"Dad can take care of Mom." She nuzzled my neck. "Take me to the hot spring, Oliver."
"You know how I get when you call me that."
She nibbled on my chin. "Yes, I know. Oliver."
I swept her up in my arms. "Let's sneak out the back way."
Mara grinned.
Damn, I was one lucky geek.
Chapter Seventeen
Mara
We snuck out the back door, which I hadn't noticed before. Ollie told me Eve and Val had installed a secondary door only this year, so they'd have a back entrance for receiving deliveries of supplies. The door blended into the wall and had no knob on it, another thing Eve had wanted because she thought a regular door wouldn't look good there.
Ollie pushed a button on the thermostat to open the door.
I asked him why the button was there, instead of on the wall.
"To be sneaky," he said with a crooked smile. "Eve and Val are the horniest people on the planet. They need a secret escape route so nobody will bother them when they run off into the woods to get it on."
"Can we do that?"
"What? Sneak off? I thought that was the plan before you saw this door."
"It is the plan." I bit my lip, trying to look sexy but not at all sure I pulled it off. "But I was talking about the getting-it-on-outdoors part."
"Oh." His smile turned into a grin. "Love to do that. And I've got all your favorite foods to feed you after."
He had packed a picnic lunch for us and held the basket in one hand, by its handle.
We ran out the back door, heading for a side path to avoid the main nature trail. Other guests might be using that path, and besides, my parents might see us if we went that way. I needed time alone with Ollie. Lots of time. Completely alone. After a stressful talk with my parents and the scare Val Silva gave me, I needed to do something wild and hot.
Didn't a girl deserve hot sex in the outdoors once in a while?
Nico would never believe I was capable of doing anything so brazen. Hell, he wouldn't believe I could do anything he or my mother disapproved of, including eating a hamburger with the works on it. That was too messy, and naturally, a lady didn't get mustard smeared on her face. Besides, it might make me gain weight.
I didn't hate my mother. I loved her, and I didn't even blame her for my hang-ups. But I'd realized lately that I didn't want to be like her anymore. Maybe she loved dressing just so and behaving just so and speaking just so. I didn't. Ollie Jackson had shown me how wonderful it could be to stop worrying what other people thought and follow my true desires. It was about more than sex. I'd been rethinking my whole life.
Ollie led me deeper into the woods than I'd been before, into a new area with a less-groomed trail. This path led into real woods, not the semi-manicured version of it. Birds chirped all around us, and only the occasional ray of sunshine penetrated the canopy of trees. The peacefulness of this area helped me shake off the remnants of the stress that had gripped me earlier. Ollie's hand in mine helped even more. I loved the feel of his palm on mine, his fingers curled around my hand.
He stopped us in front of a huge tree that had big branches high up. Lower down, a single thinner branch stretched out from the trunk. It hung a few feet higher than my head.
Ollie patted the branch. "Take your clothes off and grab onto this."
"What?"
"You heard me. Do what I said."
His bossy tone should've annoyed me, but instead, it made me shiver in the most delicious way.
I stripped off my clothes and moved under the branch, stretching my arms to grasp it.
Ollie removed his clothes and sauntered up to me. He settled his hands on my hips, gazing into my eyes with a lustful look in his. "I love that you did what I said without asking why. Girls don't usually do that."
"I trust you, Oliver."