Gavin passed a hand over his face. He’d been young and dumb then. He was not young now, but maybe he was still dumb. He hadn’t been able to resist Janielle and see that she was only after the highest bidder. Could he resist Kari?
Chapter Six
Kari slept better than she had the night before. The perfect feeling of Gavin’s arms around her had followed her into her dreams. Yet he’d stepped away, and she hadn’t been brave enough to kiss him. She stank as the heroine. Her heroines wouldn’t have buried their faces in the amazing spot made for them in the crook of his neck, inhaled Tom Ford, and simply savored the hero’s muscular body surrounding them. Gavin was definitely muscular, she’d figured that much out, but she’d missed her opportunity because she was so thrilled and content to be hugging him that she hadn’t taken it to the next level. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She woke the next morning and went down to the hotel gym; she loved to run but tried to do a weight-lifting circuit in her condo or at a park at least once a week. This gym was nice, with some fun equipment like cable machines and Bosu balls that she didn’t usually get to use. As she did her weight training, her thoughts worked through the next few days. She hated that it was already Friday. She was only here until Monday, making this a long weekend trip. If anything, this trip had convinced her that she needed to get out more. Her mom would be proud. Maybe Gavin and Austin and Angel Falls Retreat weren’t really that special; it was simply her lack of exposure to the real world.
Yet as she finished her workout and strode through the second floor and then up the stairs to her fifth-floor suite, she knew she was deluding herself. Everything about this place was special, most importantly the owner and his son. Dang. Why did she keep thinking of Austin as Gavin’s son? She needed to reprogram that in her brain.
Kari entered her room and headed for the shower, but she paused when she noticed that a light was blinking on the phone. It was probably the front desk checking in. They’d taken very good care of her, and she loved the little touches like the bed being turned down at night with a different animal made out of towels and chocolates on her pillow.
She picked up the phone, pushed the button, and it rang.
A woman’s voice answered. “Angel Falls Retreat Spa.”
The spa? She perked up. Gavin had said he’d make her appointments for this morning, but she didn’t really expect him to. He was a busy guy. “Hi, this is Kari Love in room 506.”
“Kari,” the woman said, greeting her warmly. “Mr. Strong informed us you’ll be our guest this morning. Everything is on the house of course. Are there any treatments you prefer, or would you like me to schedule the pampering package for you?”
“Um … pampering package sounds great.” A spa day. What an incredible gift from Gavin. How thoughtful. Did she dare read anything into it? “I just need to shower quick.”
“Perfect. You might just want to rinse off, because you’ll probably get your hair wet in the therapy pools after the treatments.”
“All right. That sounds great. How soon should I come?”
“We’ll be waiting for you, Miss Love. I’ve got therapists ready whenever you get here.”
“Thank you.”
Kari hung up, hurried to shower, threw on some comfortable sweats, grabbed her swimsuit, and then rushed to the spa. She was eager to try out the treatments, and she could hardly wait to thank Gavin.
Gavin was tired the next morning. He’d given in to his weakness and downloaded Kari’s latest novel. He’d read until after midnight, having to drag himself out of bed when his alarm sounded at five a.m.
She was a great writer. The story was intriguing and fast-paced. The romance made him a bit uncomfortable, but he liked that the hero was a tough Navy SEAL, a real man’s man and not a gushy type. The feisty heroine had the guy eating out of her hand by the end of the book. The Navy SEAL made him think of Nick. Kari really would be intrigued by his military hero brother; what woman wouldn’t?
Gavin pushed it out of his mind and focused on work. He had a busy morning, for which he was grateful. The thought of Kari over at his spa getting a massage, pedicure, manicure, and facial were enough to drive him to distraction. He’d battled with himself about whether he was going to go over there. He shouldn’t do it. Ice skating this afternoon with her and Austin was more interaction than he could probably handle.
His phone rang, and he picked up the call. “Hello?”
“Mr. Strong? This is Shanna from the spa.”
“Hi, Shanna.” His pulse quickened, imagining Kari at his spa and anticipating news about her.
“Miss Love will be finished with her facial in the next twenty minutes and heading to the therapy pools and relaxation room. You asked that I inform you.”
“Yes, thank you. How … has she liked it?”
“She’s adorable.” He could hear the smile in Shanna’s voice. “So grateful and excited about everything. I think she’s loved it, sir.”
Gavin bit back his own smile. He could imagine Kari loved everything. She shone with an inner light and enjoyed everything about life. “Will you please give each of the therapists who worked with her, and yourself for coordinating it all, an extra forty-dollar tip from me?”
“Of course, sir. Thank you.”
“Thank you.” He hung up, stood, and started pacing his office. He had swim trunks in his drawer in the bathroom. Sometimes he used the lodge’s pool for laps in the winter when his own backyard pool was frozen over, and sometimes he’d used the therapy pools with his family for a fun diversion to the cold weather.
He paced and he debated. Would she want him to show up? Would she be all cute and grateful for the spa treatments and throw her arms around him like she had last night? Could he resist kissing her? Why did he want to resist? Oh yeah, he reminded himself sarcastically: she was leaving him in three days, and he didn’t do vacation flings. He smiled grimly to himself. He didn’t do any kind of flings. He was pathetic, and this was ridiculous. He was twenty-nine years old and hadn’t held a woman close in eleven years, not before last night. Kari seemed interested in him. He was definitely interested in her. What was wrong with exploring that interest? As long as he kept putting Austin first. Hang the rest of his stupid worries.
Storming into his bathroom, he grabbed the navy swimsuit out of the drawer and hurried back out before he could question himself. He was crazy to chase after a whimsical romance writer. He adored his son and had spent the past eleven years being a good, responsible dad while masquerading as a brother and denying himself interest in any woman. Yet maybe it was time for a change, for both of them. Maybe it was time to finally tell Austin he was his dad and explore options of finding him the right mom. If the way he’d felt last night holding Kari was any indication of exactly what he’d missed the past eleven years … maybe it was about time he tried crazy.
Kari felt relaxed and happy and oh so grateful. Everything from the massage to the mani-pedi to the facial had been incredible. The women who’d done the treatments had been fun to chat with. Kari had asked far too many questions, but she’d gotten everything from insight into their careers to some pretty incredible personal stories. She never used people’s stories—the characters in her head gave her plenty of ideas—but hearing stories always spurred new ideas and direction.
Her last stop was what they called the relaxation room. It was dimly lit, but Kari could count seven different small pools, or maybe large hot tubs, including the lie-down bubble bed. There was also a steam room, drinks and snacks in another lounging area, and some heated tile beds, which Shanna had promised were incredible.
Shanna gave her the quick tour, chatting with her while she ate some of the delicious fruit, then handed her a tub of lavender body scrub. “Take this in the steam room, scrub it into your skin, and stay in there as long as you can stand. Then rinse off in the shower outside the door.” She pointed. “Then jump in the cold plunge.”
Kari pulled a face. Despite that she loved everything about thi
s resort and valley, she still wasn’t a fan of cold. “Cold plunge?”
“I promise it’ll feel good after sweating it out in the steam room. Then use all the different hot pools you want, relax on the bubble bed. When you’re ready, you can rinse off in the shower again, and then—” Shanna gestured to a small table. “—there’s a tub of the most delicious-smelling lotion and a clean robe. After you’re done, you can relax on the tile bed or eat snacks and get drinks in the refreshment room. There are also all kinds of sample makeup and hair and body products in the locker room for you to try out. We’d love for you to stay as long as you’d like.” She handed over a water bottle. “You’ll probably want this too after the steam room.” With a smile and warm squeeze of Kari’s arm, she left.
“Thank you,” Kari called.
She smiled to herself and took off the robe she’d used in between treatments. She was wearing a comfortable blue floral suit. As she walked into the steam room with her scrub in hand, she was blasted with hot, moist air. The door swung shut behind her, and she panted for air, hardly able to take a full breath. She closed her eyes, groped for a seat, and hurried to open the scrub and rub it into her arms and legs.
Soon, wet beads were forming on her skin—whether it was sweat or just the steam, she didn’t know. Her lungs calmed down and she could catch an almost-normal breath, inhaling the lavender scent from the scrub and a pleasant minty smell in the steam room. She leaned back and tried to relax, assuming the sweat was good for her. Why else would Shanna have her come in here?
Sweat stung her eyes, and she felt light-headed. No wonder Shanna had handed her that water bottle, but she’d left it outside with the robe. She liked to be warm, but she was an Arizona girl and was craving dry heat. This didn’t feel very relaxing to her, but maybe it was good research for a … torture scene? No. She wasn’t staying in here any longer. She was burning hot and praying she’d lasted long enough to do something good for her skin. Grabbing the container of scrub, she hurried out of the steam room, rinsed off quickly, and went straight for the cold plunge. She ran up the steps and leapt.
Ice-cold water enveloped her body. She screamed as her head went under. Bursting up out of the water, she screamed again. After being so hot, the freezing cold wasn’t quite as miserable as she’d imagined.
A deep, appealing male chuckle came from her right. Whipping around, Kari stared as a man materialized from the steam next to the steam room. “Gavin?” she whispered. She hurried up the steps of the cold plunge and down to meet him.
He was smiling at her, really smiling at her, and it was glorious. “You didn’t like the cold plunge?”
“No! It was almost as torturous as the steam room.” She grabbed his hand. “Let’s get in a hot one.”
He kept grinning at her and let her tug him toward the closest hot pool. Kari let her eyes trail over his smiling, handsome face and down to his broad muscular shoulders, nicely muscled chest, and flat abdomen. My, oh my, he looked good in a swimsuit. She thought this scene might be more fun to write than the one of him teaching her to snow ski. She was definitely putting a trip to the spa in her next book.
The hot water stung her toes, but she didn’t care. Rushing into the pool, she let the warmth envelop her. “Ahh. That is so much better.”
Gavin’s broad grin had settled to the half smile that she usually got out of him. “It does feel good.” He relaxed back into the seat.
“Thank you so much for the treatments this morning,” she gushed. “I loved every second of it.”
“I’m glad you liked them.”
“Do I look five years younger?” She winked; that was what the esthetician had told her while doing the facial.
His eyes swept over her. “You look incredible … but you looked incredible before the treatments.”
“Thank you.”
Gavin nodded, his eyes focused on her face. He leaned closer and she was pretty certain they were going to have more than just a moment. When their lips connected, it would rock her world.
“The next pool has jets that massage every part of your body,” Gavin said. “Do you want to try them?”
“Oh, um, sure.” Surprise and disappointment filled her. She really wanted to kiss him, but if that wasn’t possible because he was so closed off and slower to instigate than any hero she’d ever written, she’d be content to just stare at him. She also wanted to ask him if he came here regularly, if it was coincidence that he’d found her, or if her dreams were coming true and this meeting showed he was as interested in her as she was in him.
He climbed back out of the pool, and she savored the view as he walked to a panel and twisted a button. His calves flexed nicely, and she let her eyes rove over the muscles in his upper body. She wasn’t ogling; she was doing … research.
The water in the next pool over started bubbling. Pipes emerged from the ceiling, from the sides, and from below, sending jets of water into pool. Gavin waited as she climbed out, and he led the way into the pool. “Okay, start with the head and work down?”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
He took her hand and directed her to the jets from above that made the shower look like a man-made waterfall. She was afraid it would hurt, but he guided her underneath with one perfectly manly hand on her waist, and she liked the water massaging her scalp almost as much as she liked his hand lingering on her waist. Next was another waterfall-type spout for her shoulders and neck. She couldn’t stop little moans of “Ahhh” as the jets relieved the tension in her shoulders from typing so much, almost as good as the incredible massage she’d had earlier. She noticed Gavin watching her with his half smile, but it was combined with a look of desire that warmed her more than the water ever could.
After that, she sat in a special seat where a variety of jets mounted in the wall of the spa massaged her neck, the back of her shoulders, and her upper back; the next seat over focused on her mid and lower back. Finally, they walked to a spot where the unique streams of water massaged her legs and then her feet.
The best part of all was that Gavin stayed close. Most of the time, he kept one hand firmly on her waist, and sometimes he put the other on her arm or leg to get her in the right position. As they finished the round, he smiled at her. “What did you think?”
“I loved it,” she gushed. Mostly, she loved being close to him. “What now?”
“Now we lie in this pool.” He took her over to another pool that had two separate lie-down beds like individual hot tubs. Each had strong jets that worked every inch of her body again. After they enjoyed that for a long time, he took her to what they called the bubble beds. These were gentle bubble jets that covered the entire body but were mostly comfortable and relaxing, not a pounding or massaging like the other jets had been.
“Ahh,” Kari said. “I’m going to take a nap now.”
“Good plan.”
But there was no sleeping with the likes of Gavin Strong close by. He took her hand like he had last night. Their arms and legs touched as the bubbles caressed her head, back, and legs. The bubbles made a quiet, soothing sound. She would’ve fallen asleep if she hadn’t been so keyed up and interested in the man next to her.
“Do you come here regularly?” she asked.
“Not as often as I should. It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
“Completely amazing.” She nodded. “Did your parents build it?”
“No. I came up with the idea a couple of years ago and researched a bunch of spas to find exactly what I wanted. Heath’s done something similar at two of his resorts and has plans for the other two come spring.”
She was impressed. “It’s fabulous.”
Rotating slightly on the bed, she got all kinds of brave and laid her head against his bare shoulder. Gavin let out a soft groan, and her stomach filled with heat. Her right hand was holding on to his left. How she wished she dared lift her left hand and trail her fingers over his firm chest and abdomen. Would it feel smooth and firm like her characters had describe
d it? How would he react? Would she internally combust from touching him so intimately?
Gavin’s right hand lifted toward her face, flooding her with a thrill of anticipation. He gently tilted her chin up as his face turned toward hers. Kari’s breath rushed out. His deep brown eyes were sucking her in faster than a black hole. She knew his kiss would be sheer pleasure, but it might be dangerous for her. She had no real-world experience with men, and here she’d landed in the arms of the most incredible man she’d ever met. Far more incredible than any man she could’ve dreamt up. Could he really be interested in her?
“Kari,” he murmured, his lips growing ever closer. She wanted to grab his head, pull him down to meet her, and finally, finally kiss him, but she sensed that he needed to be the one to cross those inches. If a man this incredible wasn’t involved with someone, he’d probably been hurt before. Well, she could be the woman to heal those hurts. She hoped.
His watch rang, startling them both. Gavin muttered a soft curse, and it made her smile that he seemed as upset as she felt about their near miss. Pulling back slightly, he looked at his watch and then cursed louder. “Austin!”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m going to be late to pick up Austin.” He released his grip on her and scrambled out of the pool.
“It’s one already?” Had she really been so crazy invested in him that over an hour had passed without her noticing? She hadn’t even felt hungry for lunch.
The Strong Family Romance Collection Page 66
