My (Mostly) Secret Baby - Penelope Bloom Page 0,43

and the weather. My heart was pounding, but not uncomfortably. I was still able to keep my breathing regular, and I was enjoying the scenery of the city.

Then a shape nearly crashed into me from the side. Chelsea was absolutely dripping with sweat, hunched slightly to one side, and panting like she was on the verge of suffocation. She hobbled beside me with a wild grin. “Thought you lost me, huh?”

I laughed. “What did you do, take a shortcut?”

“What? No. I was—” She bent down to her knees, gasping. She held up one palm as if hoping I’d stop and let her finish.

I felt a little guilty about it, but I kept running. This time, I made it down through the historic waterside section of the city. I looped back toward the hotel and had almost forgotten to wonder what Chelsea was doing until I saw her walking ahead of me with her hands on her hips. She was taking short, staggering steps and her head was rolling around like she was on the verge of passing out. When she turned and saw me coming, she jerked into a jogging motion.

She was half-dragging one leg behind her and hitching with every motion, like both her sides were cramped and one leg had given out on her.

We were only a quarter of a mile or so from the hotel, so I decided to stop at her side. I briefly debated whether touching her would be a bad idea, then decided she was going to fall without my help.

“Jesus,” I said, chuckling despite trying not to. “You’re going to kill yourself. Here—” I slid my arm around her side, and she melted into my shoulder.

“Beat you here,” she gasped.

I grinned. From where she’d hunched over several miles back to where she was now, it was more likely she’d been walking ever since and only covered a few blocks. None of that was important, so I decided to ignore it.

“You need some water. Maybe a sports drink. And some food.”

“What makes you say that?” she said, words slurring slightly.

“The fact that you look dehydrated. Come on.”

I took her to the room and set her down with a bottle of water while I went to the lobby to get more supplies. I scavenged up an ice pack, some crackers, and an assortment of sports drinks since I wasn’t sure what color she preferred. I also placed a room service order for a few sandwiches.

I found her face down on the bed when I reached the room. Her sweat soaked top was on the floor beside her, leaving her just in a black sports bra and neon blue leggings.

I wasn’t proud of myself for it, but I stopped for a full two seconds and devoured the sight of her ass. I knew she desperately needed some nutrition, so I controlled the primal urge to pretend I wasn’t her boss just for long enough to fuck her brains out in the shower.

“Here. Drink some of this.”

She rolled over and sat up a little groggily. I didn’t succeed in keeping my eyes off her cleavage, which was glistening with sweat and begging to be touched. Her nipples were even creating two hard, tantalizing peaks through her sports bra. She had no idea what she was doing to me, and I hated that I was so damn thirsty for her. Staying away from relationships and sex had proven to be no problem. Until now. Until Chelsea.

“Is this every color they had?” she asked.

“Why, did I not get the one you like?”

“I’m just wondering why you got so many.”

‘Because I imagined you might complain if I didn’t get the color you wanted.”

I sat down beside her and held a red drink toward her. “Am I right?”

Chelsea surprised me by leaning her head on my shoulder. I was still hot and sweating from my run, and something about the heat of our bodies mingling was excruciatingly sexy. I imagined how she’d feel scorching against me if I pinned her down on the bed and took her from above.

“Purple is my favorite.” She snatched one from the small collection I’d dropped on the bed and took a few greedy sips. She let out a moan of bliss that made my cock twitch.

“I’ve never met someone so stubborn, you know.”

Chelsea laughed softly. “I’ll admit it has been a little bit since my last jog. Okay. A lot of bit.”

I moved to the armchair across from the bed where she sat and sank