Blakely
I yelp when arms wrap around me and pull me off the path toward the cabin. Like full on freak out. In those few seconds, I lived my own horror story in my overactive imagination. One where I’d been abducted off the trail at Red Mountain Lodge, never to be seen again. Slade would search endlessly for me to no avail before vowing never to be with another woman because I was his everything.
My ridiculousness lasts only seconds before my abductor spins me around and slants his lips over mine.
“Slade.” His name is a breathless pant of relief before I get lost again in the carnality of Slade’s kiss. In the desperation I can taste on his tongue and the need I manifest by fisting my hands in his shirt. I allow myself to forget what Heather said and how much it has owned my thoughts since leaving the meeting room a few minutes ago.
Slade and his lips are exactly what I need.
“What was that all about?” I murmur when the kiss ends and he leans back.
“I needed a little something to motivate me before I have to go do this next activity.”
I reach up to pull a piece of leaf from his hair. “Paddleboard yoga not your thing?
“Is it anyone’s thing?” He laughs, pointing to the cabin. “Go get our swimsuits on?”
I nod and playfully stomp my feet like a kid. “Do we have to?”
“Unfortunately, yes, or it defeats the whole purpose of coming here.” He lifts a chin back to the direction where I came from. “How was your meeting?”
“Oh so fun.” I shake my head. “Not.”
“What happened?”
I avert my eyes and shove Heather’s comment from my mind and pretend that the inadequacies it evoked aren’t still there.
It’s funny how I can handle her bashing my work without a second thought, but when she implies I’m not enough for Slade, I have a little mental health lapse.
I force a smile onto my lips. “She was just being her charming self as per usual.”
“Dare I ask?”
“Nope.” I shrug it off. “Not worth both of us having our mood ruined.”
“Hey?” he says and gently pinches my chin between his thumb and forefinger to direct me to look at him. “Screw her. She isn’t going to stand a chance once we put our plan to win her over in motion.”
“We have a plan?” I ask and raise my eyebrows.
“Do you think I ever don’t have a plan?” he asks with a flash of a smile before linking his fingers with mine and directing us back to the trail.
“What is it?”
“Hell if I know.” He laughs. “Right now, it’s to go and have a blast making idiots of ourselves as we try not to fall into the water.”
“That’s a plan?” I glance his way and love the sheepish smile he gives me.
“It seems like you being happy pisses H-squared off, so while it won’t exactly win her over, it’ll still feel good to just be happy.” He shrugs. “And who knows, it might be contagious and others might end up admiring you for just being you. If you win over the masses, she’ll have no choice but to follow.”
“That’s a very sound plan.”
“Did you doubt me?”
We swing our arms back and forth as we walk toward the cabin. I try to clear my mind of all of the negativity from earlier and just enjoy this simple moment with Slade as much as I can.
“The way I see it, it’s officially day one, so we need to turn it up some.”
“Is this you figuring out your plan?” I tease and get a boyish shrug in response.
“What do you know about me so far?”
“You like bets. You’re pushy.” You’re adorable.
“And I’m competitive as hell.”
“So?” I ask as the cabin comes into sight.
“So, we’re going to win every damn challenge.”
I laugh. “You don’t exactly win at yoga, Slade. It isn’t a team sport.”
“No, but you can win by captivating others. Making them want to be more like you, who is charming and welcoming, instead of being like her, who is controlling, demanding, and off-putting.”
“Easier said than done since they’re all friends with her,” I say as we walk up the steps to the door.
“That’s where I think you’re wrong. Give them a lifeline, and they’ll take it,” he says, and before I have too much time to think about his comment, he pushes open the door. “I’ll wait out here while you change into your suit.”
“I thought we were coming here for you to get changed?” I set down my notebook and pull my hair up into a messy bun.
“I already have my board shorts on. Get your suit on.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “You actually think I’m going to open myself up to criticism around those perfect bodied women I work with? No freaking way. I’ll take my carbs and my rounded curves and wear my tank top and shorts”—I hold them up as if he doesn’t know what a tank top and shorts look like—“thank you very much.”
Slade chuckles, but when I don’t move to get a suit out, his amusement fades. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“What part of you thought I wasn’t?” I laugh and play it off. “All I hear about at work is how perfect they are compared to everyone else. The last thing I want to do is put myself in the position for them to judge me even more.”
“And what exactly would they be judging you on, Blakely?” he asks as he walks up to me, brows furrowed. “Because I certainly don’t see anything they can pick apart.”
A hundred things zoom through my mind. How the skin on my legs isn’t as firm as it used
