Deeper (The Real Fling) by Lyla Bellatas

so guarded and logical, but vanquishing caution was thrilling. She felt alive and awake for the first time. Incredible.
    But at what cost? What was going to happen when she got back to New York alone? Stop, don’t ruin it.
    She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and scrounged around for some moisturizer to soothe her skin. Her swollen shoulder was already turning a dark purple. She had to keep icing it or it would take forever to heal. Her long hair was curling up. Thank goodness there was relatively no humidity in Colorado, snow or not, or she would’ve ended up a frizzy-haired mess. She found a small jar of Vaseline and put it on her lips and her brows, taming them into submission.
    Adriana went into the bedroom just as Val came up the stairs, tray in hand. He set it on the bed and poured them each glasses of water. “I brought up the laptop.”
    “Oh no, I forgot.” She rushed toward it. “Thank you.”
    “Of course.” Val propped the pillows up against the headboard, and Adriana climbed into the bed. He wrapped an ice pack around her shoulder and pushed pillows around her to keep it in place. Shivering, she took her pill.
    “Hold on.” He added another few logs to the fire and stoked it until it was roaring.
    “I didn’t think this through.” Smiling sheepishly, he held out a bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. “You are freezing and I brought ice cream.”
    “Sit next to me and I’ll warm up. Your body’s freaking hotter than any fire.”
    “Hot as in sexy?” He got rid of the tray and slipped under the covers next to her.
    “Oh brother.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I think there’s a picture of you in your naked glory with that sexy smirk you like to sport next to the word ‘cocksure’ in the dictionary.”
    He laughed with abandon and it was stunning. “I have a sexy smirk?” He snuggled closer to her.
    “That’s all you heard?” She turned on the computer.
    Val spoon-fed her.
    “Yum.”
    “Glad you approve.” He took a big bite. “I do ice cream well. Or is that too cocky for you?”
    Resting her head on his shoulder, she inched closer to him. “So how many sisters do you have?”
    “Three. I am the oldest. Did that tell you something?” He fed her more ice cream.
    “Yup. Explains a lot.”
    “Oh, like what?” His voice was thick with pleasure.
    “Like why you’re so bossy.” She giggled.
    “I’m not bossy.”
    “Yeah…right.” The ice cream was good. “Why’d you guys move to the States?”
    “My father wanted the best.”
    “Why Colorado?”
    “The slopes.” He shifted in bed. “My parents bought a small hotel near Copper Mountain.”
    “Nearby.” She locked eyes with him.
    “Yeah, I had my own place on their property. When my father…” He gulped. “Well, my mom wanted to be near my sisters and their families, so we sold everything and she moved to New York.” He put the empty bowl and her ice pack on the night table and scooched down to lay his head on her arm.
    She slid one hand on the side of his face and cradled his cheek. “What about you? Where’d you settle after?”
    “Nowhere.” Yawning, he closed his eyes and his breathing steadied almost immediately.
    What did that mean?
    *     *     *
    It was well past three a.m. when Adriana was ready to hit send. Her fingers shook as she hesitated over the enter key. This was an all or nothing proposition. Either they were going to applaud her ingenuity and drive, or they were going to be furious that she knew about the reorg prematurely. So what if they were livid, she’d be gone.
    Val opened his eyes and yawned. “You done?”
    “Yeah.”
    He sat up. “Did you send it?”
    “Not yet.” She had to take a chance. She’d jumped in with Val, and no matter how it ended, she wouldn’t trade it for anything. No regrets .
    “Do you want a second set of eyes?”
    “Okay.” Inhaling, she turned the computer toward him.
    He read her proposal slowly as if he was