“It always is.”
She patted his chest. “You looked magnificent out there.”
“Thanks. I’m hardly competitive, but I can still surf.”
“You sure as hell can. And I really had forgotten how damn hard surfing is. I have a new appreciation for the sport.”
Now that she’d managed to master a wave, she wanted to do it again. They surfed awhile longer, then called it a day. Ben packed the boards up on the SUV and they drove back to the hotel.
“I need a shower and a change of clothes before tonight. And quite possibly a nap.”
He laughed. “Okay. I’ll see you tonight.”
She kissed him good-bye, then went up to her room and stripped out of her sundress and swimsuit.
She thought about taking a shower, then yawned.
Surfing was exhausting. She should consider doing it more often. Holy crap, what a workout.
She yawned again and stared longingly at her bed.
Okay, nap first. Shower later.
She shut the drapes, climbed into bed and closed her eyes.
Chapter Eleven
It had been a damn good day. Alex rode the elevator up to the hotel suite with a grin on his face.
He’d scored high today. He was primed and ready for tomorrow’s competition.
Tonight, though, he was ready to kick back and relax.
He slid his key in the door, breathing in a sigh of relief at the cold air-conditioning. Leave it to Ben to know he’d be hot and tired after a long day and he’d need the A/C cranked to arctic.
Now all he needed was a cold beer and a hot shower. He stripped out of his board shorts and headed straight for the shower, letting the hot water rain down on him for a few seconds before grabbing the soap and scrubbing the salt water from his body. After his shower, he put on a pair of a shorts and a T-shirt and grabbed a beer from the wet bar.
The door opened and Ben walked in, giving him a smile.
“You did great today.”
“Thanks. The waves were killer. Not too hard to command, but high enough to give me a challenging ride, which gave me a scoring advantage.”
Ben went to the wet bar and pulled out a beer, then sat across from him on one of the leather sofas.
“I didn’t see much of you today after the competition,” Alex said. “Did you hang out with Tori?”
“I took her down to one of the other beaches where the waves were smaller so she could surf.”
Alex nodded. “What a good idea. I’m sure she wanted to get in the water and try out her skills. How’d she do?”
“She did well. Fell the first several times, but she didn’t give up.”
Alex grinned. “That’s our girl. I knew she wasn’t a quitter.”
“She’s going to meet up with us tonight at the bonfire and dinner. I know she’s anxious to see you.”
“Good. I want to see her, too.”
“Then finish your beer and let’s go get her.”
Alex downed the contents of his beer then tossed it in the trash. He and Ben headed over to Tori’s suite and knocked on her door.
She answered, wearing a red sundress that outlined her killer curves. And her smile always kicked him in the gut.
“Hi, guys.”
“Hey, yourself,” Alex said. “You look beautiful.”
“Love that red on you,” Ben said.
“Not even in the door yet and you both have me blushing,” Tori said. “Come on in.”
He and Ben stepped inside. Alex pulled her into his arms and kissed her. A nice, deep long kiss that told her how much he’d hated being apart from her today. When he stepped back, Ben did the same.
“Whew,” she said, fanning her face with her hands. “Any more of that and we won’t make it out of the suite tonight.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Alex asked.
She laughed. “Normally I’d say no, but I’m hungry and I know you have to put in an appearance at tonight’s event, right?”
Alex shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Maybe yes?” she asked.
“Okay, fine. I do. But I’m not letting you out of my sight tonight.”
“Deal.”
Ben laughed. “Come on. Let’s go. I’m hungry, too.”
They headed downstairs and outside. Tables were set up with plenty of food and Alex was hungry, so he guided Tori to the plates so they could get started. He loaded his with chicken and fish and plenty of vegetables, then grabbed a bottle of water and they found seats at one of the nearby tables.
Whitney and one of the other surfers, Cade, sat at their table, along with some of his surfer friends, Matt, Silas, and Zane.
“This your girl?” Zane asked him.
“Yeah.”
Victoria shook his hand. “I’m Victoria Baldwin.
Alex introduced Tori to all the guys at the table. “She’s a sports agent.”
“Is that right?” Matt asked. “Who do you rep?”
She told them about some of her clients.
“No kidding,” Silas said. “Garrett Scott is one great pitcher. I’m from Saint Louis originally. Well, I was born there anyway. So the Rivers are my home team.”
Alex listened while Silas and Tori talked baseball. He was fascinated by her knowledge of the sport. And when she got into a football discussion with Matt, she knew more players than Matt did. She knew more football plays than Matt did. And Matt knew a lot about football.
His woman was impressive.