“Don’t knock being friends with your lover, Trevor. Ever think that there are two sides to the L-word you avoid like the plague?”
“Not sure I’m following.”
“The L-word, love, needs more than lust to make it grow. It requires friendship, trust, communication. I had that with Gemma and Niko. I realized it only after they were gone. They made me laugh and cry and kept me sane while meeting deadlines. Niko’s skill as a lover chased away my torrid past.”
“Your past is what it is and best left there.”
“I know that now. Thanks to Gemma, I learned to create beauty out of words. Her artistry was brilliant.”
“You could be on to something. I do like Avery a lot. If someone hurt her, I’d take on the entire Army and the Maddox brothers to make sure she was safe.”
“Who are the Maddox brothers?”
“They’re the muscle Alexander Grant would use if he needed it, not to mention his husband. Ryan’s quiet and sharp and probably the deadliest when riled.”
“Hmm, the Maddox boys sound promising. You’ll have to introduce me sometime. Any chance they’re gay or bi?”
“Not that I could tell. Keep in mind I’ve only interacted with Ethan and Taran during a telethon that Phalen’s wife arranged and again at Dallas McKay’s wedding. Phalen’s former Special Ops. His wife Cassie is a knockout. Ethan would have damaged my face if he’d had the chance.”
“Why’s that?”
“I was paired with Morgan Everhart in Dallas’ wedding. Morgan and I have kept in touch. Less often now that she and Ethan are married.”
“Jealousy can be the downfall of many good men. I’ll have to keep that in mind tonight. If Red’s wearing something sexy again, I might risk the pummeling you’d give me. I can’t resist flirting with a pretty woman when the chance presents itself.”
“If Avery’s dressed in something sexy, it’ll be for me, not you.”
“Exactly,” Jax declared, standing up and clearing away the remains of his doughnut. “Let’s get this cleaning thing started. I don’t want you to be away from your lady friend too long.”
“Me either,” Hazard said, already wondering if she was wrapped up in chocolate.
Standing up, he watched Jax head toward the massive laundry room that doubled as a cleaning supply pantry. All the while, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Jaxon said.
He already liked Avery a helluva lot. If like turned into something more substantial, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
When he’d been with Marianne, he really had loved her. She’d smelled so good the first time he’d talked to her in the hallway in the twelfth grade. But he’d been blinded by male hormones and a pretty face, ignoring all the warnings that Jaxon and his friends had given as to her true nature.
He’d not known that she’d been a so-called mean girl who felt entitled to her popularity because her parents indulged her every whim and fancy. They’d been extremely wealthy and considered anyone beneath their economic level as second-class citizens.
Hazard might never know why Marianne had turned her attention to him. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth and was a bit of a rebel in her parents’ eyes, but he’d had pro scouts attending his games as soon as he made the varsity football team.
After he and Marianne became a certified item, she’d been on the homecoming court, senior class president, head cheerleader and won a beauty pageant disguised as a scholarship to attend modeling school. They’d been prom king and queen.
Sex had been fantastic after the first couple of tries. She’d been a virgin and he’d always felt like a rat for breaking her hymen, but she hadn’t balked or cried or shown any disdain.
They’d gotten engaged during his sophomore year at UNLV, but they didn’t marry until after he’d signed with his first agent and team. Marriage turned out to be miserable, for both of them.
He’d tried to be a good husband. But he hadn’t known how many tears would be shed, on both of their parts, or how much it’d destroyed him to know another man had been in his bed more than once, before and after they’d married.
After their divorce, she’d moved in with one of her lovers, married him and had a child. Hazard cried when he’d heard the news. Not because he didn’t think she should be happy in the life she wanted, but because he’d gotten a vasectomy as a show of faith in their relationship.
Jaxon was right. He’d done something utterly stupid, ruining any chance of having children someday. Before meeting Avery, concerning himself with a future that included a family hadn’t mattered.
Now, correcting his mistake wasn’t possible unless it could be surgically reversed. At the time of his vasectomy, he’d asked the urologist about the chances and the doctor performed the procedure with more probability of reversal. It wasn’t a guarantee, but it was there nonetheless.
As much as he’d thought love would be enough to sustain a relationship, he could look back and see that he’d never really liked Marianne. They’d never been friends. Pretty as she was on the surface, he’d been thinking entirely with his dick.
It’d only been one night and he was already addicted to fucking Avery Grant. If it was possible to love, like and be in lust with the same woman, there was a chance he’d found her.
He didn’t know if he was thinking of forever here. He honestly didn’t at this point. It was too soon. But he wasn’t going to let his rotten marriage spoil what he could have with Avery.
And right about now, Avery was getting rubbed down, petted and pampered in chocolate wraps and probably smelled like a goddess. He sure as hell would like to find out.
“Trev, if you don’t lose the boner, I’m hosing you off outside,” Jaxon warned, turning around and pointing out the truth.
Fuck! He thought of Avery and he’d gone full-mast in the blink of an eye.
“Sorry. Let me duck into the bathroom. No way can I climb a ladder right now.”
“It’s times like this when I wish you were bi. I’d take care of it for you,” Jax confessed. “I’ve seen you in action, Red’s a lucky woman.”
“I’ll always love you, but I’m not turning bi for you.”
Getting his ass in gear, Hazard closed himself off in the first-floor bathroom. Splashing his face with cold water and thinking about scrubbing windows helped distract him enough to lose his erection.
He returned to the kitchen, where Jax was dumping vinegar into a bucket of hot water. “What, no Windex?” he asked.
“My mama always cleaned her windows with vinegar. Left them spotless,” Jax said.
“Are you really going to close yourself off from the world, even sex, for the winter?”
“After the Griffins win the championship, yeah,” Jax answered.
“What if we lose?”
“Then you and Red can join me and we’ll commiserate together.”
“Ha, fat chance, buddy. I’m not letting you tie up my girl and fuck my ass while I’m fucking her. I’m not a bottom kind of guy and Avery’s not a submissive.”
“You underestimate my powers of seduction.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. Sometimes submissives come to me because their vanilla partners can’t meet their needs. Most of the time, I train them for their Dominant partners. When I’m done, their relationship is solid and they understand that the dynamics of BDSM involves more than whips and chains.”
“You take a whip to Avery, I will bury you.”
Jaxon stopped what he was doing and looked back. “Are you aware of how protective you are of her? If not, you need to record yourself and hit playback.”
“BDSM doesn’t do it for me, Jax. I doubt it’d get Avery off either. She’s the one who matters right now.”
Again Jaxon smiled as if he knew something Hazard didn’t. “How much you want to bet she’d like a little bondage? You’re not a Dom. But you forget I’ve seen you tie up a woman and get her off. Being the top dog gets you horny as hell.”
“You’ve seen m
ore than you should admit to. Shut the fuck up or you can wash your own windows.”
“Your secrets are safe with me.”
Hazard believed him. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have maintained their friendship all these years. He’d been Jaxon’s champion when everyone else abandoned or bullied him due to his mother’s business and the question of who his father was.
Only Saraphina Wynter had known the truth, but Alzheimer’s had caused her to forget much of her past as the madam of a legalized Nevadan brothel and the identity of Jaxon’s father.
If he needed it, Hazard would fund an investigation, except Jaxon needed to concentrate on his mother’s health care. Saraphina was at the point where she needed to be in a group home and receive round-the-clock care and supervision. It was very sad to know the woman who’d become a second mother to Hazard had declined so rapidly.
“Hey, Trev, let’s put those linebacker muscles of yours to work,” Jaxon teased.
“All right, all right,” Hazard said, following his friend.
Jaxon carried the bucket and a handful of old rags to the great room. A ladder was already in place. It was one of those multipurpose A-frame deals that had substance and strength.
Glad for the diversion, Hazard shed himself of the flannel shirt he’d put on over a gray tee shirt and took his phone off his hip and his wallet out of his back pocket. Taking a second to send a quick text to Avery simply to touch base as promised, he set his things on a coffee table.
The phone buzzed. The responding text was from Avery, assuring him she was fine and she’d see him later that evening.
Yeah, she would see him. They might be late for dinner. He’d have to push their reservation back an hour or two. He’d also had a set to perform at ten and she wanted to see Gabriel’s magic show.
He wasn’t so sure he wanted Avery to meet Gabriel. As good of friends as they’d become since the club opened, he knew Gabriel had a magnetism about him that drew women in like hummingbirds to nectar.
Hopefully, Hazard wouldn’t have to worry about that. For the time being, Avery was his girl. He might let her flirt and dance with his friends, might being the operative word.
No fucking way was he going to let Gabriel, Jaxon or Sawyer to take things beyond flirtation. He doubted Sawyer would try. The guy didn’t date all that much and he didn’t usually engage in ménages or sex games, as far as Hazard knew.
Joining forces with Jaxon at the biggest window, Hazard drenched a rag with vinegar water and climbed up the ladder. Pungent as the vinegar was, the first windowpane was easily wiped clean, no streaks in sight.
* * * * *
Being pampered most of the morning and over lunch was possibly the best thing to happen to Avery since the invention of sliced bread.
No, that wasn’t true. The invention of sex and a night spent with Hazard was way better than chocolate wraps and massages.
What she discovered in the middle of the night, after he’d made love to her and they talked, was his vulnerable side. He’d become so much more than a big bad football player who could demolish an offense. He’d become a man capable of great tenderness and care for her well-being.
Somewhere between their conversation at the club and getting to the hotel room, the no-strings-attached affair she’d proclaimed to have wanted changed. Her feelings changed, as did his.
She’d not known he’d been married until breakfast. But it didn’t surprise her to learn why he was gun-shy about relationships. His ex-wife had hurt him.
He’d also told her about the world of football. How taxing practices and games were, how physically draining and damaging hits and tackles could be. Countless times after a game, he’d soak in hot tubs or team trainers would put him through rigorous physical therapy to help ease sore muscles.
She loved football, knew it wasn’t easy to be a veteran among younger, hungry, equally fit athletes in a game when one hit or too many concussions could end a career. Despite that, Hazard’s love for the game remained.
With her brother as his agent, she believed the direction of his career and future was well-planned. His talent as a country singer was definitely there. When he released his first album, she’d be the first in line to own it or download it.
But all the soul-searching she’d done while wrapped in chocolate came down to one thing. She was in danger of falling in love with Hazard.
Foolish though it may be, if there was a chance to make things work beyond fuck buddies, she’d take it. She’d been wrong to think she was the kind of person who could have a temporary affair and remain friends with Hazard after all was said and done.
Fuck buddies had been a term born with a little help of tequila shots and a secret crush.
Who was she kidding?
The tequila had given her a buzz. Her crush had grown into something more significant. Despite his comments on the balcony, after they returned home, it was possible that their need for each other could fade.
If they did nothing and remained friends, she’d mourn the loss of what could be. All she could do was let it all play out. She was a big girl. She could handle the aftermath of a holiday romance that wasn’t dictated by her daddy or ruined by her meddling brother.
As much as she adored Alexander, he really could be an overbearing pain in the ass. She and Hazard were adults and her brother didn’t have the right to condemn a man for having sex with her.
If Alexander found out and did something asinine like fire Hazard as a client or threatened him, Avery would stand up for her guy. Yes, yes, she would. If Hazard gave their relationship a chance, she’d love nothing more than to be his girlfriend.
Satisfied with a spa experience like nothing she’d had before, Avery shrugged out of the soft robe she’d been given to wear and got dressed in her own clothes. They’d served lunch, gave her an incredible two-hour treatment filled with chocolate decadence and antioxidants and an aromatherapy massage.
What she really needed now was about two hours of naptime. After last night, she could use the rest. Because of last night, she suspected she’d need the energy for the next round of sexcapades with Hazard.
They’d not even gotten close to scratching off her bucket list.
Making her way out of the ladies’ changing room, she headed to the receptionist desk. Rachel, the afternoon receptionist, was a perky redhead with freckles and a smile.
“You look like someone who’s spent a few hours wrapped in chocolate,” Rachel said when she looked up from her appointment book. “You’re glowing.”
“I feel wonderful. The whole chocolate experience was amazing and a first for me. I want to make certain the massage therapist gets a huge tip.”
“I’m sure Marcy will appreciate it.”
Avery told Rachel what to add to the bill. Massage wasn’t easy. Thirty minutes was incredibly taxing for the therapist’s fingers and joints. Marcy had massaged her for forty-five minutes.
The technicians had wrapped her hair up in a towel to keep it from getting damp before the massage began. The chocolate wrap had been decadence incarnate.
“Can the bill be placed on my hotel room’s account?” she asked after the receptionist added in the amount.
“You bet, makes the whole experience easier and carefree.”
“Thank you.”
“Sign here and add your room number. You’ll see the charges on your final bill when you check out.”
Avery did as told, returning the pen she’d used to a holder on the desk. “I have one more appointment at the end of the week.”
“Yes, a facial’s already scheduled for ten o’clock Thursday morning. When are you leaving?”
“Friday morning, I’ve been away from work long enough. By then, I’ll be glad to go home.”
“Excellent. We’ll see you Thursday then. Have a great stay in Dare.”
“I will. I’m going out this evening with a friend and may be meeting Gabriel Krystiyan. Have you met him?”
The receptionist’s eyes lit up l
ike a Christmas tree. “Oh, you lucky, lucky woman. Whenever Mr. Krystiyan’s in town, the female tourists come out in droves. Town police are real careful with protecting his privacy and tickets to the show are difficult to come by.”
“In that case, I hope my chance to see his act comes to fruition. Thank you.”
Avery headed off. She’d clipped her cellphone to her jeans pocket and it buzzed with an incoming message. Removing it from her hip, she saw the caller’s number.
Grinning wide, she waited until she was upstairs in the room before returning his call. Hazard answered on the second ring. “Hi, baby, how was the chocolate wrap and massage?”
“It was amazingly decadent.”
“That sounds nice. Tell me more.”
“You have to experience it first to appreciate it, Hazard.”
“Don’t be shy.”
“How’s that shy?” Being certain to lock the door, she looked around the room to make sure everything was where it’d been when she’d left. Housekeeping had come in while she’d been gone, which was expected.
“Tell me more about your day,” Hazard urged. “I’m currently hanging out on a ladder wiping down windows. Thank God for Bluetooth and hands-free phones. Your day at the spa has to be more interesting.”
“I don’t know, a day with Jaxon sounds anything but mundane. That man is way more than a bartender and club owner.”
“You’re an observant, intelligent woman. Jax is more than what he seems and enjoys keeping people guessing.”
“Admittedly, I can’t wait to get to know Jaxon more.” Avery made her way to the freshly made bed, kicked off the slippers she’d worn to the spa and nestled down on the cozy covers. “Sorry if I’m not much for conversation right now. I’m super tired.”
“Me too, a night of great sex does that to you.”
“Until last night, I wouldn’t have known that firsthand.”
“Any regrets?”
“None whatsoever,” she said. “Even if we suddenly discover last night was a product of tequila, I’m glad I seduced you.”
“You seduced me?” He laughed softly, his amusement kind of sweet. “I think there was mutual seduction going on. Bet the sheets feel nice, and you smell nicer.”
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