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Hope filled my chest, and I nearly pumped my fist in the air, but I kept it cool. “Yeah, sure. I’ll just put this on auto and connect it to my watch to send me notifications if there are any issues.”
“You can do that?”
“It’s amazing what you can do with technology and enough money.”
Her bottom lip did that pouty thing it did when she was thinking. I wanted to press my thumb against it and over her mouth. The thought was completely irrational.
“Follow me.” I opened the door and she tightened the blanket around her neck. “I have a sweater you can wear if you’d like.”
She shook her head. “It’s all right. I’ll keep this on for now.”
I wasn’t sure where to begin. The yacht was 377 feet long and designed by one of the most celebrated designers in the world. I didn’t get involved with color options; I left those decisions to him. The only things I asked for were a basketball court and a golf green to be added to the layout.
“Where would you like to start?” I asked.
She pressed her lips together and looked around. “Perhaps the warmest room.”
I grinned at her. “Sounds like a plan.”
We took the mirrored elevator to one of the lower levels. “John, my designer, called this the Sanctuary Room, but it reminds me of a medieval harem.”
“Really?” asked Nikole, looking around. “I love the mosaic tiles on the walls and floor. And the antique pottery.”
We turned the corner, and she smirked. In front of us was a large thirty-by-twenty-foot hot spring-inspired pool with tall white columns. “Ah, I think this is what you meant when you said it reminded you of a harem.”
I leaned against one of the columns and crossed my arms. “Yup.”
She walked over the edge of the warm water and ran her fingers through it. “The water feels nice,” she said. “I don’t know. I sort of like it. It makes me want to take off my clothes and wrap myself in silks.”
I stopped breathing as an image of a nearly naked Nikole wearing nothing but a silk wrap popped into my mind.
I cleared my throat, searched the room, and spotted a door. “If you like the warmth, you’ll love this.”
I opened the first door next to the pool that led to a dry sauna. Further down, there was a larger eucalyptus-infused steam sauna, but this dry one was closer.
“Ah,” she groaned when she walked inside and dropped the blanket. She twirled in a circle. “This feels sooo good.”
I turned away for a second, to control my body from reacting to her pleasure. It wouldn’t be ideal for her to see a bulge in my pants right now.
She sat on the wooden bench and leaned back. “This feels marvelous after being outside in the cold.”
She closed her eyes, and a smile stayed on her lips. I took advantage and studied every line on her face, every contour of her round cheeks and chin. I wished at that moment that I could draw so I could sketch her portrait and remember this moment.
Shit. Now I was getting sentimental. Don’t go down this path, Jake. Not again.
I sat next to her, crossed my arms over my chest, and extended my legs. Closing my eyes, I exhaled a large, frustrated breath. I was annoyed with myself. After all these years, I still fell into old patterns of romanticizing someone. It always hurts like hell when reality sets in. Like when I realized my dad wasn’t the hero in my life, but the villain. Or, when the love of my life, who I thought could do no wrong, cheated on me. Yeah. Reality sucked. And I wouldn’t let myself fall into that trap again.
“This is relaxing,” she whispered next to me.
“Mmm-hmm,” I murmured beside her with my eyes closed.
We stayed that way for a few minutes before she turned to me. “We should go before my blouse gets all sweaty.”
A sweaty Nikole was more than I could take.
I stood and opened the sauna door for her. But as I turned to look back, a tiny bead of water at the base of her neck caught my attention. My throat went dry, and I blinked. Instinctively, I grabbed a towel on the shelf by the door and held it up in front of her. “May I?”
She nodded and stared at me. I held her gaze while I slowly brought the edge of the towel to her neck and patted her skin. She moistened her lips, the tip of her tongue darting just for an instant, but the vision of the pink flesh made my temperature rise. I grabbed a towel for myself and patted the back of my neck.
