Page 15 of Starting Back
The water sloshed around my neck as I submerged myself from the shoulders down, trying to both get rid of the cold sweat that broke out along my skin when Leo’s gaze caressed my body and not be any more tempted than I already was if I caught him staring again.
Leo treaded water along the opposite side of the shallow edge of the pool, both of us respecting an invisible barrier between us that, as we moved around in the water, we were careful not to cross. He was almost up to the same level as I was, although the water lapping around his shoulders was just as enticing as when he peeled off his shirt. He was tempting enough with a T-shirt on, the cotton stretching tight enough over his chest and arms, but I lost count of the ripples of muscle along his chest and down his stomach, abs framed by that V I’d seen in photos and on romance novel covers but never on any man I knew in real life.
Not that I knew Leo, but I’d been all too aware of him the entire night, and now we were all alone, wet, and half naked. My heart thrummed against my rib cage as I took slow breaths in and out. This could just be casual, two people going for a night swim and nothing more.
He stood, slicking his hair back before he rested his elbows along the edge of the pool. The dusting of hair down his chest stuck to his skin as I tracked a lucky drop of water over his pecs.
Nothing about this seemed casual to me. Maybe people did this all the time. Random, hot encounters with almost strangers who made parts of their body tingle, parts that were thought of as long dead.
My life was not a steamy story. Reckless and random were never really on the table for me.
Until now. Tonight, an attraction to a man I’d met only hours ago seemed to grab hold of me, pulling me to him with a strong and inescapable hold.
“Cooled off yet?” he asked as a wry grin tugged at his lips.
“Yes and no.” I lifted a shoulder.
His smile grew wider as he nodded.
“Same.”
“That’s why I’m keeping to my side of the pool.”
Those sexy shoulders shook with a chuckle as he tilted his head.
“I won’t bite if you come closer.”
“You won’t?”
Where had that come from? Who knew brazen would be just on the other side of terrified?
“Well, I would if you asked me to. I’d never refuse a beautiful woman anything.”
He made his way toward me, and I froze, inching back against the wall before the current from the filter made me jump.
“What’s wrong? There are no fish to nip at you in here.” His throaty chuckle settled into my chest.
“I backed up against the filter, and it just scared me for a minute.”
But it didn’t scare me more than the lust in Leo’s eyes as he stepped closer, boxing me in by putting his arms at my sides.
“It’s only water, see?” He framed my waist, pressing his fingertips into my thighs as he positioned me over the front of the jet, the flow of water now hitting against my back and fluttering between my legs, unneeded encouragement for the sudden throb in my core. “Could be relaxing if you let it.”
My head fell back as I searched the night sky for an answer or guidance on what to do. “I can’t relax around you. Especially not now.” My hands slid up his arms of their own accord, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he trembled under my fingertips, which only excited me even more. “When I’m home, I’m actually more or less put together. With my kids, with my job, and with the rest of my family. But around you?” I breathed out an audible sigh. “I’m not used to this.”
“Not used to what?” His voice was low and husky as his hands stayed on my hips.
“The way you’ve been looking at me. It’s been a long time since anyone has regarded me as someone other than a mom or a friend.”
“I call bullshit.” He quirked a brow. “I think you’re just not looking hard enough.”
A laugh escaped me as I shook my head. “Believe me, I spent years trying to get my ex-husband’s attention and—”
“I don’t know your ex, but I can’t understand how anyone wouldn’t notice you. You’ve distracted me all damn day.”
“You only just met me. I’m far from perfect.”
“You’re a beautiful woman, yet you have no idea how to respond when someone notices you like I’m sure they always do. Yes, I hardly know you, but…” He trailed off as he slipped his wet hand onto the nape of my neck, my skin still slick but not from the pool. Another cold sweat had already spread over me. “Attention shouldn’t feel so new to you that you don’t know what to do with it.”
