The Sunstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance by Katherine Logan (comprehension books .TXT) 📗

“I thought this whole retreat theme Charlotte has going on with these luxurious suites and gorgeous landscaping might be an illusion, but I thought it would last a little longer than twenty-four hours.”

Austin read his message. “Elliott’s called a family meeting at eleven thirty. JL, Kevin, and the kids arrive in an hour.” He yanked back the sheet, tilted her chin toward him, and kissed her. “I’ll shower first, but be ready to jump in as soon as I finish.” He rolled out of bed and stood to stretch.

“How do you do it? I mean, I know how you do the other thing”—she twirled her finger as she pointed at his semi-erect dick—“but where does the motivation come from to get up and work out? I’m not a morning person.”

“From almost thirty years of bouncing a basketball and working on skills, timing, and precision. If I’m going to make a comeback, I have to work harder, smarter, and longer.”

“And that’s what you want to do? Make a comeback?”

“Yeah. That’s what I want. My stupidity took me out of the game. I’m hoping my perseverance will get me back in.”

“Is that realistic?”

“I have to keep trying until it becomes clear to me that it’ll never happen, and I’m not there yet.”

She rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the sheet to her breasts. “Then what can I do to help you?”

“Trust in me. Have faith in me. And love me, but leave dishing out the tough love to Pops. He knows how to do that to get my attention.”

“Trust, faith, and love. I can handle that.”

The sheet dropped to her waist as she reached for the robe on the floor, and Austin’s heart went to his throat, and all ten pints of his blood went straight to his dick.

He backed away from her. “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”

She blinked with feigned innocence, and he almost laughed.

“Doing what?” she asked.

“That!” He wagged his finger at her just as she’d done to him. “Sitting there with your nipples peeking out between strands of hair. Do you have any idea how much I want you?”

She gathered up her hair and swept it back over her shoulders, giving him a full-frontal view as a tease. Then she pulled up her legs, put her feet on the mattress, and hugged her knees with her legs slightly parted. And the view was even better. He licked his bottom lip and licked it again, remembering everything he’d done to her during the night.

“I can see how much you want me. So what does that mean? Are you coming back to bed?”

“I will in two hours,” he said.

“But not right now?”

“Didn’t you just ask me what you could do to help me have a comeback?”

Now she licked her lips. “I must have misunderstood the meaning of comeback.”

“Oh, hell!” He fell back on the bed and pulled her over on top of him. “You’re going to pay for this.”

She squealed. “Just put it on my bill.”

An hour later, they walked into Ted’s domain—a state-of-the-art fitness and wellness complex—drinking from insulated bottles filled with a mixture of water and electrolyte powder. They’d had too little sleep and too much alcohol, and they were both dehydrated.

The main area was a weight and equipment room with a bank of TVs mounted on the wall. Splintering off the weight room were studios for dance, yoga, and massage, as well as a breakroom, men’s and women’s showers, offices, and a regulation basketball court.

Ted glanced up at the clock. “An hour late?”

Austin shrugged. “My fault.”

Laurence leaned his elbow on Ted’s shoulder. “I told him you wouldn’t show up until this afternoon. But he reminded me you haven’t worked out in almost a week. He was confident you’d get here within the hour. And you made it.”

“I don’t know how hard I can work, but I’m here. I’ll shoot around in the gym, then lift, and call it a day. Is anyone in the gym?”

“Alicyn and Rebecca are in there working on their shooting skills.”

“Good. I’ll send a WhatsApp message to let all the kids know I’ll be in the gym for a while.”

“Tell them to enter through the gym door,” Ted said. “I don’t want a dozen kids running through here while I’m working with Ensley for the first time.”

“Sure. No problem.” Austin sent the message, and almost instantly, his phone beeped, beeped, beeped until he turned it to vibrate.

“Sounds like you’re a hit,” Ensley joked.

A sliver of emotion flicked in Ted’s eyes. “The kids have always loved Austin. When he was playing, they ranked going to one of his games as the most fun event on their schedules. Remember, these are busy kids who study hard, travel extensively, and have opportunities other kids only dream about. So yeah, he’s a hit.”

Ted’s observations choked Austin up. Ted had trained all the MacKlenna women during their pregnancies and afterward set up “Mommy and Me” exercise programs. He loved all the kids as if they were his own. And after Austin’s accident, he’d spent extra time with all of them, explaining what happened to their favorite cousin and helping them manage their grief. Austin didn’t know anything about it at the time. But since then, he’d donated new exercise equipment to the gym and a sauna as a thank you.

“But you,” Ted continued, his forehead puckered as he eyed Ensley, “don’t want to play basketball.”

“You’re right, and I don’t want to lift, either.” She yawned. “I just want to go back to sleep.”

“You can sleep this afternoon,” Austin said.

“Is that a promise?”

He winked. “It’s whatever you want it to be.”

“Like we said last night, we’ll assess your physical fitness, go to the yoga studio and stretch for about thirty minutes.”

“The best part is if you survive your first session with Ted, a massage and a few minutes in the sauna will be your reward,” Laurence said.”

“Okay, you sold me. But first, I want to tell you both how much Austin