It didn’t feel nearly as painful today. Afterall, she had spent a small fortune on therapy to make sure she could survive this new future. Still, she couldn’t help remembering the dream home she had pictured them in. A backyard full of dog houses and a skate ramp. Even the two kids she had pictured for them.
Kayla forced a smile. “Yeah. I know.”
“You’re better with McKensie anyway.”
“Just a minute ago, you said I could do better.”
The right side of Skye’s lips curled up. “Yeah, well, I’m an asshole.”
“You’re anything but.” Kayla reached out and tucked a piece of Skye’s long bangs behind her ear. She hadn’t meant to do it, but it was such a practiced gesture. For nine years, she had been able to reach out and touch Skye whenever she wanted. It was a hard habit to break. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Skye’s voice was as soft as a feather, and her breath brushed against Kayla’s skin.
For a moment, they sat there, so excruciatingly close in this strange, sterile room, Skye’s hand on Kayla’s knee, Kayla’s hand still cupping her ear. It was so right and yet, somehow, it felt discordant. Like a new, unwelcome note in a favorite song. Why did this feel so weird now?
As Kayla wrestled with the strangeness of the moment, the door to the massage rooms opened again, and Mack enteredthe room, followed by a blissfully smiling Amy. Kayla dropped her hand, and Skye jumped up out of her chair, but not quickly enough. Mack gave Kayla a hard look that said quite plainly that she had seen them touching. If she could feel the turmoil and confusion coursing through Kayla right now, she wouldn’t be nearly so angry.
“I can’t believe that was an hour,” Amy said, her syllables as languid as her movements. “I’ve been to heaven and back.”
Skye laughed and kissed her on the cheek. Her body language clearly communicated that she was making up for something she’d done wrong but wasn’t sure if she’d been caught. Had Amy seen the compromising position? If so, she certainly wasn’t as upset about it as Mack clearly was. Amy patted Skye on the ass and headed for the snack table, but Mack grabbed Kayla’s arm and dragged her out of hearing.
“You don’t have to rub it in her face,” Mack hissed.
“Nothing happened,” Kayla whispered back. When Mack gave her a skeptical eyebrow raise, she said, “Seriously. It was completely innocent.”
“Why do I find that hard to believe? Next, you’ll tell me you had nothing to do with the couple mix-up.”
“Okay, no, that was me.” Kayla couldn’t help smiling. This was what she wanted, right? This was the Plan of Seduction. Mack knew that. But why did she feel ten times worse with Mack looking at her like she was a terrible person?
“Skye and Kayla?” The receptionist called.
Kayla pressed her cheek against Mack’s and whispered, “Trust me.” Then she skipped off quickly to follow Skye into the changing rooms.
Chapter Seventeen
Maybe bringing Mack asher pretend fiancée had been a tactical error.
Kayla tried to focus on being seductive as she stripped in the spa changing room, but all she could think of was the disapproving look on Mack’s face when she had caught Kayla and Skye touching. It had been perfectly innocent, but it was clear Mack didn’t believe that. The disapproval and the lack of trust stung. Okay, maybe the lack of trust was justified given that Kayla had set this whole thing up to break up Skye’s wedding, but still. Mack should have been on her side, and it hurt that she wasn’t.
That wasn’t quite accurate. It didn’t hurt that Mack wasn’t blindly allowing Kayla to go full scorched earth with the Plan of Seduction. It hurt to see Mack look at her with that “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” face. No matter what happened in her life, she wanted Mack to respect her. She needed Mack to respect her. Without Mack’s friendship, she didn’t have anything.
Unfortunately, her distraction over Mack’s opinion stole her opportunity to remind Skye exactly what her body looked like. She’d meant to show off her best asset—a truly impressive set of tits—since she could tell Amy didn’t measure up to her there. Before she realized what she was doing, however, she had stripped down to nothing but her bikini cut panties and threw her robe on without remembering to “accidentally” flash Skye. Worse still, Skye was already wrapped in her robe and impatient to go.
“Ready for this?” Kayla asked, a suggestive lilt in her voice.
“Sure.” Skye sounded nervous and her eyes skittered all around the room, returning every few seconds to Kayla in her robe. And just like that, she was back on track.
The massage room was set up like a Japanese bath, complete with paper screen doors and a trickling water feature on one wall. It was oddly incongruous when mixed with the tropical heat and Caribbean scents permeating the room.
A pair of ridiculously beautiful women with their braids piled into elegant buns on top of their heads came in and asked them to lie down on their separate tables. This time, Kayla made sure Skye got an eyeful, dropping her robe the moment she turned around. Skye stared for a long moment before whipping around to drop her own. Kayla’s smirk lasted all the way through her truly delicious massage.
“Wasn’t that divine?” Kayla drawled, leaning back on her hands and moaning as soon as their massage therapists had left them.
Skye didn’t fall for the bait this time. She kept her eyes on the floor and her back to Kayla’s breasts as she slid off the table and struggled back into her robe. In fact, she didn’t even answer and just scurried back to the changing room, leaving Kayla to catch up. She was already pulling her T-shirt over her head by the time Kayla arrived in the room.
“Wait for me, would you?” Kayla dressed as slowly as possible, but Skye still didn’t look her way. “I don’t know if I can find my way out alone.”
She could tell Skye wanted to refuse, but she was far too gallant for that. She nodded and stared at her shoes as Kayla slipped her light sundress over her head.
