Page 46 of Twice as Tempting

Kelly’s eyes had finally adjusted to the bright sunshine, and she eyed Damian from head to toe. He was bare-chested, his shirt having been discarded on the chair next to hers. Her eyes followed the smattering of dark chest hair over his defined pecs, down the middle of his muscular abs, and further south, where it disappeared into his swim trunks. When she redirected her gaze to the lightning bolt tattoo on his right upper arm, she swallowed hard and was met with a deep chuckle.

“You done yet?”

“Oops. Sorry,” she muttered.

“Hey, I got no problem with it. You can check me out anytime.” Damian removed his sunglasses and set them on top of his shirt. “Meet ya in the pool,” he said and then turned and dove right in.

Kelly wiped the water droplets off the cover of her book, placed her bookmark inside, and carefully set it on the table next to her chair. “Hey, you got my book wet,” she scolded.

“Just get in here,” he called.

Damian had seen her butt-naked numerous times, but why did she feel even more exposed with her bathing suit on? Maybe it was because of the way he was staring at her like she was a ripe red apple that he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into!

She stood up, walked over to the edge of the pool where he was waiting, and daintily dipped a red polished toe in the water.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m testing it,” she said.

“You’re testing it alright!” With that, Damian reached out of the pool, grabbed her around both ankles, and lifted her into the water.

The cool water felt heavenly against her heated skin, but not as good as Damian’s hard chest that she was now smashed up against. “I was going to get in,” she snapped.

“I ran out of patience,” he said.

Damian’s hands were still on her waist, and Kelly wondered if his words held a double meaning. She wouldn’t blame him if he was running out of patience with her. Hell, she was running out of patience with her too!

“You wanted to swim, so let’s swim,” she said, her eyes issuing him a challenge.

“You want to race?”

“Sure, but I have to warn you that I was on the swim team,” she said haughtily.

“When?”

“In high school.”

Damian tipped his head back and laughed. “That was what? Twelve years ago?”

Kelly tried to put her hands on her hips under the water, but the gesture was slowed down by the water pressure, and Damian laughed even louder. “Are you going to race me or not?”

“Yes. Freestyle or breaststroke?”

“Let’s go with breaststroke.”

“That’s my favorite kind,” Damian teased.

They took their positions at the shallow end of the pool. “Down and back, and whoever touches the wall first wins,” Kelly said.

“Got it. On the count of three. One…two…three!”

Kelly drew a gulp of air into her lungs and took off. She was amazed at how good it felt to move her limbs through the water again. She tried not to pay attention to Damian and just focused on her strokes and her breathing, and before she knew it, she was back where they had started. She popped her head out of the water to see Damian smiling down at her. He had obviously beaten her, but she felt good about her performance anyway.

“Not bad,” he said, clearly impressed.

“See? You’re learning new things about me every day,” she said triumphantly.

“How about if you teach me some more things tonight—over dinner?”