Page 14 of Starting Back
“This is where the pool is?” she asked, scanning the place with her adorable nose scrunched up. “My suite is right over there.” She pointed to the back path leading to the guest rooms.
“Suite, huh?” I glanced at her over my shoulder as I opened the gate to lead her into the completely empty pool area. I smiled despite the stirring in my gut.
It was a fairly large pool, three feet to eight feet deep with a handful of chairs lining each side. I expected one or two people in the pool or lounging around, enough to keep both of us in check. Other than the fence, the pool was out in the open. All that surrounded us was the dim glow of the outside lamps and the lights illuminating the bottom of the pool.
“Nicole got a deal with her hotel travel points. We each would have had our own room and bathroom, but it’s too big for one person to spread out.” Kristina let go of my hand to lay a towel on her chair. “I almost packed sunscreen, which is silly, not like I’ll get a tan from those.” She motioned to one of the lamps.
“Nope, night swimming is different.” I laughed until she pulled the cover-up over her head. Her breasts were full and heavy against her bikini top, and drifting my eyes lower didn’t help. The bows of the bottom resting against the curves of her hips made my fingers tingle. It was the same suit she’d worn today, but now she was close enough to touch.
When she said she wanted to just go with it, I doubted she meant to go along with my urge to pull her into my arms and crash my mouth against hers, right before I untied those knots and traced my tongue along her hip.
I peeled off my shirt and tossed it onto one of the chairs.
“Jesus,” Kristina hissed, her eyes wide.
“Now it’s my turn to askyouwhat’s wrong,” I teased.
“You’re… I mean… Wow.” She dropped her head to her hands as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I just…never knew a man in real life with that many abs.”
I chuckled and pulled her to me before I could stop myself.
“I’m following your lead, but I don’t want to be anywhere else but here with you—whatever happens. Which makes no fucking sense, if I’m honest.”
“No, it does,” she whispered, brushing her hands down my arms and tracing the lines of one of my tattoos with the tip of her finger. “It makes no fucking sense to me either, but I actually get it.”
“I think we need to cool off.” I sucked in a deep breath, my chest pressing into hers as it heaved up and down.
“Do you think the pool will do it?” Kristina laughed.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Unless we dive into some ice.”
“Are we using the ladder or jumping in?” She cleared her throat as she craned her neck around, probably noting how very alone we were and how this was even more dangerous than either of us expected.
I dove into the deep end without replying. Would the water douse the heat between us enough to grasp on to a little self-control? I was doubtful but had to try.
I found her standing on the edge when I popped my head up out of the water. I held her tentative gaze as I smoothed my wet hair back and swam over to the shallow end.
“Don’t tell me after that awesome speech, you’re hesitating now.”
“Well, I just realized,” she started as she folded her arms and cringed, her breasts now straining even more against her top. “Are you going to get in trouble for bringing me here?”
My head fell back as I laughed. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked from me to the empty rows of chairs around the pool.
“Trouble is a relative term. From my boss here? No. In general?”
I let my eyes trail down her body and drank her in, the soft curves and toned legs, and the shy smile I wanted to taste.
“In general, fuck yes.” I crooked my finger, my heart kicking up again when a grin split her mouth.
She lifted a brow as she placed a foot on the ladder. “I’d jump in, but the last thing I need is to bust out of this on impact.” She motioned over her bikini top, laughing until she looked back at me. The image of what she described in her nervous joke was enough for my cock to tent my shorts underwater. At that moment, I lost all hope that the cold would help even a little at bringing my dick back to its resting state.
I wasn’t only in trouble. I was fucked.
SIX
KRISTINA
Istepped right into the pool, not allowing my body to acclimate to the water in steps like I usually did. I needed relief and to gain back the sanity I felt slipping away with every minute spent in this guy’s presence.
