Page 23 of Bear In A Boutique
“You have mud on your face.”
“No shit? I had no idea.”
Olive flicked some off his cheek with her fingers. “Customers pay good money to get mud facials at the boutique, you know.”
His hands cupped her hips and tugged her slightly to the left, so they were pelvis-to-pelvis.
“Why would anyone pay to get mud on their face?”
“It’s very good for your skin.”
Ryker didn’t miss a beat and smeared a wad of mud all over her forehead. “There. And I won’t even charge you.”
Incredulous, she reached to the ground and scooped some, too. He caught her wrist as she tried to lather it in his hair. Laughing, she struggled futilely against his grip. Ryker rolled them and suddenly, he was on top of her, his body blocking the rain, his expression damn near ripping her clothes off.
He was smiling. God, that smile.
Emotion welled inside her. She’d never get tired of that smile. “We should go.”
He moved off her and untangled his arm from her backpack, then helped her up with a tug of his strong hand. They made it back to the cars much quicker than Olive thought they would, probably because she hurried as fast as she dared to finally get out of the rain.
Eager to get inside and turn on the heat, Olive clicked the unlock button on her key fob and opened the door. Tossing her backpack inside, she struggled to pull her drenched sweatshirt over her head and flung it onto the floorboard. Sadly, the tee shirt she had on underneath wasn’t much drier. She was tempted to rip it off, too, but she didn’t have another.
Not that it stopped Ryker. He walked to her car, shirtless. Water glistened on his muscles and dripped down his abdomen. If only they’d kept that kiss going-
“Follow me out of here, okay?”
She slid into the car and forced her gaze away from his chest. “I will. Hey, I thought of what you owe me for losing today’s bet.”
“I didn’t lose.”
“You did. You even conceded that you did.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Fine. What do you want?”
Olive started the car and adjusted the vents to blow heat her way. “Stop by the boutique tomorrow and I’ll show you.”
She tugged the door to close it, but he stopped her with his hand on the doorframe. His beautiful body filled the space, and it took all her will not to run her hands all over him.
“You’re not giving me a mud facial.”
“Excuse me, sir, you are the loser, therefore, you don’t get a say in what happens to you.”
His eyes narrowed with wicked challenge. “Just remember, whenyoulose, I get to choose what happens to you and I fully believe in paybacks.”
“Oooh, I’m scared.” She winked and slammed the door closed.
She was suddenly very willing to be the loser just to see what he had in mind.
Chapter Eight
There was a large black camper van parked outside the boutique the next morning.
Curious, Ryker gave it a once-over and quickly determined it was in very rough shape. There were minor dents and scratches, and one of the side windows needed replacing. Something was leaking from the rear end and one headlight was broken.
