I have to hold back a laugh. “Sure, you don’t.”
Landon crosses his arms, eyeing the pool like it might swallow him if he’s not careful, and I can tell he’s debating. Finally, he sighs. “Alright. Fine.”
The second he starts unbuttoning his shirt, I start freaking out. “What are you doing?” I ask, watching the swift, sure movements of his fingers. A wave of panic rolls through me…or maybe it’s anticipation. I’m not sure anymore.
“Like I said, this shirt was expensive.”
“My poor virgin eyes,” I tease, pretending to shield my face. He pauses on the last two buttons and glances at me with a furrowed brow. My eyes go wide. “I didn’t mean—I’m not—it’s a figure of speech.”
He snickers as I dip below the water. When I come to the surface again, his shirt’s gone, hanging neatly over a lounge chair, revealing the crisp, white undershirt beneath. My mouth dries up, I can’t help it, but I barely get the chance to ogle before he’s diving into the pool, a goddamn perfect swan dive.
“Show off,” I mumble.
I watch him swim beneath the surface, and when he comes up for air, he’s grinning. “You’re right. This is nice.” He wades back toward the shallow end. “I don’t know why I don’t come in here more.”
“Do my ears deceive me or did you just admit I was right about…” I trail off.
I’m not proud of what happens next. As Landon straightens to his full height in the shallow water, I momentarily lose the ability to speak. That wet, cotton undershirt clings to his body like a second skin, and my eyes almost pop out of my head at the sight. Every dip and crevice of hard muscle is on full display, from his broad shoulders to his hard pectorals to his toned abdomen, and I don’t know where to look. My body starts to burn, a strange heat pooling low in my stomach, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfect male body. Not in movies or magazines, on runways or billboards. Screw Ralph Lauren. He should be modeling for Calvin Klein. He’d make a freakingfortune.
He reaches up to push his wet hair off his forehead, bicep flexing as he does so, and my stomach flips over. So does my heart becauseJesus.No wonder his ego’s the size of Jupiter. He must notice the way I’m shamelessly gawking at him, because a smug sort of look passes over his face, one I’d normally fight the urge to slap right off.
“Anyone ever tell you it’s rude to stare?” he asks, smirking.
“I’m not staring,” I say quickly, but we both know that’s a lie as my face turns a deeper shade of red.
“Please. You have a little drool.” He touches his chin. “Right here.”
I scoff, but I’m struggling to keep my eyes on his face. “I do not. Someone’s ego needs to be brought down a peg.”
“It’s not ego. It’s hard work. I don’t spend five days a week at the gym for nothing.”
“Okay, well…you have a nice body. You know it. I know it. So, let’s just get it out there in the open and move right along. Sound good?”
Landon leans back against the side of the pool, smirking at me in a way that makes me regret opening my mouth at all. It never turns out well, does it? “What would you like to talk about then besides mynicebody? The weather?”
“I regret inviting you in here,” I mutter.
“You love that I’m in here,” he says, his eyes dancing in amusement.
I roll my eyes because he’s not wrong. “Okay, topic change. Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know. Ever been to church?” I throw out, then cringe becausereligionisn’t exactly a light topic of conversation. He snorts, probably thinking the same thing.
“A few times, actually. Mostly with my high school girlfriend.”
Nowthat’san intriguing topic. “I thought you were single all through high school.”
“I said girls weren’t a priority, not that I didn’t date them.”
“Well, now Ihaveto hear about the high school girlfriend.”
He releases a slow sigh, like he’d rather talk about anything else. “Fine. Her name was Elizabeth. We dated for two years. My parents loved her more than I did. Pretty sure they cried when we broke up. My mother wore black for a month.”
“Have you ever tried to look her up? See where she is now?”
“Married to some right-wing politician, which isn’t surprising in the slightest.”
