Page 12 of Hitting the Gap

“Okay then,” she agreed.

“Go get changed.”

He quickly put on his swim trunks and grabbed a couple of towels out of the linen closet. He slid his feet into a pair of flip-flops because the idea of having bare feet in the elevator grossed him out.

As he waited for Bailey, he loaded the dishwasher with their dinner plates. He’d just finished wiping down the counter when she appeared. His gaze swept over her oversized T-shirt and down her bare legs. She looked back at him and his abs flexed like they had a mind of their own when it seemed like her gaze lingered on his naked torso.

“Let me just grab shoes,” she said before she quickly disappeared.

A moment later, she returned. “I’m ready.”

He walked to the front door, pulled it open and stepped back to allow Bailey to go first. At the elevator, he tapped his fob against the control panel and pushed the button for the roof. “I’m the only one who has access,” he told her.

When the doors opened, Bailey gasped as she stepped outside. She scanned the rooftop and a wave of pride slid over him. He’d spent a boatload of money on his rooftop patio to turn it into something relaxing. He hadn’t realized how different his vision was from his designers until she’d started working on it. After a few adjustments, it now felt perfect.

“You have a basketball hoop?”

“Just a little one. You can shoot empties from the hot tub right into the recycle bin.”

“It’s very you.”

He walked over to the hot tub and flipped off the lid, then set the towels down on one of the lounge chairs. “You getting in?” he asked.

“You turning around?” she countered.

“You were serious about that?”

“Yes.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Geez, okay, let me get in and I’ll close my eyes.” He put his foot on the bottom step and then flung his leg into the hot tub. As his second leg hit, he sighed. Damn, that felt good. He moved over to the far side of the tub and dropped into his favorite seat. Once positioned, he dropped his head back and closed his eyes. “Alright, I’m not looking.”

The water splashed as he felt Bailey step into the tub. He really wanted to open his eyes, but he forced them to remain shut.

“Okay, you can open them,” she said.

He blinked as his eyes adjusted. The top of Bailey’s full breasts bobbed in the water. Damn. Her tits had not looked like that the last time he’d seen her in a bathing suit. Maybe she’d been right to make him close his eyes. The last thing he needed to be doing was leering at his houseguest.

Bailey shifted her body and the water sloshed around her, drawing his attention back to her chest.

Stop it. He looked over at his basketball hoop to distract himself.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Bailey finally spoke. “Are you sure you don’t mind me waiting a bit to look for an apartment?”

“Yeah, of course. Like I said, I’m hardly here, so it’s no big deal.”

“I’ll be out of your hair before school starts.”

“Not a problem if you aren’t. If things go well, we’ll be in the playoffs, so you’ll mostly have the place to yourself until mid-October.”

“I can’t stay here that long.” She looked toward the railing that faced the ocean view. “I can’t get over this apartment. Thank you for letting me squat here. It might be hard to get rid of me now that I’ve gotten a taste of the good life.”

“A hot tub is the good life?”

She leaned her head back against the edge of the tub and sighed. “It’s certainly not the bad life. God, this feels amazing.”

He shifted himself deeper into his seat as he angled the jets against his lower back. “It’s one of the reasons I picked this place. I was looking at another condo that was a bit nicer but didn’t have the rooftop patio.”

“I can’t even imagine what a nicer apartment would look like. This place is gorgeous.”

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