Page 1 of Only for the Moment
Chapter One
Kennedy groaned as her tug on the door sent pain shooting through her shoulders and down her spine. She needed to get on the massage table before her overstressed muscles totally seized.Note to self: full urns are heavier than they appear.But heavy or not, the flowers had given just the right touch of fairy tale to the “wedding of the year” that she’d organized. The marriageof the costars in last year’s best film of the year had gone off without a hitch.
Too bad said hitch had ended up in her neck and shoulders. Thank God her weekly Sunday massage was scheduled in another five minutes. Assuming she could get the heavy-ass door to the Sovereign Resort Salon & Spa open. She pulled a little harder.
“Come on, weakling. We’re waiting.”
Kennedy turned to her departmentVP, Cooper, and stuck her tongue out. The man grinned unrepentantly, white teeth gleaming against dark skin.
“If I’m so weak, why don’t you use those enormous muscles of yours to get us inside, huh?”
Cooper shook his head, his look of indulgence getting her back up. She chose to ignore it when one massive paw reached out and tugged the door open effortlessly.
“What, you needed the whole hand?Wouldn’t two fingers have sufficed?” she threw over her shoulder as she waltzed inside. She’d never worked with anyone more knowledgeable than Cooper, which was why, when she’d been promoted to president of guest services at their exclusive Las Vegas resort last month, she’d recommended he be promoted into her old position of vice president—despite the fact that he cracked one too many jokes abouthow tiny she was. Given his size, everyone was tiny, a fact she took great satisfaction in reminding him of.
“Thanks, Gigantor.”
Cooper’s chuckle followed her as she walked to the wide, semicircular reception desk. “You’re welcome, Half Pint.”
Teri was already shaking her head at their antics. “Just another typical Sunday, huh?”
“Of course.”
Their simultaneous responses widened the receptionist’sgrin. “Let’s get y’all separated before someone becomes testy, shall we?”
“Too late.” Cooper’s words shook with suppressed laughter that ended on anoomphwhen Kennedy’s elbow jabbed into his rock-hard belly.
Kennedy winced at the twang pinching her shoulders.
“Looks like you’ve done some damage,” Teri said, eyeing Kennedy’s posture.
A pout curved Kennedy’s lips. “And I didn’t even get tohave fun doing it.”
A snort escaped her VP, echoed by a man she belatedly noticed leaning against the wall across from the door of the waiting room. Tall, dark-haired, and nearly as muscular as Cooper—nice. He was obviously waiting on someone, which meant he was either a husband or security, but anyone with security would’ve been important enough to call her in. Since no one had, she was bettingon the former. She met his amused gaze and gave him a shrug before turning back to Teri.
“My usual room?”
Her friend focused on her computer screen, amusement still tugging at her lips. “I believe Melody put you there, yes. Just let me—”
Kennedy waved the help away. “No worries. I’ll find her.” She’d been here every Sunday morning for the past year, since the first week she’d worked at SovereignResort. One of the best perks of the job. She’d also booked hundreds of guest services at the spa and, in the case of high-profile clients, escorted dozens here personally. Intimate familiarity was an understatement.
The long hall leading from reception to the spa was swirled stone, laid to resemble rocks weathered by a swiftly flowing stream. She trailed a hand along the surface as she walkedto the women’s dressing room, absorbing the peace and quiet. Inside, she exchanged her clothed for a fluffy white robe, then returned to the hall and made her way toward the massage rooms. Maybe before she left, she’d soak in the pool that took up the back half of the spa, overlooking the eastern Vegas skyline. The residue of the tension she’d gathered since her promotion, good or not, might takelonger than a thirty-minute massage to erase.
The waiting area near the massage rooms stood empty. Kennedy skirted its edge, admiring the mini waterfall that was its focal point, and headed for the back room, the one Melody always put her in. It wasn’t the biggest, but it was her favorite. Thick shoji screens concealing built-in soundproof panels filtered the light and noise from outside, encapsulatingher in the decadence of Turkish linens and the scent of lemongrass. She often started her time in the whirlpool tub inside the room. Just laying eyes on the door relaxed her muscles and eased her breathing. With relief she slid one screen aside and stepped into what she liked to think of as her own personal retreat.
And jerked to a stop.What the hell?
Her room—herroom—wasn’t empty. She sawhis feet first. It had to be a him, because the feet were long and wide and rugged. They hung below the cover of the white sheet, resting at the very end of the massage table. One twitched as if in sleep, and the sheet inched up, the white cloth a stark contrast to the deep tan of his skin. Muscular calves were outlined clearly under their shroud, as were heavy thighs, the sheet pulled taut acrosshis—
Damn.Kennedy fanned the sudden flush of heat in her cheeks.
Narrow hips broadened to wide shoulders. His back was bare, the deep furrow of his spine a shadow in the candlelit room. She knew she was staring, but her feet wouldn’t move. They held her there, glued to the floor, and she could do nothing but gawk at the beautiful expanse of sun-kissed skin and the intricate tattoo of a seaturtle on the shoulder closest to her, fins extended as if swimming toward the shaggy dark-blond hair along the man’s nape. Deep blues and greens seemed to glow in the flickering light, the turtle’s dark eyes staring as if wondering who this creature was that had dared to interrupt his companion’s rest.
The turtle probably wasn’t alone.
She turned toward escape, her gaze lingering on the blondhighlights in the man’s hair, the sharp edge of his jaw, the curve of a high cheekbone. Thank God his eyes were clos—
A loudclicktore through the quiet—the door, no longer blocked by her shoulder, sliding shut beside her. Kennedy’s throat closed over a curse. On the table the man stirred, his muscles stretching like a lion waking from a nap. “I almost fell asleep there for a minute, love.”
