Page 25 of Privileged (Adrenalin)

“He dislikes me that much?” Carter withdraws and flops onto his back.

I follow him, propping my chin on his chest as I trace my finger over the muscle in an effort to diffuse his knee-jerk reaction. It feels more natural than it should at this stage. “He doesn’t know you.”

“We had a meeting today. A good one.”

“That’s a start. But I don’t want anything between us to cloud his judgment of you.” I don’t know if one encounter means thereisan us, but Finn is far too skeptical of Carter to know about what happened here, especially if it won’t go any further. And if it does, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

“When will I see you again? Outside my office.” He captures my wandering fingers in his hand and gives them a kiss.

“I’m not sure. I work several doubles over the next few days. Maybe Wednesday, I only work at the spa in the morning.”

“Come to my office when you’re done.” He places a soft kiss on my lips, and with that gesture, I start to think anusmight be in the cards. I don’t know whether to be excited about that prospect, or ashamed that I’ve knowingly put my libido above my career.

Chapter ten

Carter

“Ithought you wanted to see meoutsidetheoffice.” His cheeks flush in that bashful manner I can’t seem to get enough of as he closes the door and steps lightly to my desk.

“I do, which is why we aren’t staying here.”

“Janice said you wanted a massage.” Sloan tips his head to the side as I stand up, a tiny crease separating his brows.

I bite back a chuckle, rounding the desk and pulling him into my arms for a chaste kiss that has him so stunned all he can do is blink.Adorable. “Janice said what she needed to so you’d come up. We’re actually going on a field trip.”

“She said…” Sloan’s face pales. “Please tell me your assistant isn’t making booty calls for you.”

I tip his chin up so he has to look at me. “I told Janice I wanted to take you to lunch since you’ve been so accommodating and helped me get back on track. Neither of us thought you’d show up unless it was under the guise of doing more work.”

Sloan gnaws gently at his plump, pink lip, making it hard to concentrate. “Just lunch?”

“As far as Janice knows.”

“So, this is a booty call?” He steps back and crosses his arms in front of his chest, tapping his index finger on his forearm.

It takes all my willpower not to laugh at his indignation. “It’s a request for input on a very important business decision. I promise it will all make sense when we get there. Shall we?” I sweep my hand toward the door, indicating he should go first.

His eyes narrow slightly before he turns for the door, and I give in to my grin when he’s a step ahead of me and can’t see it.

Downstairs, I gesture to a resort truck. He climbs in and looks innocently out the window as I drive up one of the fire roads that weave toward the top of the ski run. Reaching the top, I put the truck in park and turn it off. “We have to walk from here.”

“You do know it’s supposed to rain today, right?” He doesn’t even attempt to hide his skepticism.

“Not for hours yet. This won’t take that long.”

I swap my dress shoes for a pair of Vans and pocket the keys as I get out. He follows my lead and climbs down from the passenger seat, falling in step beside me as I make my way up the ridge. No words are spoken, which is soothing in the sense that I don’t feel the need to speak, yet there’s still tension in the quiet. I thread our fingers together, needing to feel his skin on mine, and my body instantly feels lighter, despite the fact he raises his eyebrows inquisitively.

“What?” I give a tiny shrug.

“I know what happens when I touch your hand.”

“You know what happens when you rub sensual little circles on my hand. Keep your fingers still and we’ll be fine.”

His knowing little smirk says he doesn’t buy that for a second, but he doesn’t pull his hand back either.

Fifteen minutes later, we reach the spot I was aiming for, a break in the trees where you can see all the way to the adjacent valley. Grayclouds are closing in in the distance, but for now the bright blue of the high mountain air is a vibrant contrast against the rich green of the pines.

“It’s beautiful,” Sloan says beside me.

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