Page 111 of Trouble from Abroad
“Wait here.” The hell I am. I enter the pool and pretend the water gives me any sense of coverage. The floating-titty sensation gives me something else to focus on, at least.
He comes back with the restaurant menu and asks me to pick lunch for us. “Anything,” he says. But that just adds to my indecision.
I don’t want to feel or look bloated because round two is coming. “I don’t really need anything. If you think about it, I just had averyfulfilling protein smoothie.”
“Nice try.”
I scan the page for half a second, then glance up at him. “Do you think I burned enough calories for a burgeranda chocolate cake?”
His brow lifts. “If you say the wordcaloriesagain, I’m crossing ‘spanking’ off that list sooner than you thought.”
I roll my lips the tightest I can, but he sees right past my best efforts and smiles back at me, shaking his head.
He reaches for the phone, and I watch, mouth agape, as he orders for us.
“Hi. Yeah, in about… an hour, send up one of everything that the chef recommends, starting with the burger. And all the desserts. Yes. All of them. Thanks.”
Preston steps into the pool, and for once, I don’t thinkabout how I look. Not when he’s watching me likeIam what the chef recommended. Now it feels like the water hugs my curves better than any shapewear ever could. I float toward the deeper end, weightless, my brain quiet for the first time in… God, I don’t even know how long.
Preston rests his arms on the ledge next to me, neck tilted back, hair slicked off his face. If a statue of a Greek god came with dimples and dad instincts, it’d look exactly like this.
“So, we’re nowhere close to done, but”—he turns his head to stare at me—“was today what you hoped for when you started that list?”
“No,” I tell him honestly.
“No?” He raises an eyebrow, and I chuckle. “Which part threw you off? The many orgasms? The big dick? Please, enlighten me.”
Now I burst out laughing and splash him.
“It was better than I could’ve wished for and,ugh, I kind of hate that.” I turn to him and brace my arms around his neck, baring even more of myself. “I was going for simple, Preston. Transactional, emotionally hygienic.”
His head drops, forehead leaning on mine. “Yeah, big fail.” If he thinks that cheeky, ridiculously sexy smile is subtle, he’s dead wrong.
“Catastrophic failure. Honestly, I should demand a refund.”
“You didn’t pay me, Mia.”
“Exactly. What kind of escort even are you?”
“The kind who fucks you senseless, will tick that whole list in record time, and then demand you write a new one,mileslong.”
How the hell can I feel feverish when naked and inside a pool? Oh, right. When sharing said pool with a dirty-talking man who won’t take his eyes off me.
“See, that’s why an escort would’ve been easier. Tick and run.This”—I gesture between us with my chin, never letting go of him—“wasn’t the plan.”
His smile fades, and although he’s not angry per se, he looks a bit pissed. “Again, Miss Thorne, tell me. Which part did I get wrong?” He turns us around and pushes me against the wall, trapping me between his arms. My thumbs trace his jaw while my hands stay put on his neck.
“The part where I actuallylikeyou, you fool.”
That wipes the pissed look right off his face, stopping him cold.
“Is that so bad?” he asks, and a shadow of sadness in his eyes makes my heart shrink.
I can’t give him an honest answer, so I joke instead. “Horrible. Sickening. I’m getting hives already. See?” I hold out my forearm for him.
“I’ll add a warning label next time.Caution: may develop feelings.”
He throws my arm right back where it was, pulling me in for a kiss before I can come up with a halfway decent comeback. Which is very convenient. ’Cause I have nothing. Just heart palpitations and wet hair.
