oh, my heavens. Look at Piper’s smile,” the mother said. “Can I show her?”
“Of course.”
The mother crouched next to her daughter who giggled when she saw the picture. Vanilla ice cream had already started to drip down her hand, and her mouth was a rainbow of sprinkles.
“I would love to post this picture on my photography business’ social media pages, but I wanted to ask your permission first.”
“Thank you.” The mother stood and took out her phone. “Can I follow you?”
Hailey gave her information to the mother, they exchanged a few more words, and then they headed down to the ferry.
“That was nice of you.”
“I guess. To be fair, I post pictures and tag businesses to gain more exposure. I don’t want to exploit children, but I love the fact that the best people picture I took all day was of a girl with special needs.”
“Why is that?” He could figure out why, because she was a decent human being, but he wanted to hear from Hailey.
“I’ve spent the last eleven years taking pictures of men and women with perfect bodies. Spray tans, fake boobs, manicured nails, salon hair every day, so self-absorbed that even with less than five percent body fat, they still pick apart their looks. It’s refreshing to take pictures of honest to goodness regular every day families enjoying something as simple as an ice cream cone.”
“I don’t think I could have been around that crowd for a decade. Not even for a day.”
“I’m stereotyping. There are plenty of sweet, down to earth people in the bodybuilding world. Actually, most are really nice. It only takes a few bad apples to put the sour taste in my mouth. They’ve made me want nothing to do with that world anymore.”
“That’s understandable.” He clenched his fists thinking about the douchebag who had hurt her and made her believe she wasn’t worthy of being loved.
Carter nearly tripped over his feet. It was way too soon, like months and months too soon, to even be playing around with that word. Hailey excited him, challenged him, and hell, she made him laugh like no other woman could.
But it didn’t mean he was falling in love with her.
HAILEY COULDN’T STOP thinking about the adorable picture she had taken of Piper. That simple picture gave her more satisfaction than the photo she took of Mr. Universe and sold for five grand. She smiled as they held hands and strolled down the road, peeking in the quaint windows.
They followed the crowd to the ferry and climbed the stairs to the top deck. The day was cooler than the previous ones, and the ferry ride to Bar Harbor was much colder than the ride out on Monday. She hadn’t thought to bring a coat and shoved her hands into the front pocket of her sweatshirt to stay warm.
“Cold?” Carter asked the obvious. “We can sit inside.”
“It’s a short ride, and the view is too beautiful to waste it in there.”
“Okay.” He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back into his chest. “Better?”
“Sure.” Yes, so much better. She relaxed her shoulders and leaned her back into him, her head resting on his chest. This was nice. Hailey had never been the cuddling type. Or maybe she’d never been with a man who cared to cuddle.
Carter’s hands joined hers inside the pocket of her sweatshirt. “This work trip didn’t go as I expected it to.”
“What did you expect?”
“That it was a hoax. A rip off for couples who were desperate to save their relationship. The classes, the activities, I wouldn’t have done them if I wasn’t with you.”
“That’s probably why they wanted you to come with someone and not alone.”
“If I came alone, my vision for their website wouldn’t be what it is now.”
“I can’t wait to see what you have planned.”
“Not having WiFi or my laptop wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, thanks to you.”
“So glad I could be a replacement. What sold you? The crystals? The yoga? Or was it the meditation Hindu stuff we did this morning?”
“The sex cards.”
“Nice.” She elbowed him in the stomach.
“They were a nice touch. I’m not into the whole spiritual voodoo magic stuff, but I get how some could believe in the crystals. You’re right; it’s more a mind over matter thing.” He rested his chin on her shoulder, his warm breath wrapping its way around her body, and she folded into him a bit more.
“I’ll be sure to tell your brother to get you some for Christmas. Or your birthday. Whichever comes first.”
“Hippies and crystals aren’t my thing, and if you tell my friends and family otherwise, I’ll completely deny it.” He nipped at her earlobe.
The nip surprised her, and she snapped her head around so she was looking into his eyes. Carter licked his lips, her gaze following the path of his tongue, and then he dipped his head.
She closed her eyes and welcomed the kiss, warm, soft, and comforting. Sighing, she took her hands out of her pockets and turned into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his back and taking the kiss to the next level.
The kiss on the beach the other morning might have been for the camera, but this one was for them. One hundred percent Carter and Hailey and no one else.
Carter traced her lips with his tongue, and she opened for him. Reason escaped her as she tangled her tongue with his, her movements both cautious and suggestive. The blare of the ferry signaling their arrival startled her, and she jumped, her teeth clashing with his. “Ouch. Sorry.” She pulled back and covered her mouth with her hand.
He drew her back into him, placing a soft kiss to her lips. “Better?”
Those sweet touches, the sweet kisses, they were completely out of character from the sexy, flirty, double entendre Carter she knew and ... lusted.
“I’m good. You?”
He cupped her face in his big, warm hands, tracing her lips with his thumbs. “Never better.”
“Is this still foreplay?” she asked, not thinking about the consequences of her question. He’d done a kick ass job on curbing her doubt. Or maybe it was the peridot crystal she had in her pocket.
“It’s whatever you want it to be.”
“What is it you want it to be?”
Carter tskd and shook his head from side to side. “The Freemans would not be happy to hear you answering a question with a question.”
“Technically, you didn’t ask me a question. I’ve asked two, and you haven’t answered.”
All of You (A Well Paired Novel Book 7) Page 14
