“I don’t know. I’m sure some people don’t.” His gaze slides down my body again. “I wouldn’t mind spending some time in a hot tub with you. In a bathing suit or…”
At the thought of Ace naked in a hot tub, my core clenches with need. Tingles race through my body. Almost breathlessly, I reply, “I wouldn’t mind spending some time in a hot tub with you, either.”
Ace thinks for a second. “I’ll have to talk to the guys about putting in a hot tub. There might be room out on the deck. Although that’s not very private. Maybe it would be better to set one up further away from the house. In one of those outdoor things—a gazebo, I think my mom calls them?”
“A gazebo would work. Or a pergola.”
“A pergola? What’s that?”
“It’s like a gazebo, except a different shape. And sometimes they just have beams across the top instead of a roof. But for a hot tub, you’d want to enclose it a little more.”
Nodding, Ace pulls out his phone and types a quick note. Then he slides it back into his pocket and says, “Okay. I added a reminder to bring it up at the next team meeting. Hot tub. Top priority.”
“A hot tub is a higher priority than security stuff?” I ask with amusement.
He gives me a solemn look. “It is when it means I get to see you all wet and sexy inside it.”
A needy ache builds inside me. “I think I’m in favor of a hot tub, too.”
Suddenly, I’m very sorry I’m still healing, and not because of the aches and pains that haven’t gone away yet. It’s becauseAce won’t do anything more than kissing or gently hugging me, which my brain understands but my body doesn’t.
My body wants to take things further. It wants to feel Ace’s bare skin against mine. It wants to know what it feels like to have him inside me.
Soon,I silently vow. In two days, it’ll be a week since the attack. That’s plenty of time to recuperate. I’ll dim the lights in the bedroom so Ace can’t see my fading bruises as well, forgo a towel when I get out of the shower and come out naked instead, and then I’ll?—
“Yara?”
“Hmm?” I glance at Ace, who’s watching me with concern.
“Are you okay?” he asks. For the fifth time today, for the record. He starts to steer me towards the couch. “Maybe the trip to Bea’s was too much for you. Why don’t you lie down for a bit?”
“I’m fine,” I tell him, and it’s not just something I’m saying to pacify him. “I was thinking about the hot tub. And other sexy things.”
“Oh.” His voice dips. “Wereyou?”
“I was.” Releasing his hand, I place mine on his stomach, feeling his muscles tighten beneath my fingers. He sucks in a sharp breath as I move my hand lower, stopping just above the waistband of his jeans. “I was thinking about you naked, too.”
“Yara.” His pupils dilate. “I would love that. But not—” His jaw tightens. A bulge swells between his legs. “Not now. You’re hurt.”
“Not that hurt,” I retort. “And I’m feeling better every day.”
“Your fingers.”
“I don’t need them for everything.”
“The stitches.”
“Would be fine.”
Indecision flickers in Ace’s eyes. For a moment, I think he’s going to agree. But then he shakes his head slightly, like he’strying to force away the temptation. “Not yet,” he says firmly. “I won’t risk hurting you.”
Removing my hand from his stomach, he wraps his fingers around mine. “Anyway,” he continues, “I have a surprise for you. If you’re feeling up to seeing it.”
Tamping down my disappointment and mentally renewing my vow to try again in a day or two, I ask, “What kind of surprise?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?” He flicks a quick grin at me as he leads me across the living room and towards the hallway.
“I suppose not. But you could give me a hint.”