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While waiting for her to make a call, I hear men approaching the lobby. Ah… that feeling when a hero is approaching.
And the hero is wearing a bright yellow tee shirt and a pair of white exercise shorts.
“Amber-Rose!” His silvery voice crosses to me fast. He runs ahead of his companion—the other Mr. Hartley.
Here he is, the man I drove four hours for—smelling like he’s just come out of a battle. “Keeping fit? Or did you just finish saving the world?” I feel giddy just thinking about him pushing his body to the limits. His physique isn’t a miracle. He works for it.
He lands a light kiss on my lips. “I saved the world just for you,” he murmurs. Beads of sweat from his cupid’s bow drip onto mine.Just like everything else he exudes, his sweat is masculinely sexy.
Although he keeps his body from touching me, probably not wanting to wet my clothes. He’s dripping!
“Good to see you again, Amber,” Clay greets me. Standing side by side, wearing very similar outfits, the two brothers look like twins.
“Hey!” I say to him.
“What have you got there?” Rob nods at the oversized bag I’m carrying.
I let him and Clay peek into it. “Six Captain Robsons.”
“Oh, look at them!” Clay beams. “They’re like newborn puppies.”
With their caramel-colored fur and rounded butts, when the bears are put together like this, I guess they do look like puppies.
Rob takes one out of the bag. “He’s perfect! Thank you.”
“Hey, I’ll see you guys later.” Clay rushes into the elevator.
“Come on, let’s go to my office.” Rob puts his arm loosely around my waist, obviously still conscious of his sweaty top.
I pull him close when we’re inside the elevator, the one that came after Clay left.
“I need to take a shower,” he says.
I shrug, telling him it doesn’t matter.
He looks at me—obviously wondering why I’m relishing my close proximity to his sticky shirt. He lets it slide and changes the subject. “Hey, what do you think of me organizing a cruise for the Solvang Youth Center? Do you think they’ll like it? Of course, I’ll pay them for their work on the rest of the Captain Robsons—but, you know, maybe as an extra token?”
This man cares about people—their hearts, their happiness, beyond just money. “Of course they’ll like it. They’ll love it.” Now my other surprise for him has become that much more important. His gesture truly needs to be rewarded.
We only go up three floors, but the glass dome above us makes me feel closer to the sky than I would in a high-rise building.
Rob opens the door for me and helps me with the bag of bears. The office is spacious, like a self-contained apartment—complete with a set of couches, bookshelves, a mini bar, and a television.
“Make yourself at home,” he says.
I sit on one of the couches as he rushes to the wall of windows behind his desk. The scenery could’ve come from a giant digital screen, but just like everything else in the Hartley Marine complex, the interior garden outside his office is breathtaking. Fountains, palm trees and firs, lit up by soft, colorful lights. But the blinds dropping remind me why I’m here—especially after he ditches his tee and shorts, leaving only his underwear on.
I admire the form approaching me—the vision of a man that my hungry mind spits out when I need a hero.
“I’m going to have a shower.” He opens a door, which reveals an ensuite—not just a shower, it also has a vanity with his-and-her sinks and a generous bathtub. “Wait for me?”
I don’t know if I can.
“Unless you want to join me?”
I can’t do that either.
His gaze narrows. “You’re hiding something.”
