The Billionaire Athlete’s Christmas Fling - Leslie North Page 0,21

tight—goosebumps all over even in the hot water. If her hand floated up just so, just now, she’d be touching him, and—

“You know I can watch for that, right?” His eyes met hers, green and bright, willing her to trust him. “I won’t push her too hard. That’s not the way I teach. You know that. You don’t teach that way either.”

“True.” she agreed. It was hard not to look at Chase’s lips when he was talking. He had full, gorgeous lips, and the memory of how they felt pressed against hers sent a shock of desire down her spine. “But she’s my daughter. I want her to be safe.”

“I want you both to be safe.” Chase’s eyes flicked down over Tana’s face and toward the neckline of her swimsuit. “And I want you to feel good. About everything.”

Tana moved toward Chase at the same time he moved toward her, the jets rocking them off balance and forcing them closer together. He swept her into his lap in a single effortless move, and Tana straddled him right there in the hot tub. Giving in to the urge, she kissed him.

Hard.

Hot.

Deep.

Chase’s hands slipped up around her waist. She had never been so aware of how thin bathing suits were. Almost nothing separated them except the water and a couple of flimsy layers of fabric.

Tana felt unleashed, wild—she nipped at Chase’s bottom lip and traced his abs with her fingernails. Her hips opened around his, inches of water between the two of them, and then less. His tongue coaxed her mouth open and explored her. Tana’s nipples peaked, hard under the hot water, and desire sped through her, pushed along with every beat of her heart. Oh, it felt good, good, good.

And too much. Too much. She could feel herself slipping, falling, sinking into him.

Tana broke the kiss with a gasp and pushed off, floating over to the other side of the hot tub and draping herself over it. A winter breeze soothed her forehead. Was she ever going to catch her breath again? Not likely. Not when Chase was like this. He was trying to help her, quietly, in his own way, without humiliating her. He’d offered ski lessons, his hot tub, and his body.

The water shifted and swirled around her. Chase came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, his touch lighter than the breeze.

“You okay?”

Tana put her knuckles to her teeth. No. I’m not. “I’m...torn. I—I’m attracted to you.”

“That’s a relief.”

She laughed, but it did nothing to release the pressure in her heart. “Of course I’m attracted to you. You’re hot.” Chase got closer, and she could feel the heat of him against her back along with the water. “But I don’t have time for a relationship. And there’s the issue of the fact I’m applying for a promotion in your company. It wouldn’t look good.”

Chase leaned his chin on her shoulder. “No?”

“No,” Tana said firmly. “And I’ve heard you mention more than once that you’re only going to be here temporarily. You—you have other plans for your life. You don’t know which direction you’re going to go.”

His firm body, pressed against her back, was enough to make Tana want to stay the night.

“Hmm.” The rumble of Chase’s voice through her skin and all her muscles was as familiar as it was scintillating. “I know I’m not lonely when I’m with you.” He said it so casually, like he was commenting on the weather or the pine trees surrounding his house. “We could just have a fling. It doesn’t have to be serious. Nobody would need to know about it, so it doesn’t affect anything here at the lodge. And I’m not going to accept a job before the holidays anyway.” His lips brushed against her neck, and Tana shivered. “Friends with benefits.”

Oh, it was so tempting. Tana’s heart ached for it. Her body ached for it. She turned around in Chase’s arms and put her fingertips gently to his chest, regret coursing through her. The hot tub’s jets suddenly felt strong, like they were pushing her away. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I just—I can’t. I have to go.”

Towels were stacked on a bench built into the deck, and Tana grabbed one, wrapping it around herself, and feeling like a fool.

“Tana.”

She stopped, halfway back to the sliding doors that led into the house, and turned to face him.

Chase stood in the center of the hot tub.

Don’t look at his abs. She forced herself to keep her