and wild, untamed attraction.
“I’m fine,” I finally managed to sputter as I rested a hand on his sodden-cotton-clothed shoulder. He’d dove into the pool fully clothed. To save me. The crazy, adorable, jerk. “I…know how to swim.”
“Oh. Yes. Of course you do.” He extended his arms, pushing me away from his big, hard body and the heat rippling from it.
I shivered.
My nipples puckered into hard points.
I watched his eyes slide down my body, stop at roughly chest level, then dart back up to my face. “I apologize. I was…I thought…”
“It’s okay.”
A dribble of water coursed down the side of his face, following the sharp contour of his cheekbone. Treading water, I watched it, mesmerized for a moment before peeling my gaze away. It dropped lower, to his chest, and my body instantly heated again. His shirt was glued to his body. The thin white cotton had transformed into a translucent film that showed every crevasse cutting between his bulging muscles.
My gaze met his.
The air thinned.
But then he slipped under the water and jetted away from me. Water splashed on the tile as he thrust himself from the pool, at the end, far from me.
I clung to the side, tiny rivers of water dribbling down my face as I watched him lope into the house and vanish.
That guy was bad for me. Bad in every way but one—the obvious. There was no denying the chemistry that raged between us.
Now sizzling, I let go of the pool’s side and let my head slip under the water again. With any luck, the water would extinguish the burning between my legs.
But if it didn’t, there were other options.
Despite the fact that I had masturbated, I had a lot of dreams that night. Very hot, sexy dreams. Dreams in which Kent’s deft fingers worked my sex until I cried out in pleasure, a powerful orgasm throbbing through my whole body. I woke still feeling the pleasant little twitches between my legs. I’d orgasmed. While I slept. That was a first for me.
After showering and dressing, I padded into the kitchen to grab something to eat before heading out for the day. If I hadn’t known my way around the house, I could have easily followed the smell of the coffee to find the kitchen. It filled my nose the instant I left my bedroom.
Fortunately, that was all I found in the kitchen. It was void of inhabitants, both male and female. I was alone, thank god. After last night I wasn’t sure what to say to Kent. After being a total jerkwad earlier, he’d turned around later and acted out of complete selflessness, diving into the pool to save me when he thought I was drowning. Such a brave, heroic act didn’t go unnoticed. Neither did the heat pulsing between our bodies when he’d been holding me in the water. The moment had felt so intimate and exciting. My body had pulsed with need for hours afterward.
Of course, he didn’t need to know that.
Neither did Mom--who I hadn’t seen or heard from since yesterday. Things between us were definitely not the same since she’d gotten married. Despite her enthusiastic welcome yesterday, she was occupied with someone else now. I wasn’t number one in her life anymore. A pang of jealousy hit me, but I shoved it aside and busied myself with consuming enough caffeine to get me going for the day. I was going to need it. I had a big day planned. With Ransom. Once I’d downed a couple of cups of liquid energy, I grabbed a snack to-go, jumped in my car, and motored away from the house, and all the confusing emotions the people in it stirred in me.
In about an hour I saw Ransom for the first time in months.
It was a shock I hadn’t been prepared for.
It was one thing knowing my best friend was pregnant. It was another actually seeing the evidence of her pregnancy. She wasn’t sporting a tiny baby bump, as I’d expected. Her belly was very big. Immediately I knew she’d waited to tell me about her pregnancy. Months. Several.
My insides twisted.
We weren’t the same, either, Ransom and I.
“I’m fine,” I finally managed to sputter as I rested a hand on his sodden-cotton-clothed shoulder. He’d dove into the pool fully clothed. To save me. The crazy, adorable, jerk. “I…know how to swim.”
“Oh. Yes. Of course you do.” He extended his arms, pushing me away from his big, hard body and the heat rippling from it.
I shivered.
My nipples puckered into hard points.
I watched his eyes slide down my body, stop at roughly chest level, then dart back up to my face. “I apologize. I was…I thought…”
“It’s okay.”
A dribble of water coursed down the side of his face, following the sharp contour of his cheekbone. Treading water, I watched it, mesmerized for a moment before peeling my gaze away. It dropped lower, to his chest, and my body instantly heated again. His shirt was glued to his body. The thin white cotton had transformed into a translucent film that showed every crevasse cutting between his bulging muscles.
My gaze met his.
The air thinned.
But then he slipped under the water and jetted away from me. Water splashed on the tile as he thrust himself from the pool, at the end, far from me.
I clung to the side, tiny rivers of water dribbling down my face as I watched him lope into the house and vanish.
That guy was bad for me. Bad in every way but one—the obvious. There was no denying the chemistry that raged between us.
Now sizzling, I let go of the pool’s side and let my head slip under the water again. With any luck, the water would extinguish the burning between my legs.
But if it didn’t, there were other options.
Despite the fact that I had masturbated, I had a lot of dreams that night. Very hot, sexy dreams. Dreams in which Kent’s deft fingers worked my sex until I cried out in pleasure, a powerful orgasm throbbing through my whole body. I woke still feeling the pleasant little twitches between my legs. I’d orgasmed. While I slept. That was a first for me.
After showering and dressing, I padded into the kitchen to grab something to eat before heading out for the day. If I hadn’t known my way around the house, I could have easily followed the smell of the coffee to find the kitchen. It filled my nose the instant I left my bedroom.
Fortunately, that was all I found in the kitchen. It was void of inhabitants, both male and female. I was alone, thank god. After last night I wasn’t sure what to say to Kent. After being a total jerkwad earlier, he’d turned around later and acted out of complete selflessness, diving into the pool to save me when he thought I was drowning. Such a brave, heroic act didn’t go unnoticed. Neither did the heat pulsing between our bodies when he’d been holding me in the water. The moment had felt so intimate and exciting. My body had pulsed with need for hours afterward.
Of course, he didn’t need to know that.
Neither did Mom--who I hadn’t seen or heard from since yesterday. Things between us were definitely not the same since she’d gotten married. Despite her enthusiastic welcome yesterday, she was occupied with someone else now. I wasn’t number one in her life anymore. A pang of jealousy hit me, but I shoved it aside and busied myself with consuming enough caffeine to get me going for the day. I was going to need it. I had a big day planned. With Ransom. Once I’d downed a couple of cups of liquid energy, I grabbed a snack to-go, jumped in my car, and motored away from the house, and all the confusing emotions the people in it stirred in me.
In about an hour I saw Ransom for the first time in months.
It was a shock I hadn’t been prepared for.
It was one thing knowing my best friend was pregnant. It was another actually seeing the evidence of her pregnancy. She wasn’t sporting a tiny baby bump, as I’d expected. Her belly was very big. Immediately I knew she’d waited to tell me about her pregnancy. Months. Several.
My insides twisted.
We weren’t the same, either, Ransom and I.
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