Shaking his head, he said, “The things I’m going to do to you later.”
Grinning, she said, “Promises, promises,” and then walked into the bathroom.
A minute later, she came out with two large towels in her hands. Passing one to him, she slid into her flip-flops and said, “Ready?”
When they made their way down to the main pool, they found the hot tub unoccupied. Setting their towels and various cover-up clothes aside, they slid in. Stretching out, Chris groaned and said, “Thank you for taking pity on my poor knee, baby.”
Smirking, Chloe looked at him and said, “I wasn’t kidding about my calves. Those sandals are the devil.”
They soaked a few minutes in silence and then Chloe said, “This was a great idea. My legs feel better already.”
Nodding as he felt the tension in his knee melt away, he said, “Mmm.”
A few minutes later a group of six made a beeline for the hot tub. It looked to be a group of three middle-aged couples. They’d clearly been drinking, if the loud, slurring voices were any indication.
As the group scooted into the hot tub with them, it was clear they weren’t all going to fit comfortably. He felt Chloe nudge his side as if to say, “Let’s go now.”
Now smashed up against Chloe’s side, he decided that there was no way they’d spend their last evening of vacation marinating in a hot tub with a bunch of loud drunk strangers. To hell with his knee. He’d take a pain killer if he had to.
Glancing over at Chloe, he asked, “Calves better?”
She nodded and said, “Much. Let’s head back up to the room?”
“Let’s,” he said, standing up.
Drying off, Chloe put back on her cover up, and slid her flip-flops on. He quickly followed suit. Heading back toward the elevator, he said, “Wow.”
Chloe said, “Did you, by chance, grope my ass on the way out of the hot tub?”
Narrowing his eyes, Chris said, “No. Why do you ask?”
Shooting him a disgusted look, she answered, “Because someone did.”
“Really? You should have said something. That’s not cool,” he said, frowning now.
“I wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t you, so I didn’t want to make a scene.”
Slanting her a look, he said, “C’mon, baby. I wouldn’t grope your ass in—”
He broke off, realizing that less than a day ago he’d had his fingers inside her in public.
Seeing her pointed look, he said, “I get what you mean. For future reference, I wouldn’t do something like that in front of a group of drunk strangers unless expressly discussed beforehand.”
Pressing the button for the elevator now, she looked at him and said, “Appreciate that.”
When the doors slid open, they walked inside and pressed the fourth floor. Leaning up against the rail, he said, “So are your calves really feeling better?”
“Not really,” she said, “But I was trying to avoid being crammed into a hot tub with a bunch of drunk people.”
“I wasn’t looking forward to that either. My knee loosened up a lot, though. I’ll be happy to rub your calves or really anything else,” he said, grinning.
Laughing, she said, “How selfless of you.”
When they returned to the room, Chloe said she was going to take a quick shower to rinse off. Chris gave her a five-minute head start and then stripped off his shirt and board shorts. Moving into the bathroom, he slid the curtain back and stepped into the shower.
Sliding his arms around her waist, he pressed his lips against the side of her neck, then mumbled between kisses, “I realized how much water we were wasting. You know I’m a stickler for saving the environment.”
Chloe tilted her neck, which gave him better access, and she said, “Of course. You just go on and on about the environment some nights. The things I have to do to shut you up.”