It shouldn’t feel like we were caught with our hands in the cookie jar. Cade and I were pretending to be engaged, and engaged couples made out with each other all the time. It was perfect for the plan.
So why did I feel like we’d been caught red-handed?
Harrison muttered a few colorful words, glaring at Cade. “Dr. Lovejoy wants you both to go to the spa for a couples massage. Good luck. I barely survived the torture.”
I frowned. “Shouldn’t you be relaxed after a massage?”
“If only it were that simple,” Harrison grumbled, rolling his shoulders. “Thatwomanwas there the whole time and kept digging into our relationship goals and future. How am I supposed to know which vegetable represents our love life? It’s gotta be a trick question. If I say eggplant, she’ll just think I’m overcompensating.”
My brows slowly rose the longer he spoke, and Harrison’s scowl deepened.
“Whatever,” he muttered, already turning in the opposite direction. “Just go to the spa after you’re finished sucking face. I’m going back to bed.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Cade called after him, earning an agitated wave from his brother.
Cade and I shared a glance, alone again, and I had the strangest urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. I wanted to kiss him again—to pull another groan from his throat—but the moment had passed.
So, I slowly slid off his lap, clearing my throat. “I guess we have a date with Dr. Lovejoy, then.”
Cade’s eyes drifted down to my lips. “I can get us out of it.”
I grinned like an idiot, tempted to say yes. But we needed to get back on track. Keep our eyes on the prize.
“I should get Whiskey back to our room,” I said, checking on my cat. He was still snoozing next to us, completely oblivious to the life-changing kiss I’d just experienced. “Plus, it’d be a shame to turn down a massage, right?”
“That depends on what else Lovejoy has planned for us,” Cade said dryly. “Come on. We can drop off Whiskey on the way to the spa.”
That didn’t leave me much time to get ready, and I was pretty sure my hair looked like we’d just been making out—because wehadjust been making out.
We got to our feet, and I picked up the tray of chocolate croissants before realizing another dilemma. I couldn’t carry both the platter and Whiskey, so I held the croissants out to Cade.
“Can you hold these, please?” I asked, and he dutifully took the platter. I quickly freshened up as best I could on short notice—redoing my braid and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “Okay, I think I’m ready. Do you mind carrying those to the spa?”
Cade didn’t answer immediately. His gaze darted between me and the scrumptious mountain of flaky, buttery goodness.
Looking at them made me salivate again. Unable to resist, I snagged another croissant off the stack and took a bite, and Cade’s brow lifted. “…You want to bring these with us?”
I swallowed my mouthful before answering. “Of course. Did you expect me to leave them behind?”
“I thought you’d just eat a couple.” He glanced at the still mostly full platter. “Not all of them.”
I stared at him like he’d just grown a second head. “If you didn’t think I’d eat them all, then why’d you get an entire mountain?”
“For dramatic effect,” he answered smoothly, followed by a teasing smile. “I shouldn’t be surprised, though. Not after you drank a mug of straight chocolate at that café.”
“Hey, that was amocha.”
I conveniently left out that mochas were basically chocolate, but Cade didn’t seem to mind. He was too busy holding the croissant platter steady while also pulling me into another breath-stealing kiss.
couples massage
. . .
Cade
Getting naked in a spa room with Ellie would’ve been my favorite retreat activity, if it weren’t for the deranged love therapist and two other men in the room with us.
“Everyone comfortable?” Lovejoy asked from her bowl-shaped chair in front of us as Ellie and I settled on the massage tables. Only a few feet separated us, white sheets covering our asses.
