About what Kady expected. Oh, well. Looked like she had an appointment with a hair dryer, after all. “Okay, thanks.”
Colton held up his key chain as she crossed the room toward him. “At least you won’t be able to forget your room number,” he said with a smirk.
“Shut up,” she said. You forget your room number and try to enter someone else’s room on one family vacation—of course, one where your brother’s hot best friend tags along—and you never live it down.
“Good comeback.” He winked as he pushed the door open for her.
Kady rolled her eyes as she sidestepped past him and out into the humid June afternoon. A narrow sidewalk skirted close to the building from the office around to the long row of guest rooms. Rain fell in a sheet over the edge of the obviously overworked gutter. It was almost like walking behind a waterfall. “This is me,” Kady said at the second room.
“I’m in ten,” he said, gesturing past her. “Do you mind?”
“What? Oh,” she said. The sidewalk wasn’t wide enough for him to get around her without getting caught in the downpour. “Not afraid of a little rain, are ya?” He just looked at her. She grinned as she slipped the key into the lock and pushed open her door.
Kady froze.
It was raining. Inside her room. From about a half dozen places on the ceiling, water dripped at speeds ranging from Chinese water torture to what could only be described as a steady stream. The latter was right over the only bed in the room.
From behind her, she heard a low, male chuckle. “Not afraid of a little rain, are ya?”
Chapter Two
Colton Brooks couldn’t hold back laughing as Kady’s expression shifted from surprised to downright horrified. Really, he appreciated just about any reason to throw her off-kilter. Teasing and one-upmanship had always been their style, especially as her innate coding and hacking abilities emerged during her teenage years while he was six years older and busting his ass to master what came to her naturally. And since her older brother, Tyler, had been one of his best friend since…forever, Colton and Kady had been thrown together enough over the years to fuel the flames of their rivalry.
Fortunately, nowadays, that rivalry served the strategically important purpose of distracting Colton from what he’d otherwise be thinking about, especially now that Kady was all grown up—which was stripping her down and claiming her in every way a man could claim a woman.
Despite the fact that the very sexy real thing was standing an arm’s length away, a three-year-old image flashed into his mind’s eye. Kady’s face up close in the dimness of the pool house. Mouth open and eyes pleading as he boxed her up against the wall, restrained her hands above her head, and got her off with his fingers while his cock strained against her belly.
The memory was a sucker punch to the gut and shot blood southward.
Cut it out, Brooks.
Hot as that night had been and as often as it ran through the solitude of his thoughts, it had been a mistake then. And it remained one now. For a whole fucking host of reasons.
So, since he couldn’t give in to what he really wanted from Kady Dresco, he picked on her and snarked at her and generally gave her grief. And she gave it right back. None of it was ever mean-spirited and he suspected she enjoyed it every bit as much as he did. Sometimes he thought they were engaged in one long round of mental foreplay. Except they could never—would never—seal the deal.
Because Kady deserved a helluva lot better than him.
Colton stepped into the room right behind Kady and surveyed the water damage, which was much safer than admiring the way she looked in his jacket. No way he should like that as much as he did—or that he should take even an iota of satisfaction from the idea that his scent was now all over her. He cleared his throat. “You don’t even have to get out of bed to take a shower. Really, it’s such a time saver.”
The fiery green of her gaze cut to his face. “You are so funny, I can hardly breathe for the laughter,” she said with a completely straight face.
“Ooh, touchy,” he said, fighting back the smile that threatened.
She held out her key. “You like it so much, I’m happy to trade.”
He shook his head and let the smile loose. “Not a chance, Dresco.”
Kady rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh. Out of my way, then,” she said, pushing against his stomach and stepping past him.
He fisted his hands to restrain himself from acting on the urge to trap her against him, his fingers pressing into her soft skin. And right there was part of the problem where they were concerned—his sexual interests veered to the rough side. Definitely not the kind of thing you did to a nice girl six years your junior who you’d known when she wore pigtails and who was one of your best friends’ little sister. And even if Colton could get past all that, he couldn’t see Kady putting up with being manhandled and controlled in bed for even one minute.
“Sonofabitch,” he muttered beneath his breath as he forced his body under control and followed Kady back around the sidewalk to the office. She glanced over her shoulder, a question clear in thos
e beautiful eyes. He hiked his computer case higher on his shoulder and pretended not to notice.
Inside, Kady marched up to the desk and laid her key on the counter. “Excuse me?”
“Welcome to paradise,” the old man said. Kady didn’t laugh this time, though she did make an Oh my God, would you get a load of this guy? face over her shoulder at him. “Oh, you again, missy?” Colton smiled to himself as he imagined her reaction if he called her “missy.”
“Yes, sir. It’s raining in my room. I need another.”
The man cupped his hand to his ear. “Eh?”
“It’s raining in my current room,” she said slower and louder. “Can I please get a different room?”
For a long moment, the old dude just stared at her. No discernible reaction. “Oh, that’s right,” he finally said with a slow nod. “Two has a leak.”
Colton coughed to hide his laugh and covered his mouth with his fist.
“Um, with all due respect, sir. It’s raining in room two. As in, actual rain. In the room. On the furniture. On the carpet. On the bed.” She offered a hand motion that was apparently meant to illustrate the point.
The man stared at her hand like it might reveal the meaning of life and then shrugged when it didn’t. “I just work the desk, but I’ll let ’em know.”
Kady looked back at Colton with a totally bewildered expression on her face. He gave her a wink.
“Uh, okay,” she said as she tucked her long, wavy black hair behind her ears. It was longer than when he’d last seen her at Christmas, which made it even sexier. His hand twitched at the memory of how soft and thick her hair was, not to mention the thought of how damn good it would feel fisted in his hand while he—
“So, have any rooms without a leak?” she asked.
“O’ course,” the man said, glancing at the television. “Except we don’t have any vacancies.”
She settled her purse and laptop bag on the counter. “You mean—”