He lowered his head and the moment his mouth came down to cover hers, she put her arms around his wide shoulders and her eyes drifted shut. She could feel herself being lifted and automatically brought her legs up to wrap them around his lean hips. They fit against each other perfectly, and when he entered her with one smooth stroke, Melissa reveled in the feeling of being one with him.
As water sprayed over them from all sides, their wet bodies moved together in perfect unison, and all too soon, she felt herself start to climb toward the peak of completion. Her muscles tensed as the need grew and intensified. Then, as if something inside of her broke free, pleasure filled every fiber of her being and stars danced behind her tightly closed eyes.
Almost immediately Shane’s body surged within her a final time and he crushed her to him. She held him just as tightly as he rode out the storm and found his own shuddering release.
When she finally gained the strength to move, Melissa leaned back to look at his handsome face as he still held her to him. For the past couple of months, she had told herself their affair was strictly physical and she could walk away from it at any time with no regrets. She now realized that she had been deluding herself. From the moment he introduced himself at a meeting between her family and the Jarrod Ridge investors, she had not only been attracted to him physically, she had been drawn to his charming personality and easy sense of humor.
“You’re amazing,” he said, giving her a tender kiss as he lowered her to her feet. He turned off the shower, then helping her out of the enclosure, patted them both dry with a large, plush towel. “Why don’t I pop a pizza in the oven and find something for us to watch on one of the movie channels, while you dry your hair and get dressed?” he asked as he wrapped the towel around her, then tucked it under her arms.
“That sounds wonderful,” she said, realizing she was actually quite hungry.
He gave her a smile warm enough to melt the polar ice caps. “I’ll meet you downstairs on the couch in about twenty minutes.”
Feeling more relaxed than she had since taking the pregnancy test, Melissa picked up the hair dryer and turned it on. She wasn’t going to think about their predicament, what they were going to do about it or that in less than two days she would no longer be enjoying a few stolen hours with Shane. Tonight she was going to concentrate on the moment and face tomorrow when it came.
“What’s your life like out in California?” Shane asked as the movie he had selected for them ended.
The film’s storyline had been about a woman returning to her hometown and the life she had left behind to do that. That got him to thinking. He knew what it had been like for Lissa since returning to Aspen for the reading of her father’s will. She had to stay for at least one year and manage the Tranquility Spa in order to inherit her share of Jarrod Ridge. But her life in Los Angeles remained a complete mystery to him.
“Life in southern California is, in a word, hectic.” She shrugged one slender shoulder. “I’ve been there since I started college and you would think I’d be used to the pace after all this time.”
Her answer surprised him. “But you’re not?”
“Not really.” She shook her head and shifted on the couch to face him. “Everyone is always in such a hurry to get somewhere or to do something. Then, when they do accomplish whatever they set out to do, they are in a huge hurry to do something else.”
“Life in the fast lane can be draining,” he said, wondering why she had chosen to go to college so far from home. “But I think it’s that way in most urban areas.”
She nodded as she removed the fluffy tie holding her hair in a ponytail. “It’s a little better in Malibu where I live now, but life still moves a lot faster than Aspen.”
“That is a nice area.” He had been to Malibu a few times and although it was way too crowded for his taste, Shane had found the view of the ocean to be beautiful. “Do you live near the beach?”
“I have a condo not too far from the Malibu Pier.” She smiled. “I like living on the beach and my spa and yoga center, Serendipity, is only a couple of miles away. That’s another plus for me.”
“Who’s running things while you’re away?” he asked, reaching out to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sure you left someone you could trust in charge.”
He ran his index finger over her hair. He loved the feel of the silky golden threads against his skin. He drew in some much-needed air and forced himself to concentrate on what she was saying. Lissa felt it was important that they talk and learn about each other. Besides, if he was going to get her to go along with his plans of getting married, he was going to have to pay a little closer attention.
“I have two wonderful assistant managers.” She smiled fondly. “Michael is very efficient at managerial duties and in the treatment room his hands are pure magic.”
“Oh, really?” For reasons he didn’t quite understand and wasn’t ready to analyze, the only hands Shane wanted her to consider magical were his.
Her enthusiastic nod caused a slow burn to start in the pit of his stomach. “Michael warms the oil with his hands, then when he puts them on your body and starts kneading the muscles…” She closed her eyes and smiled as if imagining the man’s hands on her. “…it’s pure heaven.”
The irritation in Shane’s gut exploded into all-out anger and he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Lissa seemed to enjoy having the man’s hands on her a little too much. It might even be the probability that she had been alone with the guy in a dimly lit room with nothing but a thin sheet draped over her nude body. Or more likely, it was a combination of all of it. Whatever the reason, he didn’t like it one damned bit.
But Shane couldn’t understand the proprietary feeling he had toward her. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been with his share of women before Lissa returned to Aspen. It would be ridiculous of him to expect her to have gone without companionship before they started seeing each other. Yet he couldn’t quite shake the territorial feeling that ran through him.
“Aren’t some of the women who work for you just as good at giving massages?” he asked, wondering why she hadn’t asked one of her female employees.
She nodded. “In their own way, yes, they are very good. But being a man, Michael naturally has more strength in his hands and gives a more thorough deep-tissue massage.”
“How long has he worked for you?”
“Let’s see, he and his life partner, Hector, moved from Florida into the condo below mine about three years ago, and I hired them both shortly after that,” she said, looking pleased with herself. “I was really lucky to get them before another spa snapped them up. Besides Michael being the best masseuse I’ve ever seen, Hector is a master yoga instructor and conducts most of the yoga and meditation classes at Serendipity. He’s my assistant manager for the yoga center.”
Shane’s anger cooled immediately when he realized neither of the men were interested in Lissa. The fact that he felt such relief was almost as disturbing to him as his possessiveness had been. He had never been the jealous type and couldn’t imagine what the hell had gotten into him.
Deciding it was time for a change of topic, he asked, “Do you miss not living near the beach?”
“Absolutely,” she said, nodding. “Listening to the waves is nice, especially at night when I’m ready to go to sleep. I like to sit on the beach sometimes and watch them roll in to shore. It reminds me of how small and insignificant my problems are compared to the big picture.”
“Don’t you miss watching the seasons change, angel?”
“They do change,” she admitted. “But it’s subtle and not nearly as big of a change as here. It’s beautiful here in the fall.” She grinned. “And I do love Aspen in the winter. There’s nothing like flying down the mountain on a pair of skis after a new snow.”
“You like the fresh powder?”
“Absolutely.” She tilted her head. “What about you? Do you like to ski?”
He gave her a mischievous grin. “I have been known to tear it up on a few of the slopes around here. I’ve also done a little cross-country skiing.”
Yawning, she leaned her head back against the couch. “I’ve missed being able to participate in the winter activities we have in the mountains.”
“They have some nice skiing in California,” he reminded her.
“Yes, but I would have to drive several hours to get there.” She smiled. “I like having a ski slope practically in my backyard.”
“Then why did you go to college in California in the first place?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Shane had a feeling it had something to do with her getting away from home and the control of Donald Jarrod. But she’d shied away from discussing her relationship with her father, and from her expression, she wasn’t interested in discussing it now.
She hesitated as if choosing a suitable answer. “I was young and wanted to spread my wings a bit.” Hiding another yawn behind her hand, she gave him a sheepish grin. “I think I need to go up to bed before I fall asleep right here.”
He knew she was making an excuse to escape before he had the opportunity to ask any more questions. “You’re probably right.” Turning off the television, he rose to his feet, then helped her to hers. “What do you say we go upstairs and see just how good I am at giving a massage?”
“But I don’t have a problem with tightness in my shoulders or neck,” she said as he led her toward the stairs.
“Angel, I wasn’t talking about massaging your back.” He couldn’t stop his wicked grin. “The areas I had in mind are on the front side of your body and a whole lot more interesting.”
Shane lay staring at the ceiling long after the woman in his arms drifted off to sleep. The evening had been perfect and given him a glimpse of what life could be like once he and Lissa were married.
Married. The word alone should have had him running for the hills, and he still couldn’t quite believe that he was actually going to take the plunge.
Two days ago, the idea of marriage and having a child never crossed his mind. It was simply something he had never allowed himself to contemplate. He had witnessed the hell his father went through when his mother left and that was more than enough to convince Shane he wanted no part of the institution.
He could remember the nights he had lain in bed as a small boy listening to his mother and father argue about how unhappy she was living out in the middle of nowhere. Eventually her pleading for his father to sell the ranch and move them all to a metropolitan area had turned to threats of her leaving.
Then, one day when he was nine, Shane came home from school to find his mother gone and his father passed out with an empty whiskey bottle at his feet. Cactus had stepped in to watch over him and when his father finally sobered up after a two-month bender, Shane asked several times where his mother was. “Gone” was all he could get out of his father each time he asked. Shane finally gave up and stopped asking.