Chapter 10 Unexpected Encounters

• "You've got a visitor," Ethan said, leaning against the doorway of the studio, a sly grin plastered across his face. "Someone from your past."
• I frowned, looking up from the pile of towels I was folding. "What do you mean, someone from my past?"
• "Why don't you go see for yourself?" he replied with a teasing lilt in his voice that set warning signals off in my head.
• I sighed, flinging the towels aside and headed to the front. The studio was quiet, except for the low hum of ambient music, as I made my way around the corner. Then I saw him-tall, with that familiar lazy smile, eyes that after all these years still held that cocky glint.
• Carter?" I exclaimed, suddenly stopping in my tracks. The name sounded foreign in my mouth, like it belonged to another life.
• "Hey, Jas," he replied, his voice silky smooth and laced with that now-familiar hint of mischief. "Long time, no see."
• I crossed my arms over my chest in a display of cool, while inside my heartbeat revved. "What are you doing here? Thought you'd left town for good.
• He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Business trip brought me back. Thought I'd swing by, see how you're doing."
• "Right," I said, raising an eyebrow. "And you just happened to find yourself at my studio?"
• Carter's grin grew wider, and he took a step closer, his presence intoxicatingly familiar. "Heard you were making waves in the... relaxation business. Figured I'd see if you still had that magic touch.
• I rolled my eyes, but there was no denying the spark of curiosity-and nostalgia-that flickered in my chest. "This isn't like old times, Carter. I run a professional establishment now."
• "Professional, huh?" His gaze swept over me, lingering just long enough to make my skin tingle. "Seems to me, some things never change.
• I shot him a glance, my lips twitching into a reluctant grin. Carter had always had a smooth tongue; he'd always known exactly which buttons to push. "So, what is it you are really after? A massage or a walk down memory lane?"
• He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Why not both?"
• The scent of sandalwood and jasmine wafted through the room as Carter lay back on the massage table, his eyes closed, but his smirk still firmly in place. I stood at the edge, my hands hovering above his back, feeling the warmth that radiated from his skin. It had been years, but the chemistry between us was palpable, a charged undercurrent neither of us could ignore.
• "Didn't think I'd ever see you again," I admitted, my fingers finally making contact with his skin, kneading the muscles in his shoulders. A low groan rumbled from his throat, the sound of it sending a jolt of fire straight through me.
• "Missed you too, Jas," he whispered, his voice low and languid. "Missed this. Missed us."
• I worked my way down his back, my movements firm but measured, a deliberate tease. "There is no 'us' anymore, Carter. You made sure of that."
• He twisted his head to the side, peering up at me with a half-lidded gaze. "Come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about it. About what we had.
• I paused, hands stopping on his lower back. Of course, I'd thought about it. About the late nights, the wild, reckless passion that burned so bright it eventually consumed us. But that was years ago. We were different people now. Or at least, that's what I tried to tell myself.
• "It's ancient history," I said, resuming my strokes, trying to keep my tone light, unaffected. "You and me... that chapter's closed."
• He let out one of those chuckles that is equal parts frustration and amusement. "You sure about that?" His hand reached up, catching my wrist and pulling me forward until our faces were inches apart. "Because it feels pretty damn open to me."
• Before I could utter a word of protest, his lips were upon mine in an urgent, hungry kiss, as if to prove some kind of point. I should have pulled back, set the boundary clear in that instant. But the taste of him, the press of his body against mine, every nerve alighting with a need long buried, it was impossible to resist.
• Straddling the table, straddling Carter, my hands fisted in his hair as our kiss deepened, mouths crashing together in a ferocity of lips that was intimate and exhilarating at once. His hands roamed over my body, touching with an urgency that seemed to match my own, like we were trying to reclaim something that we'd lost.
• "You still taste the same," he muttered against my lips, his fingers slipping under my skirt to graze the wet heat between my thighs. I gasped, arching into the touch, my mind awhirl with conflicting thoughts and desires.
• "Carter-" I tried to say, attempted to retain some semblance of control, but he didn't let me, his lips landing on mine once more while the digits worked their magic, slipping inside me, drawing moans from my lips that echoed off the walls.
• God, it was so easy to slip back into the comfort zone of old habits: the blurring of lines between business and pleasure, past and present. I ground my hips into his hand, riding waves of pleasure as his touches sent shivers down my spine. And I lost myself. And for a moment, wildly, I just didn't care.
• I pulled back panting, my gaze locking with his. "It doesn't change anything," I breathed, a weak attempt at control of myself.
• "Who said it had to?" Carter returned, dark and low, his thumb torturing me with circular motions. "Just enjoy the ride, Jasmine.
• And so I did, falling under the intoxicating pull of nostalgia and lust as Carter took me to the edge and back, our bodies tangled in a mess of sheets and unspoken words. Reckless, messy, just what I needed.
• But afterward, lying on my back in bed staring at the ceiling while Carter was in a deep sleep beside me, it began to set in-the reality of it all, at least. I had crossed another line, one from which I wasn't so sure I could walk back from. The thrill was quickly fading away, leaving with it the cold, hard truth: I was walking on the edge, and it was going to take less than more for me to fall.