Page 19 of Wilde About You

A small shadow fell over me, then a splash followed. I opened my eyes. Sadie swam to the deep end and reached up to hang off the diving board. "Water's great," she said.

Was that an invite? Was she flirting with me? Why the hell couldn't I tell if she was flirting with me? I'd never had a problem with my flirt radar before. This was one complicated woman. Come on, dude, you're fucking Colin Wilde.

I got up, walked to the pool and dove in. I surfaced. She was still hanging on the diving board. She released it and sank down to the drain, then pushed off and headed my way. She popped up right in front of me. Soaking wet, she was even more incredible. Water beaded on her long lashes and on her bottom lip. She caught me staring at that lip and lathed her tongue across it. "Salty," she said.

"So I've noticed. Ace told me you traveled all over the world. Pretty cool. Where was your favorite place?"

She laughed.

"I know, original question that I'm sure you hear all the time."

"Yep." She took off and swam to the other end. "Iceland. It's like you're on another planet, and we traveled around on horseback."

"Ah, on those famous gaited ponies. Are they fun to ride?"

"Like riding on a couch. Way better than a quarter horse or thoroughbred. Far less ass thumping." She swam back to me. "You ride?"

"My dad has horses, so yeah, I ride. No formal training but I could hold my own in the cowboy world."

Her laugh was slightly gritty and definitely sexy. "Got yourself a black hat, I'll bet."

"Of course. You should come ride sometime." The words just popped out.

"Colin Wilde, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Uh, I believe I asked you to come out and ride. Not sure if that counts as a date."

"Hmm too bad. I probably would have said yes to a date. Still, I'd love to get back on a horse. But as you well know, I've got a few things happening in my life right now that make everything a little complicated." She put her arm around my neck and jumped playfully into my arms like we always did as kids in a pool where gravity wasn't a thing. She kicked her legs gently up and down, and I carried her around.

"Exactly what is it that's going on in your very interesting life where you need to do things like steal sweatshirts and hide from literal beasts?"

She dropped her head back and let her short white hair soak up the pool water before popping her head back up. "I'm not sure if Gregor's literally a beast, but I guess he's about as close as a human could come to it. But I can't talk about it."

"Aha, very secretive. Well then, I'm going to theorize." She lowered her legs, and we sat on the seat in the deep end.

"This, by the way, is the mermaid rock," she said. "I used to keep my legs pinned together and swim through the water like a mermaid. Then I'd come to rest right here, so consider yourself very privileged."

"Feeling like a big shot. Now, about my theory⁠—"

Sadie ran her hand over the surface of the water. "Go ahead, you'll never guess."

"I think you and that camera of yours got into something—something you weren't supposed to see or witness. You took a picture, and now Gregor and, I guess, Buck are after you to get that photo before you make it public."

Sadie stared at me. "So, you're not just pretty and empty-headed. You've actually got a brain. Nice combo, if you can get it."

"You aren't going to confirm, are you? I'll take it as a win since you have decided I'm not just pretty to look at."

"You're definitely that."

The screen door slid open briskly. "Hey, Sadie, Dad's on the phone. He wants to talk to you."

"That fucking little bastard," Sadie hissed. "I don't need to talk to him," she snapped.

Ace said something into the phone. "He said if you want to stay at the beach house, you need to talk to him. He wants to know what's going on."

I was starting to think even a week with Ace would be too long. Ever since he won that contest, the one where I crashed, he'd become quite the asshole.

Sadie pushed off the step and swam across the pool. Ace held the phone, waiting for her to dry off, which she took her time doing. Then she dropped her towel over her shoulder and walked toward him. He held out the phone, but she sashayed right past him holding up her middle finger. She disappeared inside.