“As long as stopping by involves this.” Kira angled her head to kiss her neck.
Megan’s hips started a slow, involuntary undulation. “Why do you think I suggested saying hi in person instead of over the phone?”
***
Megan’s phone rang a few hours later as she was walking to Kira’s hotel. She glanced at the number displayed on her phone and decided she might have to take Kira up on her offer of having the spa’s receptionist handle her calls, because why, why, why in the world was Barbara Fenhurst calling her?
Against her better judgment, Megan picked up. And instinctively yanked the phone away from her ear at Barbara’s screech of joy before she damaged her eardrum.
“I’m moving to Richmond!” Barbara announced.
Megan glared at the phone. She should hang up on her. But she did want to hear this—it sounded like good news for everyone. Cautiously, she moved the phone closer to her ear.
“I wanted to let you know so you can update your address book,” Barbara said.
“Okay.” Megan didn’t know quite what to say.
“I wish you could meet Derek.”
“Derek?”
“My new boyfriend. I’m moving in with him.”
“Congratulations. I’m happy for you.” She really was. And relieved. Barbara would be hours away, and in love—a combination that should guarantee she’d never hear from her again. She ought to send this guy a thank-you card.
“Isn’t it wonderful? And guess what? Derek is a masseur. He’s a professional, like you. And he’s such a hottie. We gave each other massages last night. Nude massages.” Barbara paused expectantly, but Megan really didn’t think this information deserved a response. Did Barbara seriously think this would make her jealous? Did she want her to regret what she lost when she turned her away? “He says I could do it professionally. Maybe a four hands kind of deal, where we both massage one person at the same time.”
Who was this guy? She was positive she knew all the massage people in Piper Beach, and he wasn’t one of them. “How did you meet?” Not on Derek’s massage table, she hoped.
“In Wilmington. I ran into him in the lobby yesterday after the hearing.”
“He works for the NTMCA?” That actually was more disturbing to her than the idea that Barbara was moving in with a guy she’d only met the day before.
“No, he was there for an ethics hearing, too. Sexual misconduct. It wasn’t his fault, though—the woman was out to get him. She won, but he’s going to get himself reinstated, and in the meantime he says he can still run his practice as long as he doesn’t call it massage.”
Megan swallowed the protest lodged in her throat. Sounded like those two deserved each other. She hung up and immediately called Kira.
“Guess what? Barbara’s moving to Richmond.”
“She called you?” Kira, not surprisingly, did not sound pleased. “She never gives up, does she? You’d think after what she put you through yesterday, she’d stop harassing you.”
“I think this may be the last time I hear from her. She can’t swing by my house if she’s in another state.”
“If you ask me, Richmond is not far enough away.”
“Richmond is good!” Megan protested.
“She still has a phone.”
“She won’t use it.” She’d be far too busy performing four-hands massage.
“Did I tell you I ran into her in the ladies’ room yesterday when we were waiting for the verdict? She thinks I’m the reason you won’t talk to her. She doesn’t seem to grasp that she did anything wrong.”
“She’ll forget about me eventually.”
“Maybe,” Kira said. “What’s she doing in Richmond, anyway?”
“She’s going to become a massage therapist.” Megan giggled, then clapped her hand over her mouth, appalled by her inappropriate reaction.
“I bet she just said that to piss you off. Since she lost at the hearing yesterday.”
“Let’s hope.”
“So when are you coming over?” Kira’s voice softened to a caress. “Soon?”
Her legs weakened and her stride faltered and slowed. “I’m already on my way. Is it still okay for me to drop by?”
“My dad’s here, actually, but he usually doesn’t stay long. Do you want to meet him?”
Fifteen minutes later Megan was inside the hotel lobby shaking hands with Kira’s dad, Jason Wagner.
“I was just telling Kira what a great job the two of you did with this property,” he said, beaming proudly at them both. “Kira, I’m going to send your mother out here for a massage once you’ve got the spa operational.”
“You should come with her,” Kira suggested.
He raised his hands, palms out, and shook his head. “Not me. I know you don’t want men setting foot in this place.”
“I can make an exception for you.”
“No need,” he said magnanimously.
“You’re just afraid Mom and I are going to talk you into getting a spa treatment.”
“Busted.” He winked at Megan. “But I’ll bet your spa’s going to be a hit with the ladies.”
Her spa? Megan looked questioningly at Kira, who shook her head helplessly with a smile that said no, she hadn’t made her spa manager behind her back.
“Has my daughter talked you into sticking around yet?”
What was he talking about? Megan wanted to make a good impression, but that was hard to do when she felt like she’d missed a huge chunk of the conversation. She wished she’d asked Kira on the phone for details and found out what she’d told him about her—about them. Not that they’d even discussed the direction of their relationship with each other—they’d just fallen into bed together and assumed… Well, what had Kira assumed?
Mr. Wagner wasn’t done. “Has she talked you into working with her on her next hotel?”
Her next hotel? Megan looked at him stupidly. Was that what he meant by “sticking around”? She knew Kira had moved several times in the last few years, searching for the right properties to invest in, but somehow she’d assumed she would stay in Piper Beach for her next project. But that was dumb. There weren’t any other dilapidated hotels for Kira to transform in this small town.
Oh, no. Megan had been so trusting, so overconfident in her ability to sense what Kira was feeling, that it hadn’t even occurred to her to ask about her plans. When Kira told her she was going to get the hotel up and running before she tried to sell it, why hadn’t she thought to ask whether that meant in a couple of years, or in a few short months? Construction would be finished soon. When exactly had Kira planned to tell her she was leaving town for her next job? Megan wasn’t sure she could handle a long-distance relationship. Physical touch was so vital to her ability to communicate, to sensing and conveying emotion. And what if she’d moved her massage office into the hotel, only to find herself stuck in a building owned by a stranger who didn’t want her there?
So she’d move her office back, and she’d figure out how to have a long-distance relationship. She’d adapt. Unless Kira was counting on having a ready-made excuse for ending things once she lost interest—which she didn’t want to believe—they’d find a way to work it out. She just wished Kira had been the one to break this to her, not her dad.
“I don’t know if there’s going to be a next hotel, Dad.” Kira looked straight at Megan as she said it.
We’ll talk later, Kira mouthed silently behind her father’s back.
Megan’s eyes blinked rapidly, erratically.
We’d better, she mouthed back.
***
Kira straightened as her dad pivoted to face her. She could not believe he had opened his big mouth, presuming things he had no business presuming. Her employment choices were her own. If she didn’t want to continue jumping from one new project to the next, chasing the thrill he was addicted to—the excitement he got from starting over—that was her choice.
Her dad threw his shoulders back and seemed to grow tal
ler. “Why wouldn’t there be a next hotel?” It was more an attack than a question. “Don’t tell me you’re going back to the restaurant business.”
“Of course not. I—”
“I know a great property in Philly you could snatch up. It’s the perfect location for another hotel/spa combo. You put Megan in charge of designing the spa. She provides the vision; you’re in charge of construction. You’ll make a great team. You are a great team. You’ve already proven that.”
Kira knew from the way Megan was staring at her that she looked as stunned as she felt. It was just like him to think he could tell Megan what to do—to barge in and delegate the job like he was the one in charge—but what was interesting was how much he seemed to instantly like her. He’d never been so openly supportive of the choices Kira had made in her personal life. Tolerant, yes, for the most part. But he’d hated Lizzy for talking her into opening a restaurant. When it came to business, he always said, she had to learn not to think with her dick. How equal opportunity of him. But even though he’d hated the spa idea, too, at first, somehow Megan had managed to win him over.
He couldn’t boss Megan around, though. Did he not understand?
Her eyes narrowed. “We are a good team, but it’s not just a work relationship.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I know, pumpkin. You don’t have to spell it out for me.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Megan turned at the sound of Kira’s voice just as the sea lifted her feet off the ground. Kira was grinning at the water’s edge with her Windbreaker unzipped and her hands in her pockets, and Megan found herself grinning back. It was so easy to forgive her, so easy to push aside her anxieties about their future.
“Come on in,” Megan yelled, wading through the surf toward her.
“In my jeans? No, thanks.”
“What you wear is totally up to you.”
“The water looks cold.”
“Are you kidding me? It’s really not.” Summer might be officially over, but the ocean hadn’t gotten the memo yet. It would be another month before the bracing cold returned. “The water’s warmer than it was in June.”
“The air’s not.”
Probably true, considering the overcast skies—which was all the more reason to be in the water. “Other people are swimming.”
“Other people are wading. You’re the only one in there up to your neck.”
Only to her waist, at this point. Megan reversed course and walked backward, hoping to lead Kira into the waves. “So…wade. Put your feet in the water.”
“I’d rather put my feet in one of my new hot tubs.” Kira pumped her fists in a victory dance. “We hooked up the ones in the woods today.”
After Kira had made the decision to build the spa inside the hotel instead of in a separate building, they had brainstormed what to do with the land next door and decided to hide a large gazebo and several small hot tubs among the trees, carefully positioned under Megan’s guidance to avoid interfering with the ley lines. Tall shrubs were planted around each tub for privacy.
“Want to test it out?” Kira asked. “The water will be nice and warm.”
“Wuss.”
“You won’t think so when you feel my hands all over you.”
Megan’s body tightened. A wave smacked into her, pushing her forward. “If that’s what you want, you’ll have to swim out here,” she taunted, swimming farther out, where it was safer. Kira should be in the water with her if she was going to say things like that. That way she could grab her perfectly shaped ass and remind her there were other people around who could hear.
“Not if I can convince you to try out the hot tub,” Kira shouted after her.
“And how are you going to do that?”
Kira rubbed her arms as if she were cold inside her jacket. “Nice warm water?”
“I don’t think so.”
“More private?”
Megan hesitated. The end-of-season sunbathers were starting to pack up and clear out for the day, but the beach was by no means as deserted as she would like it to be.
“It’s closer to the ley lines,” Kira said.
“Now you’re really reaching.”
“If that’s what I’ve got to do to tempt you…”
All Kira had to do was say she was going to be there. That was already quite tempting enough.
“Your workers are gone?” Megan said.
“Every last one.”
“What about dinner? I thought we were going out.”
“Not for another hour. Unless you want to go eat now.”
“No, that’s all right.” Megan waited for the next wave to roll out, timed her exit, and strode to shore. They had to talk, and it would be easier to do that in private. She ran the last few steps to shore and Kira reached for her hand.
“Wait. I need my clothes.”
Megan headed for the spot where she’d left her tote bag in the sand. She stepped into her flip-flops and slipped on a hooded cover-up she figured could pass for a dress, although the way Kira was checking out the hemline that skimmed high on her bare thighs, she might have to rethink that assumption.
“Do you have to put that on?” Kira said.
Megan slung her bag over her shoulder. “Why? Because you’re going to help me take it off soon anyway?”
Kira flipped Megan’s hood onto her head. She smoothed a wet strand of hair away from her face, tucking it under the hood. “You know me so well.”
Did she? Megan wasn’t so sure about that anymore.
***
In the woods next to the hotel, steam rose from a hot tub sunken into the ground to look like a natural spring. Megan took off her cover-up but kept her bathing suit on before she stepped in.
Kira was less modest.
Considerate of her. Megan smiled, taking in the view.
“You like our idea?” Kira asked.
“Genius.” A stack of folded white towels on a low wooden bench nearby made it clear that Kira had been confident she’d be able to talk Megan into coming here, which was a little galling, but Megan wasn’t going to complain. The hot tub was almost too small for two people, which meant every time she sank lower in the water she inevitably drifted into Kira, bumping into her in a welcome way that wouldn’t have happened in a giant communal tub. The evening air was cool, and made the hot water feel good. Middle-of-the-night air—for guests who were so inclined—would feel even better.
She wondered if she’d ever set foot in one of these again after Kira left. If she left. Shit. She really wanted her to stick around. If their souls had already decided that spending two—or more—previous lifetimes together wasn’t enough, you’d think this wouldn’t be an issue. Kira had always seemed so convinced they were meant to be together. But they’d never actually talked about the future.
“So.” Megan sat up so she wouldn’t keep brushing against Kira’s legs. She took one of Kira’s feet and massaged it with her thumbs. “Interesting talk with your dad.”
Kira pulled her foot out of Megan’s hands, her eyes evasive. “Yeah. About that…”
So Megan wasn’t imagining things. She gripped the edge of the underwater bench and swung her hips off the seat and sat farther back. “I put all that time into helping you design this spa just so you could make money off of it and leave? You never said anything to me about leaving.”
“I’m not leaving,” Kira said.
“Then why did your dad say you were?” She wanted Kira to have an explanation. She wanted her to have a really good, really convincing, really hallelujah-now-I-can-relax explanation. She wanted her to want to stay.
Kira’s jaw jutted forward and the faint lines around her mouth tightened. “Don’t pay attention to him. He means well, but what he said about my leaving Piper Beach…that wasn’t true.”
“But it used to be true, didn’t it? He wouldn’t have said somethi
ng like that if there wasn’t some truth to it. You told me yourself about all the times you’ve moved. You rent apartments month-to-month and keep your stuff in storage because you know it’s only temporary.”
Kira didn’t deny it. “This time is different. This time I have a reason to stay.”
Megan narrowed her eyes at her. “What does that mean?”
Kira rubbed the hinge of her jaw as if she were trying to get the muscles to relax. “I don’t want to sell the hotel anymore. It was our first big project together, you and me. I seem to have developed a sentimental attachment to it.”
“To the hotel,” Megan said flatly.
“And to you.”
Kira slid her arches up the inside of Megan’s legs and tangled their legs together in a slippery, seductive dance. Her breasts glistened through the steam.
Megan softened. And not because Kira was naked. “You’re really going to stay?”
“Yes. Not because of the hotel. Because of you. I want to be with you.”
Megan felt hot and slightly dizzy. “Me, too,” she whispered.
Kira pulled her into her arms and pressed her lips to her tangled, wet hair. “I know I’ve already asked you, but if you ever want to move your massage room out of your condo, you’re more than welcome to set up shop inside the hotel.”
“I’ll think about it,” Megan said, mainly to stop her from launching into a discussion of potential business plans. This was not the time for it.
Kira touched Megan’s face, caressing her cheekbones. “I want us to live together.”
“That sounds way better than moving my office.”
Megan kissed her and Kira moaned. Megan thought she might be moaning, too. She wrapped her legs around Kira’s waist as her heart and her throat and her soul melted with desire. She needed to touch her, needed to open to her, needed to know that it was really true. She needed to get as close as she possibly could and never let her go.
***
Megan smelled smoke.
She shifted against Kira in the hot tub and trailed her fingers down the length of her wet arms. The smell was faint, she decided, and probably not from nearby. She always overreacted to the smell of smoke. She moved back up Kira’s arms, then down her back and down her delicious legs, but as she started back up she slowed, because she was having a hard time blocking that smell from her awareness. Damn it. She wanted to block it out.
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