His thumb absently swiped along my jawline, which was hella fucking distracting.
“Everyone always reads into it, Jett.”
I batted his hand away from my face and dropped from around his waist to stand on my own two feet. Unfortunately, the water was deeper for me than it was for him, and our slight height difference became apparent again when the water covered more of me than him.
“Flatter yourself. You’re not the only one who doesn’t do relationships, you know,” I said, feeling the now-familiar heat of annoyance.
“You’re trying to tell me you aren’t searching for a new sugar daddy?”
I couldn’t hold back the bark of laughter. “I can say unequivocally, I’m not looking for a sugar daddy. Or a relationship. In fact…” I hesitated before pressing ahead. “I found a new job when I was in the city. It starts when we get back. I’m sure I’ll be too busy for a relationship. You know howit is when you start a new… Well, you probably don’t know since you’ve always been destined to work at Maris. But most people work their ass off to prove themselves in a new job, and that’s what I plan to do.”
Locke looked suspicious, as if he wasn’t quite able to trust that I was being honest. “What kind of job? Where?”
“It’s a consulting firm. I’m starting in a general admin position, but they try to promote from within. The kind of thing where I start off doing data entry or whatever, and hopefully, over time, I can work my way up to being an executive assistant. Or maybe work in marketing? I’m not sure.”
Shut up.
“What’s the name of the company?”
It was definitely time for me to remember some tradecraft because right now, I was sucking balls at it.
“And give you a chance to come snoop around my work? No way. Besides, I don’t want to jinx it. I have a good feeling about it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you I could’ve found you something at Maris.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Yes, but then I’d be sleeping with the boss, and what would that do to both of our reputations?”
A strange look crossed his face. “No. That’s… no. I wouldn’t do that.”
I reached out and touched his arm. “I know,” I said softly. “I overheard you giving that guy at the Candy Bar hell about harassing one of your employees. You were fiercely protective, and I appreciated that. I knew you were one of the good guys from the beginning.”
Locke’s shoulders relaxed. “Good.”
The serious nature of this conversation and how close it was coming to blowing the last scraps of my cover needed to end. Iquickly dove under the water and yanked his legs out from under him, which wasn’t as easy as I’d thought it would be.
He retaliated by yanking my shorts down and swimming quickly away from me. As soon as I came up sputtering after yanking my shorts back up, Locke dunked me.
The motherfucker dunked me.
We continued the water fight for at least twenty minutes, dunking, yanking, poking, and grabbing until we were both waterlogged and breathless. I finally had to call a truce.
“Peace!” I cried through my laughter and rubbing my chest. “You yanked a chest hair, asshole.”
He came up and slicked his hair back, wiping his nose and mouth before piercing me with those fucking eyes. His chest heaved with exertion. “You’re pretty strong for a little guy.”
I squawked in indignation before I realized he was joking. Then I launched myself at him again. Instead of pushing him into the water, I only managed to knock him one step back. Meanwhile, his arms went around me and held firm.
“No more,” he murmured in a low breath. “Let me catch my breath before you try to drown me again.”
I wrapped my legs around him again, happy to note the thick swelling of his cock under my ass. My muscles were warm and happy from the exertion, and I was smugly satisfied that I’d gotten Locke to have a little fun in the process.
The sound of our cries and laughter had echoed around the pool deck, joining the croaks of nearby frogs, the occasional gecko click, and the distant surf.
Suddenly, I wished we had more time together, more than just two days before his chess friends arrived. Long nights in which I could unwind his daily stress in creative ways like this. Something more than just sex, which was easy to come by, even though Locke insisted it was all he wanted.
I was beginning to wonder if what Locke Marisneededwas something vastly different.
17
