“At your service.”
I slowly let her slide down the length of my body, soaking my own clothes as she goes, but I don’t care. I kiss her one more time as if we’re the only two people here despite the sounds of laughter in the water.
“What’s that for?” she asks.
“No reason,” I say even though it’s exactly what I needed after my call from Dr. Schultz.
A little bit of Blakely to kiss it and make it all better.
Blakely
Exhaustion settles deep in my bones and all I want to do is snuggle with Slade back on the dock and enjoy the moment. I don’t want to be here, about to do who knows what.
Sure, team bonding is why we are on this retreat, but my priorities have shifted a tad in the past few days.
He owns my mind. My body. And I’m not going to talk about the flutters I feel in my heart.
“Is this thing almost over yet,” Gemma groans to my right.
“Almost.” I slump back in my seat, close my eyes, and raise my face to the sun. At least the weather’s nice. At least there’s that.
“Christ,” she mutters, “how much more can we do today? Relay races, which this body did not want to do, and then archery? I mean, if she wants us to go Hunger Games on each other, she better watch her back. And now we have to go off into the woods and conquer some obstacle courses? How ‘bout I conquer a bottle of tequila behind the bar over there instead?”
I laugh loudly. “Just one more and then we’re done with the team-building crap.”
“Ah, you’re forgetting the game of He Said, She Said we have slated for later tonight.”
“Am I bad for wanting to say I’m sick so I can sneak away with Slade?” I ask teasingly when I’m very serious about it.
“Woman, I would have pretended to be sick this whole trip just for that man,” she whispers back. “How much you want to bet that Heather has this partner thing predetermined for this next thing? She’ll be partnered with Maddie because she’s still pissed off over your little rebellion this morning and she’ll have her bestie to vent to.”
A slow smile slides onto my lips. “She was partnered with Maddie, but I may have switched some names around.” I wink at her.
“You sly devil, you.” She looks at me with wide eyes. “When did you do that?”
“She asked me to grab her things for her during the last meeting. I might have switched the cards in the envelopes and pulled out Maddie’s.”
“Who’d you pair Heather with?”
“Me.”
“You what?” she asks, drawing looks of those around us. “Are you crazy?”
“It’s time the two of us put this to bed, and what better way to do it than to force her to work with me.”
“You’re kind of amazing.” She chuckles. “And I’ll save that bottle of tequila for you. You’re going to need it after being alone with her for the next few hours.”
“This is bullshit,” Heather mutters, quite the cheerful partner.
“You don’t like these obstacle courses?” I ask innocently as I glance over to her.
“Can you tell me where the hell I’m supposed to go?” she demands, the black bandana wrapped around her eyes.
“You’re doing just fine. Go straight like I said.” I tsk. “And remember your rules—the person wearing the blindfold isn’t allowed to talk.”
She growls deep in her throat, and my smile is as wide as can be because she’s at my mercy for the first time ever, and I love it.
Just like I loved the absolute shock on her face when she pulled out the envelopes that had the “random” pairings in them for teammates and saw she and I had been put together.
She had to have known it was me, but if she complained, then everyone would have known that she had handpicked to be partnered with Materialistic Maddie.
“Just stay the course. I’ll let you know before you trip over a log or run into a tree,” I say sweetly.
“Gee. Thanks.”
“Uh. Uh. Uh,” I warn. “Aren’t we supposed to lead by example? I mean, if you say no talking and then someone hears your voice through the trees, then you’ll have defeated the purpose of this whole exercise.”
We walk a few feet.
“One step to your right. Good job.” I glance over and can all but see her rolling her eyes through the blindfold. “So, now that I have your undivided attention, I’m going to ask the questions I think we both want to know the answers to. What is it with you, Heather? What exactly is the reason you hate me so much?” I touch her arm and pull her toward me so she avoids a rock. “Is it that you hate that I have experience? Is it that you hate anyone who challenges you to be better? Is it that you just want me gone so you can have your bestie from your last job get the promotion since you don’t know everything you professed to know and you need her to hold your hand? I mean, we have the time right now, and I’d really love to know.”
She’s silent for a few moments, but I know she’s stewing. Her silence won’t last long. I give her a few minutes before she loses her cool and explodes.
When I was blindfolded, the only words she gave were directions. Short, sharp words, and nothing else.
I think she was hoping I’d do the same.
Not on her life.
“Slow down. You’re going to step up in a few seconds. Okay. Right here.”
We walk in silence, but her anger only seems to grow.
“With you around, no one will ever take me seriously,” she spits out as if it’s the most vile insult on the face of the earth.
Good thing she can’t see my smile.
“And why would that be?”
“Like you don’t know.” She sighs.
“I don’t. Because I get the feeling that
