Maurice was not Gordon, and this wasn’t a real relationship—that much was clear in her mind. But taking a bath was intimate, and intimacy blurred the lines. She needed those lines, the barriers she’d carefully built around her in the years since the worst breakup she’d ever experienced.
Unfortunately, she didn’t see a way of wriggling out of this that didn’t make it seem as if she were overreacting or, worse, weak.
“I’m not gonna bite. It’s just a bath. After all the falling we did on the slopes this afternoon and the other, um, very vigorous activity we just enjoyed, I figure a nice soak will do us both good.”
“You sound like an old man,” she quipped and then figured, the hell with it, and stepped completely into the bathroom.
“Nah, not old, baby.” He stepped into the tub and lowered his body into the water. “Just a ski coach whose student couldn’t grasp the idea that the skis remain on the ground, not her pretty little ass.”
Rolling her eyes at his smug smirk and keeping a lid on how irritated she’d been earlier today on the slopes, she dropped the sheet and walked over to the tub. Definitely large enough for the two of them. It was positioned close to a window that, when open, boasted another glorious view of the mountain scenery. She’d closed the electronic blinds when she’d been in here getting dressed earlier. Going to the opposite side of the tub, she hurriedly stepped in and sat down. Not because she was modest about him seeing her body—they’d obviously been there and done that. She just didn’t want to chicken out at the last minute.
“You aren’t the best at everything,” she said once she was settled in the pleasingly hot water. Maurice was a tall guy, six feet two and a half inches, to be exact. She knew how tall each of the Gold siblings were because she’d seen their measurements on a spreadsheet during a show where the family were all wearing specially designed outfits. He sat with his legs spread open and pressed against the edge of the tub. She sat with her legs between his, her cheery yellow painted toenails almost hiding his crotch area. A bubble bath might have been a better idea.
“Never said I was. But the things I am good at I like to boast about. Just in case there’s someone who needs to know.” His juvenile grin relaxed her. It also made her look around for something to throw at him. “Besides, I can’t help it that you’re a perfectionist and it annoys the hell out of you when you can’t get something right on the first try.”
Only because in the past whenever she messed up, she paid for it dearly. “I’m not arguing with you about this.” She leaned back, letting her neck rest on the lip of the tub. If she closed her eyes and focused solely on the water, she wouldn’t have to stare at him and his naked body, a stark reminder that they’d totally changed the dynamic of their friendship.
A few moments passed in silence. Moments when she knew he was watching her, and she told herself not to feel uncomfortable about that.
“Why’d you sign up for Dear Lover?”
Hadn’t they already talked about this? No, not really. She sighed and lifted her head so she could look at him. “It was something to do. I saw the ad one night when I was doing online research. It was just there on the side of some website I was on, and the name caught my eye, so I clicked on it.”
“You weren’t looking for an online hookup?” He was staring at her skeptically, his eyes narrowing. Damn, when did he start looking so sexy?
From his tawny skin tone to the thick dark eyebrows that were so naturally neat that she couldn’t help but envy them to the low-cut goatee and his perfectly tapered fade haircut, he was quite possibly the handsomest man she’d ever seen. And that was just from the neck up.
“Were you?” She shot the question back at him because her mouth was going dry.
“No.” He rubbed a finger over his chin and then shrugged. “Like I told you before, I wanted to try something different.”
“But how did you know about the site?”
Again, his eyes narrowed, but this time it was as if he were contemplating what he should say.
“I searched dating sites online. And before you ask again, no, I wasn’t looking for a date. I just wanted someone to talk to.”
“Wait,” she said sitting up so that water sloshed with her movement. “Were you lonely? The Maurice Gold was lonely.”
Now he shook his head. “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t act like the rest of the world. You know me. You knew me before this.” Moving a hand back and forth between them signaled what this was. “You know I’m not the way they paint me out to be.”
He was right; she did know. Which was why she sat back again and decided to give him a better answer. “It can be hard to figure out who you can trust enough to just be yourself with. I think that happens to everyone who reaches a certain level of success, because with it comes notoriety and expectations. You don’t always know where you fit into the mix.”
“That’s exactly it.” He nodded. “Major’s married, and Riley’s in a committed relationship. And here I am, still dating the flavor of the month, according to FYI Update.”
The tabloid he spoke of was one of the worst, and their reporters had a fixation with the Gold family. A few months ago they’d run a malicious piece claiming Major’s wife, Nina, had left her father to die in a nursing home so she could come to New York and marry into money. In truth, Nina’s father lived in a facility
