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She presses against my chest with her hands so I move away from her, but I still don’t let her go. “That sounds promising.”
I meet her gaze, schooling my expression, needing her to know the truth. “I was an idiot for pretending what happened between us didn’t exist. And I’m sorry about that.” Leaning in, I drop a soft kiss on her swollen lips. “I’m sorry I let you down. I can’t wait to start working with you. I trust your instincts. I believe in your skills. And I can’t wait for us to work together on this project and make my resort the best fucking thing the entire industry has ever seen.”
A slow, sexy smile curves her lips and she kisses me again. “I love it when you talk like that.”
“What, like an arrogant asshole?”
“Yes.” Her lips linger on mine. “I find your arrogance... arousing.”
“Really?” I’m doubtful, but I’ll go with it.
“Yes. Really.” She licks my cheek and I flinch. What the hell was that for? “Take me to bed, Archer. Show me what else those magic hands and fingers can do.”
“Wait until you see what my magic tongue can do for you.” I get hard just thinking about it.
“I can’t wait to see.”
Chapter 13
Ivy
Eleven days. I’ve been in Calistoga with Archer for eleven days and I can’t believe how wonderful it’s been. Busy and tiring and exhausting, but also... freaking amazing.
I don’t ever want to come down off this high.
We’ve been working nonstop on Crave. It’s small and quaint and gorgeous and sophisticated all at once. I’ve poured over endless fabric swatches, paint colors for the interiors, and searched through enough furniture catalogs and websites to make my eyes cross until I finally came up with the perfect color scheme for all eight of the suites, plus the lobby and spa accommodations.
All with Archer’s approval, of course, and he’s loved everything I’ve come up with. Considering we have similar taste, it’s been a relatively easy road. For all our arguing and fighting from the past, it’s hard for me to believe just how easily and well we work together. He’s brilliant and smart and comes up with the best ideas. I constantly compliment him as if I can’t help myself.
And then he thanks me by kissing me stupid, stripping me naked, and having his way with me. Again and again and again.
Every night that we’re together it’s like this. We come togetherin a frenzy of heated breaths, delicious kisses, soft sighs, and wandering hands over naked skin. During the day we’re on our best behavior, working hard, going over plans, all sorts of plans, or returning to Hush where Archer has to take care of his day-to-day responsibilities, which are tedious and sometimes irritating, but he always handles them with ease.
He’s so good at his job, it’s a joy to watch him in action. I admire the easy way he has with people. How efficiently he handles a guest complaint, an employee complaint, a call from some reporter inquiring about the Calistoga location. It’s nonstop, everything he has to do.
As each day passes, my admiration for him grows. I care for Archer far more than I want to admit. I think he cares for me too. Spending so much one-on-one time with this gorgeous, frustrating, adorable, volatile, sweet, stubborn man, I can’t get over how much I didn’t know about him until now.
His drive. His passion. His intelligence. He so believes in what he’s doing, the service he provides for people, he will do everything he can to ensure that he offers his guests the absolute best service their money can buy. And he’s pulling out all the stops for the new resort. It’s costing him a fortune. He’ll charge his guests a fortune too. But I have a sneaking suspicion they’ll love it and come back for more.
And he’ll become an absolute success all over again.
Running my fingers through my hair, I scratch the back of my head, squinting at my laptop’s screen. I’ve been searching for the lobby rugs and I can’t find them. I have a visual in my head, but so far nothing comes close to my imagination. I’m afraid I’m going to have to settle.
I know if I told Archer that, he would flip. Demand I continue my search until I find rugs I absolutely love. He’s definitely not about settling, even for rugs.
Hunched over my laptop, I curl my leg beneath me on the chair and sigh, scrolling through yet another textiles website, looking through a ton of ugly rugs that are all wrong, no matter how much I try to make them right. My vision is blurry and my neck aches. It’s past seven, I’m so ready to call it quits, but I’m trying to wait for Archer to return.
Silly, yes, but I can’t help myself. I want to see him.
When we’re not in Calistoga, we’re headquartered in Archer’s office at Hush. That’s where I’m at now, waiting for him while he handles some sort of urgent issue. There are always urgent issues for Archer to handle. He does everything at Hush. The man has so much on his plate it overwhelms me, and I’m not the one who has to take care of it all; I’m only an observer. Most of the time he’s putting out various fires, which must get super old.
But I guess this is what comes with being the owner.
Stretching my arms above my head, I grimace when I hear and feel my neck pop, then settle back into position. I curl my fingers around the mouse when big, warm hands settle on my shoulders, making me yelp in surprise.
“So tense,” Archer murmurs, his deep voice sounding directly in my ear.
“You scared the crap out of me.” I sink my teeth into my lower lip to keep a moan from escaping when he starts to rub. Oh my God, that feels so good. I think I might melt into a pool of nothing if he keeps it up.
