Page 27 of What I Like About You

Chapter Ten

Early morningsand yoga were two things that didn’t rank high in the “fun” category for Dalton, but today might just be an exception. When Drea had told everyone that she’d scheduled a sunrise yoga session on the beach for Tuesday morning and that she “expected everyone to be there,” they all grumbled, with the exception of Maeve, who Dalton was pretty sure spent most of her sunrises doing yoga anyway.

So here he was, dragging himself out of bed before the sun was up to set up tiki torches and lay out yoga mats on the beach. Not that he’d gotten much sleep the night before. He’d crashed into bed almost immediately after getting home from walking Zara to her room last night, but had lain awake most of the night thinking about how amazing she had felt in his arms.

Kissing her had not been in his original plan. Well, not kissing her like that. When he asked if he could walk her back to her room, he had intended on kissing her on the cheek or maybe the forehead. A simple, sweet gesture to show her who he really was and that all the feelings he’d talked about at dinner were sincere. She’d been a lot more open to the conversation than he’d expected, and he didn’t want to lose any of the ground that had been gained during dinner. Part of him had been sure she was going to throw a glass of water at him or reach across the table and smack him, but she hadn’t. That was something he wouldn’t take for granted.

He knew she was still upset and hurt, but she’d been willing to listen. And when he had pulled her in close, she hadn’t pushed him away. Hell, for a moment she’d even kissed him back. The feel of her soft, curvy body against his had made him instantly hard, and even now, just thinking about it, his dick twitched. She was so fucking sexy and she had no idea. He just hoped that he hadn’t been overly forward with the kiss. He wanted her to know that he desired her, but not at the cost of her turning away again.

Securing the last of the tiki torches into the sand, he looked up to see the VIP group arriving. Zara looked stunning in a pair of black leggings and a loose-fitting tee as she stood there talking with Antwan, who was in a matching set of rainbow short-shorts and tank top. Dalton laughed to himself taking the two of them in. Antwan was loud and proud, and it made Dalton happy to know that Zara had someone in her life like that. Someone who was not only going to accept and love her for who she was, but help her to do the same for herself. He was also maybe a little more relieved than he wanted to admit that Antwan wasn’t actually competition.

“Morning, beautiful,” he said, approaching the pair.

“Morning,” she said, caught off guard by his presence.

“You yoga?” Antwan asked.

“I do when Drea tells me I do.”

“So you’re actually going to do all the bendy twisty stuff?”

“I’m gonna try,” Dalton answered with a laugh, taking Zara in. She seemed like she was a little uneasy, and he hoped that it was a side effect of being up this early and not because of him.

“Which mat is yours then?” Antwan asked. “I wanna make sure I'm behind you for the best view.”

Dalton barked out a laugh as Zara just shook her head. “I don’t have one yet, but please feel free to go pick out our spot.”

Antwan didn’t wait another second before taking off to scout out the best spot on the beach. Zara laughed as Antwan power-walked his way toward the mat, and the sound of her voice sent a rush through Dalton.

“I apologize, he’s in rare form this morning. Turns out you were right about the maintenance guy.”

“Carlos had a long-time, on-again-off-again friends with benefits thing with Leona, so I was pretty sure I knew he wouldn’t be interested. I’m sure he was flattered however.”

“Leona?”

“Cullen’s girlfriend,” Dalton answered, turning and pointing to them over closer to the water. “She is the head of housekeeping.”

Dalton could see Zara swallow hard as she looked over to the Indigo Royal’s newest couple. The two of them were goofing off and chasing each other around the beach. When Cullen picked Leona up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, she let out a squeal that could have woken half the resort.

“She’s cute,” Zara said, her voice laced with insecurity. Turning to look at her, Dalton saw her self-consciousness wash over her body as she took in the rest of the group. It hurt him to know she was comparing herself to all of them and viewing herself as coming up short.

“She’s a handful,” he joked. Stepping in closer, he whispered, “But she’s got nothing on you.”

Zara tensed at his words, and Dalton could have kicked himself. His intention had been to make her feel good, maybe even make her blush, not to make her more uncomfortable than she already was. Nice job, dumbass…

“I should go find Antwan,” she said, looking down at the sand.

“Save me a mat?” he asked, hoping he hadn’t pushed her too far.

“Ummm, sure.”

Dalton watched as she walked away, heading toward where Antwan was doing some strange stretching motion. More than anything, he wanted to run over and wrap his arms around her from behind, to play around with her like Cullen and Leona had been a couple of moments ago. He wanted to see that smile light up her face. He needed to gain her trust again, but he had no idea how to go about it.

“Hey there, handsome,” a shrill British accent said, jarring him out of his thoughts. He could feel a hand graze across his back, and he had to stop himself from shrugging it off harshly. CC de Milo was done up in skintight, neon-orange Lycra pants and a matching sports bra. The bright color against her borderline-pasty complexion was harsh against the eyes, even in the dim light of dawn. Dalton was pretty sure you could see her from space.

“Morning,” he said, putting on his best customer service smile. It didn’t matter how much he couldn’t stand her, she was a VIP guest, and he was going to treat her as such. “You ready for a little yoga to get the blood flowin’?”

“I sure am, especially if you’re gonna help stretch me,” she said, her voice laced with innuendo.