Avery closed her eyes and opened them to find Geoff’s gaze on her face, his expression serious.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“You look beautiful.”
The timed jets cut out at that moment, leaving the word “beautiful” dangling in the air, loud in the sudden silence.
Oh.
Avery’s chest heated, and she swirled a hand through the water. “You know, when I was a little girl, I always wanted my own hot tub.”
“You did?”
She nodded. “It seemed like the height of sophistication and glamour. Like if I was sitting in a hot tub, just chilling out, I would have made it.”
Geoff smiled at her. “And here you are. Fancy PR job at a sexy company, the world at your feet. Rocking everything you do.”
Avery laughed. “Not quite. I just wanted to show everyone that I could be like one of those people in the magazines. I didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so it felt really important to me to be able to fit in, be comfortable. I know now it’s all Photoshop, so whatever.”
Geoff leaned against his side of the hot tub, and his knee drifted into hers, solid and strong. The muscles of his chest stretched wide and tempting. What would it be like to touch him there, to put her hand on his heart once more?
“I didn’t know you guys weren’t well off,” he said.
She shrugged like it didn’t matter, but it had. At least back then. “By the time I met you, my parents were doing fine. But my dad spent a lot of my childhood in and out of work.” Avery frowned. “Mostly out. We were happy, you know, but in the way that little kids can be when they don’t know any better. But over time, I started to notice all the places where my life didn’t line up with my friends’. Like how we’d always do birthdays in the backyard with just a friend or two instead of a whole class party, and how my mom always packed my lunch and said it was healthier that way.
“One time I begged for lunch money on pizza day, because it was my favorite. And we didn’t have money enough for that, so she sent me with English muffin pizzas made with canned pasta sauce so she could also use the sauce for pasta.”
Geoff nudged her. “If it helps, you are totally the height of glamour.”
She shook her head but smiled. “You were right, you know.”
Geoff stood, and rivulets of water sluiced over his skin as he reached for the button on the hot tub to kick the jets back on. This time when he sat, he moved his body closer to hers. Hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder.
The jets started up again with a groan.
Avery bit her lip and looked away, out over the city. The sun was dipping over the horizon line, tinting the sky the palest pink. Now that fall was here, night came earlier, and the sunburn on her shoulders was the only hint that the day had been warm enough for swimsuits.
“I was right about what?” Geoff asked.
“The things that make me feel good aren’t surface things or the glamorous things. They’re laughing really deeply, the feeling of sun on my face. The way my muscles right now are so tired from kayaking that I’m just loose and happy.” She dropped her eyes. “Sorry, cheesy confession.”
“It’s not cheesy, Cheese Girl.”
She groaned.
“Just so you know, when you let yourself be happy, that’s incredibly sexy.” Geoff’s voice was rough and deep.
“Oh yeah?”
His throaty reply sounded like a confession. “Yeah.” He hesitated before continuing. “Ave, something’s changed. That kiss, it was…”
Real? Fake? Her chest tightened. She hated that it mattered so much to her when it seemed to be something he was going to use to his advantage.
She interrupted before Geoff could continue, trying to make this fit into whatever fake-dating plan they’d concocted. It was easier that way. “That’s what you would do, right? If you liked someone?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“So then it’s fine.” She made her voice go light and perky. “You’re not crossing any lines.”
But it was a lie. The boundaries had blurred so she didn’t know which way was up anymore. If she was fake-dating him, was she allowed to develop real feelings? Could she let her body act knowing nothing was for real?
Geoff nudged her foot with his. “Is it okay that I want to do that again?”
Avery’s lips curved into a smile, and she let herself give the answer that felt the most true. “It’s more than okay,” she whispered. But she didn’t expect the way her stomach flipped and her heart kicked up in her chest. Was he acting the part or did he really mean it?
“Good,” Geoff murmured, turning to her. He leaned one hand across her body to steady himself against the hot tub wall and brought the other hand to her jaw. He smelled like chlorine and soap, like sunlight. She leaned into his touch, and her eyes fluttered closed.
Geoff’s lips grazed hers, gently, like an exploration.
His kiss was a call in the dark.
Avery answered in kind, her nose against his, her body softening against every hard plane of his chest. His fingers tightened in her hair, pulling her close, and the deep, lush kiss intensified with every breath.
Geoff groaned and leaned back, breathing heavy. “God, Avery.” His dark eyes on hers sent a rush of blood to her head and straight down between her thighs.
He adjusted his body and reached for her, pulling her through the water so her body felt weightless and floating. She collided with his chest, and he dragged her down on his lap, the thin material of his bathing suit straining over an impressive erection.
Well. He probably wasn’t faking that.
Avery held one hand against the delicious, toned muscle of his shoulder and placed a knee on the bench on either side of him. From her position on top, she could rock into him, and the friction of his body against hers sent sparks over her skin.
She might be soaring.
She might never hit the ground again.
Avery brought her mouth to his, controlling the kiss, not caring or wondering or asking if this was real. She let herself live in the moment, taking from it, and her whole body lit on fire.
Geoff’s chest rumbled against hers, and the pressure from the water jets batted against his back and streamed through his arms to push against her chest. Her pulse was in her ears, and everything fell away. This felt like the stadium kiss, but better.
Deeper.
More.
Geoff traced a hand down her spine to cup her ass, lowered his mouth to a spot below her ear and brought a rush of warmth to her skin. His mouth explored her neck at the same time his fingers explored her under the water, trailing over her hip to dip between their bodies.
Avery let out a moan as he found a sensitive spot on her hip that made her squirm.
“You like that?” She could feel his grin against her neck.
“I do.”
Geoff bit her gently, then swirled his tongue over her skin to soothe it. Then he reached a finger under the edge of her bikini bottom, and she stiffened.
“Wait.” Avery broke the kiss, and heat rushed to her face. Geoff searched her eyes, a frown on his gorgeous lips, and she dropped her gaze. “There’s something you should know. In the name of authenticity.”
“Nothing you say is going to scare me away.”
Doubtful.
Avery swallowed hard. “I haven’t done this before.”
“Made out in a hot tub?” Geoff glanced over her shoulder. “We can totally go inside if you want.”
“No, Geoff. I haven’t had sex before.”
Geoff’s eyebrows rose, and his mouth did a funny thing, twisting to the side in a question.
Well, shit.
Her heart dropped as she pushed away from him. “That’s it, isn’t it? When I say I’m a virgin, it destroys everything.” Her chest tightened, and she sank onto the bench across from him, out of reach. This is what always happened to her, the reason sex had become this huge thing in her head. She just wanted to get it over w
ith already. But it wasn’t fair to hold back that information from a guy, either. Not when she was ready to take that next step.
And with Geoff, she was.
Avery’s voice wobbled. “I’m either too inexperienced to train, or I become some conquest.”
She watched Geoff’s throat dip as he swallowed. “Avery, it’s okay. I told you before you’re not a conquest for me. Why don’t we take the idea of sex off the table?”
Oh.
He didn’t want to have sex with her.
Dammit.
Avery blinked back at him, stung. Guess this was another signal she’d read wrong. This was just a make-out session for the sake of making out. Nothing more. No real attraction. No possibility of sex. Just the game, rearing its ugly head.
The rejection felt like a slap.
“Right,” she said, forcing herself to shrug. “Sure.”
She’d just ruined everything. Or he had. It was hard to say.
The timer on the water jets kicked off, plunging them into silence.
Chapter 10
“And that concludes this week’s episode of How to Hook a Hottie. Check in next week for my third and final date with Avery. Will we or won’t we keep seeing each other? Until next time, here’s a final word from our sponsors.”
Geoff cut in the sponsor message and then faded out the show.
Well, damn.
That was a train wreck.
It had become uncomfortable to tell a group of strangers how it had felt to kiss Avery, how it had felt when her soft body landed on top of his in the hot tub, with the water swirling all around them and everything this slippery heat. He’d resorted to being vague and non-specific, and the storyteller inside of him cringed. It didn’t help that he’d live-streamed the show, and anyone who watched could see his face twitch as he struggled with what to say. The video component of How to Hook a Hottie had always set him apart in a good way, but no longer.
Geoff opened the chat window that had appeared during the live-stream and skimmed through the comments.
Where are the details? gym4lifetho complained. Missing out on the hot stuff.
Love hearing about you and Avery! You sound so happy! Mel0801 chimed in.
So, great. Which was it?
Geoff rubbed a hand over his hair and rolled his desk chair away from the computer. He reached for the phone and texted Ryan, his friend from high school who made a living these days as a graphic designer building websites for small businesses and bored stay-at-home moms.
I need a break, Geoff texted. Want to hit the gym?
Let me wrap up this email, Ryan replied. Be there in fifteen minutes.
Good.
Geoff padded to the bedroom and slipped into his gym clothes before striding toward the front door. On the walk through his apartment, his eyes slid over to the hot tub and paused there. His chest tightened, and he forced himself to walk through the front door.
It wasn’t just that Avery was a record and he kept playing her music. It was that he was fucking stuck on the same track, the memory of that night looping through his head over and over again.
Time to find a new song.
Geoff racked up the weights on the leg press machine at Amped Fitness and adjusted the seat to the perfect angle. Then he flopped onto the chair, lining up his feet and straightening his legs to lift the weight.
One rep. Two.
“Have you ever had a girl go hot and cold on you?” he asked.
Ryan squirted an electrolyte drink into his mouth and swirled it around before swallowing it. He narrowed his eyes at Geoff. “Aren’t you the dating expert?”
Geoff pressed out another few reps, grateful that the strain on his quads gave him something to concentrate on.
“I mean, yeah, but this hasn’t quite happened before. If a girl’s into me, I usually know it. I can’t get a handle on this one.”
“Who is she?”
Another rep, the sweat popping out on his forehead. “Have you been listening to the show?”
Ryan shot him an unabashed grin. “Why should I listen to your show? Literally tens of thousands of people tell you how great you are, and you pretty much give me the play by play after you record anyway.” He aimed another squirt of liquid into his mouth and started to swish.
Geoff rolled his eyes but nodded. “Fair point. It’s Avery Beeker.”
Ryan coughed, and water sprayed from his mouth. “Avery Beeker? From high school? Your little sister’s best friend?” Ryan started mopping up the liquid with a threadbare gym towel. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”
Geoff grimaced and straightened his legs for his final rep. “Yeah, well, she’s not so little anymore. She’s the PR person for X Enterprises. Let’s just say she embodies the role.” The leg press machine clanged as he let the weights drop. Up at the front of the gym, a bored employee shot him a look of annoyance.
Whatever.
Geoff stood and wiped off his seat, letting Ryan take his place. “Anyway, we’re doing a segment for the show. A three-date setup to help her get better at dating.”
Ryan re-racked the weights and started his set. “So these dates—are they real or not?”
Geoff let out a puff of air. “I don’t actually know the answer to that question. They feel kind of real. And I mean, the way she kissed me felt real. But she also jumped out of my hot tub the other day like she found out it was infected with dysentery or E. coli or something. She made a sorry excuse for having to work and then bailed.”
Ryan grinned. “Sonofabitch. Sounds like you need to figure some stuff out.” Geoff nodded, and Ryan continued. “And the dates are just to teach her?”
Geoff’s fingers twitched. Teach her. Avery the virgin. Avery the virgin who made a living writing dirty descriptions for sex toys. Avery who was innocent but not.
How was he supposed to wrap his mind around that one?
And why was the idea of being the one to deflower her so damn tempting?
Ryan relinquished the seat, and Geoff sat back down to start a fresh round of reps. “Yeah,” Geoff said. “But the idea of her using those skills with anyone else doesn’t feel great.”
Ryan grunted. “How many dates has it been now?”
“Two.” Geoff’s muscles strained as he lifted the weights.
Ryan rubbed his hands together. “So you’ve got a big date coming up then.”
Geoff paused, his legs and lungs burning. “Number three.”
“What do you want to come out of this?” Ryan rubbed his chin. “You going to close the deal?”
Geoff groaned and pressed out another rep. “I don’t actually know. I like her. My sister likes her. My audience is split.”
“Your audience?”
“It matters.” It shouldn’t matter, but it did. That was the reality of his life. Geoff gritted his teeth. “I have sponsors to report to and stats that I need to maintain. My show is built on the principle of me trying out dating techniques in the field. Where would things even go from here?”
“Wait a second,” Ryan said. “Weren’t you dating some girl a few years back? That was fine, right?”
“I dated her for three weeks.”
“See, there you go.”
“No.” Geoff shook his head. “I dated her for three weeks, and my ratings plummeted. My fans kept saying I was a sellout, like finding someone to hang out with consistently was against the single-guy code.”
Ryan made a face. “Rough.”
“Yeah. The relationship would have crashed anyway, but it didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth. And even if things were going to work out with Avery, I can’t help wondering if it would be a good thing or if it would just tank my show.”
“Okay, well forget everyone else for a minute. Do you want to date her?”
Geoff paused. His heart screamed yes, and his head told him to slow the fuck down. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “But I want to see where this goes.”
Ryan nodded. “Then it sounds pretty simpl
e to me. You either want to date her or not. And if you want her, you need to show her that.”
“Right,” Geoff said, but it wasn’t simple at all. His muscles gave out, and he let the weights drop.
Chapter 11
Would Geoff like her hair up or down? Avery studied herself in the mirror, piling her hair on top of her head. With it out of her face, her cheekbones definitely stood out, but when it was down, she looked more carefree. And for Geoff, who seemed to think she was trying too hard, maybe that was better.
She let out a puff of air and dropped her hair.
Who the hell cared?
This was the highest number of consecutive dates she’d been on with anyone in the last year, but it wasn’t even for real. She was only still going because she needed to fix her credibility issue.
And because maybe she’d take another kiss from Geoff, even if it was under false pretenses. Kissing him was fun, whether or not it was real.
The doorbell rang, and Avery’s stomach tensed. Geoff was early.
She strode through her apartment, calling out as she approached the front door. “Where does appearing overeager fit into your three-act structure?”
She swung open the door and gasped.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sophie stood in her doorway clutching a bottle of rosé and a RiteAid shopping bag. A gossip magazine poked out of the top of the bag, and something inside clanked as she walked into Avery’s apartment. Nail polish, probably.
“Sophie, hi.” Avery’s cheeks burned, and she glanced at her watch. Ten minutes to get rid of her. “Sorry, thought you were someone else.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
“Um, just a neighbor. A playwright. We’ve been having debates about…plays…in the laundry room.”
Sophie’s forehead furrowed while she tried to puzzle that one out. Then she shrugged and pressed the bottle of wine into Avery’s hands.
“Ready for a girls’ night?”
Avery frowned. “I’d love to, Soph, but I’ve got plans tonight.”
“Oh.” Sophie’s face fell. “It’s just you’ve been busy the last few weekends, and I miss you.”
His Temptation (X Enterprises Book 4) Page 6
