Recipe for Temptation - Gina Gordon Page 0,55
at the designated meeting area, Penn was nowhere to be seen.
He sent a text letting her know he’d finished his part of the list. When two minutes had gone by with no response, he sent another text.
Still no word.
He was getting worried.
He did a three-sixty spin for the twelfth time, trying to spot her in the crowd of people. He shouldn’t leave in case she showed up, but what if something had happened to her?
To his relief, his name was shouted across the lobby.
He turned and saw her running toward him, her beach bag flapping behind her.
“Cole!”
She didn’t slow down, but she barreled into him, almost tackling him to the floor. She panted like she’d just completed a marathon.
“Did you get all your items?” he asked.
She nodded and choked down a breath. “Yes.”
Hallelujah. Without knowing how far along the other teams were, he had no idea if they were ahead of the winning time or behind it. But he guessed that was the point of different meeting places.
“You?” she asked.
He held up his bag. “Locked and loaded. I might have trampled a few kids to get them.”
“That’s my man.” She backhanded his chest in appreciation, then looked at her watch. “I know how to get the bonus item.”
He groaned. “Please don’t tell me we’re wrestling a dolphin.” He had no idea how they were going to take a selfie with something that swam.
She laughed. “No. I’ve thought of something much easier and faster. The hut.”
Her eyes were wide and excited, as if he was supposed to know what she was talking about. But he had no idea where she was going with this.
“The koi pond by the hut.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Koi fish? Something that swims?”
He stepped back and surveyed her confident stance. “You’re brilliant.”
“Get your cell phone ready, Murphy.” She winked. “We’re going koi hunting.”
Four minutes later, there was one more selfie added to his photo gallery.
They raced back to the finish line—the concierge desk in the hotel lobby. A familiar face was waiting for them when they arrived.
“Jason. Good to see you.” Cole held out his hand and smiled.
“Mr. Murphy. I trust your scavenger hunt was successful.”
“You know it.”
He wondered if this was the most unusual request Jason had ever gotten while working at the hotel. He hoped Harold had tipped him well. “Please tell me this is the first time you’ve ever had to be the point person for a family scavenger hunt.”
Jason laughed. “You’d be surprised what people ask you to do.” He checked his watch and wrote down the time on a piece of paper. “Eleven forty-three.”
“How did we do? Did we win?” Penn asked anxiously.
Jason shook his head. “Sorry, Miss Foster, you know I can’t tell you that.”
“I know. I just— I’m really nervous.” She placed the bag filled with their items on the counter. “It’s all here.”
“And the bonus item?” Jason asked expectantly.
Cole pulled out his phone and showed him the selfie.
“Excellent.” Jason smiled and noted it on the paper. “Thank you. I wish you the best of luck.” He picked up their bag, placed the piece of paper inside, and walked off with it.
“We make a damn good team,” Cole said proudly.
Penn sagged against the counter. Cole rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to reassure her. “Now, all we have to do is wait for the results.”
She nodded. “I really need to know if we won.”
The official winner wouldn’t be announced until dinner. Tomorrow. He needed to do something that would take her mind off it. Something fun to pass the time.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Why don’t we go back to your room, and I can practice my dirty talk?”
She looked up, desire dancing in her gaze.
He was on top of the world right now. And nothing, not even if they came in last place, was going to ruin that.
“I am your willing guinea pig.” She turned and wrapped her arms around his body, then rested her chin on his chest.
For the next twenty-four hours, he had Penn all to himself. And heaven help him, there was nowhere else he’d rather be.
Chapter Thirteen
Penn spent the next twenty-four hours with Cole in her room.
Room service sated their hunger, and Cole’s hard cock satisfied her other hunger—the one that needed him desperately. The hunger she didn’t think would ever be sated.
Yesterday, he’d given her the best opportunity she’d ever had of winning the Foster Cup. He had sacrificed his own work, his life at home, to be