Slope of Love (Love in Bloom: The Remingtons) (15 page)

“You could have sat on my lap.” He latched on to her arm and slowed her pace.

“I didn’t hear you offer.”
Jealousy isn’t fun, is it?

“I didn’t hear Cliff offer, either.”

Good point
. “Trust me, he didn’t seem to mind. Besides, I’m not trying to walk a fine line with my feelings for Cliff.”

Patrick held the door open, and she broke free from Rush and followed the others to a table. Cliff settled in beside her. Patrick and Teri claimed the chairs at the ends of the table, and Rush sat across from Jayla, with Kia—of course—sitting beside him.

Jayla had no idea how to do whatever it was she and Rush were doing, but by the way the muscles in his jaw were jumping, she’d clearly struck a nerve. She drew her eyes away, thinking about their predicament. Was she being stubborn and stupid? She loved him. Oh, how she loved him. What if they didn’t work as a couple? She couldn’t stand losing their friendship—but look how awkward things were now. Wouldn’t it be ten times worse if they dated and then Rush realized he couldn’t date and still focus? All that left them with was remaining friends.
Forever
. And that made her ache all over.

Her phone vibrated. She pulled it out to read a text and was surprised to see Rush’s name on the screen. She lifted her eyes and saw him staring down at his lap. She couldn’t help but smile as she read the text.

Cliff?

She texted back.
It’s not like we’re dating. No dating during competition remember?

Her phone vibrated a few seconds later.
That’s my rule not urs.

She tried not to enjoy his jealousy, but it was damn hard.
Oh. Right. But we said we wouldn’t date each other bc of distractions. So…it’s kind of the same thing.

He texted back right away.
Good.

She needed a drink, or twelve, to weed through this friendship of theirs. And she could only have one. Any more than that and she’d never get up at four thirty to practice.

AFTER DINNER THEY moved to a table in the dimly lit bar, where a band was playing. Teri and Patrick headed for the dance floor. Rush pulled out a chair for Jayla, but before he could claim the seat beside her, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and found Rex Braden smiling down at him, a leather Stetson set high on his head. Rex was one of Savannah Braden’s brothers. All the Braden men were tall and well built, and Rex was no exception. At six four with thick black hair and a body built from years of hard work on their family ranch, Rex had a formidable presence.

Rush opened his arms and embraced him. “Rex. What are you doing here?”

Rex nodded at the woman singing with the band. “That’s Danica’s sister, Kaylie.”

Rush squinted at the pretty blonde. “I didn’t recognize her.”

“I came out with my buddy Cal Hayden.” Rex stepped to the side, and another man of equal stature and immense breadth came into view. His hair was as blond as Rex’s was black, and he also donned a leather hat and boots.

Rush held out his hand. “Rush Remington.”

Cal flashed a friendly smile. “Howdy. I hear y’all are on the Olympic ski team. That right?” His eyes dropped to the others, lingering on Jayla.

Jayla smiled up at him, and Rush felt the muscles in his neck tighten.

“Yeah. We’re here to teach a few ski workshops. We’ll be gone before you know it.”
So take your eyes off of Jayla
.

“We were just about ready to leave,” Rex explained. “Then I saw you and thought I’d say hello.” Kaylie began singing a slow song. “Mind if we join you? I want to hear this last song before heading home.”

Yes
. “Of course not. Pull up a chair.”

Cal sat beside Jayla, and Rex grabbed two chairs from a nearby table and handed one to Rush.

“Hi. I’m Cal.” Cal tipped his hat at Jayla.

“Jayla.” She leaned closer to him as she introduced Kia.

“I knew Colorado was full of cowboys, but seeing two big, strong cowboys donning Stetsons at once?” Kia fanned her face.

Jayla laughed.

Great
. “This cowboy is spoken for.” Rush pointed a thumb at Rex, hoping Cal would say he was, too.

“Very,” Rex confirmed.

No such luck. “How about you, Cal?” Rush hoped for confirmation.

“Nope. Single as the day is long.” He tipped his hat at Jayla.

I’ll tip your hat
. Every muscle in his body corded tight. His hands fisted below the table.

“Has Treat come by the resort?” Rex asked.

“Not yet.” Rush caught movement in his peripheral vision and watched as Jayla and Cal joined Teri and Patrick on the dance floor. She looked damn hot in that sexy little skirt. He couldn’t help but wonder what she had on underneath it. In the next breath he wondered if Cal was thinking the same thing. He gritted his teeth against the thought and tried to concentrate on what Rex was saying, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes off of Cal’s hand, which was sinking dangerously close to Jayla’s ass.

“Then you may not see him,” Rex said. “He and Max headed out to Nassau today for a last trip before the baby’s born.”

Rush had forgotten that Max was also pregnant. “Good for them,” he finally managed.

“Hey, Rex, wanna dance?” Kia asked.

“Thank you, but my dance card is reserved for my girlfriend, Jade.”

“Aww.” Kia pouted. “Rush?” She came around the table in her sexy little dress and pulled him by the hand. “Come on. Dance with me.”

Rex motioned
up
with his hand.

Rush reluctantly rose to his feet. “I’m no dancer.”

“It’s a slow dance. If you can ski, you can slow dance.” Kia dragged him to the dance floor and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Rush tried not to stare at the contented smile on Jayla’s luscious lips, or to read too much into the look in Cal’s eyes. He tried not to think about how good Jayla had felt against him when he held her, or how he’d do anything to be dancing with her rather than Kia, but it was flipping impossible. So he did the only thing he could. He wrapped his arms around Kia’s waist and danced, gritted teeth and all.

When the song ended, Cal kept his hand possessively on Jayla’s waist as they walked back to the table, and Rush fought the urge to…He didn’t know what. He felt like a caged beast, and he had a feeling fists would be involved.

Rex rose as they joined him at the table. “I have to get home, but I’m glad I got to see you.” He glanced at Cal. “Looks like he might want to stay a while. Do you mind?”

Rush downed his beer. “Absolutely not. Any friend of yours
…” Is apparently a friend of Jayla’s, too.
“Good to see you, Rex. Tell your family I said hello.”

“Will do, and we’ll see you at Savannah and Jack’s wedding.”

“Right. Definitely.” After Rex left, Rush flagged down the waitress and ordered another round of drinks.

“None for me. I’m driving,” Kia said with a wave of her hand. “Jayla, are you training in the morning?”

Jayla leaned forward, listening to something Cal was saying much too closely for Rush’s comfort.

“Jayla?” Kia called her again.

“Sorry, what?”

“Are you training in the morning?” Kia asked.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but the lift will be open at five, so you can definitely go.”

“You’re not sure if you’re training in the morning?” Rush pinned a glare at her. The whole reason for them to nix seeing each other was so that they could focus on training. What the hell was she up to? “Jayla?”

She lifted her eyes to Rush. “Yeah? Sorry. It’s hard to hear in here.”

“Dance with me?” Damn if it didn’t come out as a command rather than a question.

“Um, I’m kind of in the middle of a conversation.” She slid her eyes to Cal and smiled at him.

“Darlin’, you go right ahead and dance with your friend. I’ll be here waiting for you when you return.” He stood when Jayla did and tipped his hat again.

Goddamn gentleman cowboy
.

It was all Rush could do not to drag her to the dance floor. It felt so good to have his arms around her again, to feel her body against his. He kept his mouth tightly closed to keep from sounding like a jealous ass.

“Thanks for dancing with me.” Jayla looked up at him with her trusting eyes, and he felt like a heel.

“I have to admit, I asked you to dance because I was jealous.”

She grinned. “Really? Why? You’ve seen me with guys before.”

“Not
after
kissing you,” he reminded her.

She pressed her hand to his chest and he covered it with his own.

“Is this as painful for you as it is for me?” He had to know, even if the answer was no.

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s not too painful talking to a handsome horse trainer who has a sexy accent and sultry eyes. Not to mention the way he pays attention to every word I say.”

Every muscle in his body flexed. “Now who’s the brat?” Rush turned them so Jayla’s back was to Cal.

“Nice move.” She narrowed her eyes and spoke in a hushed whisper. “Before we kissed, you didn’t care who I danced with.”

He was too busy telling himself not to lower his mouth to hers to respond.

“Before we kissed…” She licked her lips. “You’d never even looked at me like you do now. Well, maybe you did, but not before we got to Colorado.” She stroked his cheek, and it sent heat straight to his groin. “Before we kissed, you never messed with my concentration.” She ran her finger down his jaw to his neck and he felt himself breathing harder. “Before we kissed, you were just a fantasy that I knew would never come true.”

“A fantasy.”
Christ Almighty
. Rush conjured up images of Jayla lying in bed thinking of him, touching herself where he’d like to be buried deep.

She rose up on her toes and whispered, “Before we kissed, you never got hard when I was close to you.”

The hell with this
. He took her hand and dragged her across the crowded dance floor, past the tables, and down the hall leading to the bathrooms. He pressed his body to hers and backed her against the wall, his hands on her rib cage, both of them breathing hard.

“Don’t move.”

He opened the men’s room door and came out a second later, grabbed her hand, and pulled her inside the restroom. He backed her up against the door and, so thick with need he was barely able to see straight, he took her in a deep, hard kiss. They stood there chest to chest, hip to hip. He buried his hands in her hair, and she opened her mouth wider for him, making him ache for her even more. This. This was everything. She was everything. Kissing Jayla sent his world spinning. He couldn’t help but drop his hands to her breasts, and rub his thumbs over her hard nipples.

“Rush.”

Hearing his name come from her lips filled with want, need, desire. It spurred him on. He covered her mouth with his again and ran his hand down her hip, over her thigh, to the silky, damp material between her legs. Heat radiated from her as her hands found his ass and she rocked her hips in to him.

“Holy Christ, Jayla,” he said, before lowering his lips to her neck and sucking until he drew an erotic moan from her lungs. The scent of her perfume heightened his arousal, and he pulled back and searched her eyes, gauging her desire.

She gripped the back of his neck and pulled him into another kiss. Holy hell, he loved her. He ached to touch her. To taste her. To claim her. He opened his eyes. He couldn’t make love to her in a men’s room. He had no car.

“Goddamn it.” He kissed her again.

She rocked against him again and reached for his ass again. He gripped her wrist. If they went on too much longer, he’d take her right there.

“I need to make love to you.” He had to say it. There was no holding back what he felt, what he needed, and it wasn’t just sex. He craved a deeper connection with her. He wanted to be hers as much as he wanted her to be his.

She looked down at his hand on her wrist and arched a brow.

“Not here,” he said.

She drew her brows together.

“Not like this. Not with you.” He pulled away and took off his hat, cursing under his breath. He ran his hand through his hair, then looked down at his hard-on, trapped beneath his zipper. He felt like he would come apart if he didn’t get inside her soon. He closed the distance between them again and kissed her. “I need to feel you close to me.”

“Yes,” she said in one long breath.

“We gotta get outta here.”

“Now,” Jayla said in a harsh whisper.

Her hair fell forward, covering half of her face. She looked so damn sexy he could barely stand it. They were both breathing hard.

“Jayla, there’s no turning back. If we do this, you know there isn’t a chance in hell we’re gonna walk away from each other.”

“I know.” She wrapped her fingers around the waist of his jeans and held on tight, holding his body against her.

“We both may lose focus.”
No more hiding
.

Jayla held his stare. “I don’t care.”

He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her again. “I’m sorry about the men’s room.”

“Shut up and kiss me,” she said in a throaty voice that made him shudder.

The door pushed opened and sent them both flying backward. They stumbled against the wall. He caught her with one arm and glared at the blond man who looked from them to the door and back again.

“Sorry, dude,” the guy said.

He was too focused on Jayla to respond. “Your shoulder?”

“Fine.” She stifled a laugh, looking too damn cute not to kiss again, which he did the second they were out of the bathroom and clear of the door.

He smoothed her hair and straightened her sweater. “You have that just-been-fucked look, and we never even had the pleasure.”

“You have that cock-blocked look.” She went up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“We can’t go back to the table like this. Or at least, I can’t.” He looked down at his pants and arched a brow. “You go. I’ll be there in a minute.”

She leaned in close. “You may be hard, but you left me wet.” She pressed her cheek to his and whispered, “I think I have to take off my panties.”

Jayla disappeared into the ladies’ room. There wasn’t a chance in hell Rush would lose his erection with that image in his mind.