Page 2 of Pure Temptation

He stepped aside, and Kendall wandered into the main room of his cabin. A zing of raw attraction ran through him as she passed by, and Daxon paused in the hall and ran a hand through his hair, trying to get a handle on the situation. He had come to the Kalani to fully heal, away from public eyes, andshewas his physical therapist? Either this was the world’s most improbable coincidence...or something else was going on. Daxon was betting everything on the latter, and he needed to figure out what thatsomethingwas.

He watched her as she wandered over to peek at the view of the ocean through the French doors. She looked...different. What was it? Her hair was lighter, streaked with hints of blond. The taper of her waist, the curve of her hips, those fit legs—her body was just as distracting as before. Her skin tone was a little darker, from all the Hawaiian sun no doubt, but there was something else.

“You look good,” he said, following her in. “More...relaxed.”

That’s what it was. There was an ease to her that he hadn’t seen the last time.

Kendall turned. “Thanks, I think. You look very...relaxed, too.” She gestured to his current state of undress. “Well, most of you.”

There was a hint of a smile on her lips, a good sign. But after that full-frontal greeting, he needed to tone this the fuck down.

“I’ll put on some clothes. In case you’ve seen enough of me for the day.”

She waved him off. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Daxon frowned. She had thrown out that comment in the most casual tone, like getting a peek at him naked was just another part of her day, somewhere between taping up an injured wrist and paperwork. Not that she was supposed to be jumping with joy at seeing his dick, unsolicited, but, well, wasn’t she at least a little...impressed?

“I’ll be out in a minute,” he grumbled over his shoulder. But as he turned away, he caught her gaze wandering lower, like she was checking him out. Or at least he thought he saw it. Maybe that was his ego talking, but a guy could hope.

Daxon headed for the bedroom and shut himself in the large walk-in closet. He rested his forehead against the door and let out a quiet groan.Focus.Kendall Clark, the star of far too many of his fantasies, was sitting on the couch, a dozen steps away from his bedroom, and he still had the lingering remains of a hard-on. Time to get this situation under control.

Goal number one: fully heal his injured calf so he could face off with Moonlight Buttress on schedule. Goal number two: keep his overeager cock down and safely covered. Because Kendall didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who enjoyed a flasher. Even if she may have been checking him out.

He grabbed a pair of shorts and T-shirt and slipped them on. He ran his hand through his wet hair a couple times and hung his towel on a hook, then rested his hand on the door handle.

Apparently his brain had started working again because he was almost sure he knew who had set this up. Calvin. His business partner and producer’s last words before he got on the plane to Hawaii sank in.I arranged a special wish for you, one I know you’ll love.The asshole had set this up, probably assuming that Daxon had, in fact, slept with her back in Costa Rica and wouldn’t mind a repeat. Dax had guessed Calvin’s wish for him would be misguided, but this was an epic miss. Because spending hours a day with hot-as-hell Kendall Clark was the polar opposite of relaxation. More like excruciatingly tense. Hard in every way.

Kendall Clark didn’t do hesitant, fumbling girlishness. Definitely not around high-profile men in general, and especially not around Daxon Miles in particular. So as soon as Daxon left the room, Kendall plopped down on the sofa and took deep breaths, trying to get her runaway pulse under control. Because despite all the rehearsals in front of her bathroom mirror, that greeting didn’t go anything like the one she’d planned.

In the entryway, as her eyes had wandered south, a rush of tempting heat had spread through her, shutting off all reasonable thought. Then the memories of Costa Rica flooded back. Seven long days of trying to ignore all those perfect, taut muscles. That sharp pull of sexual interest that came anyway each time she touched him, each time she felt him move under her hands. As she tried like hell to focus on her job.

She could sense it all starting again: the client crush she never should have had, the one she had tried so hard to resist, was taking hold. And she definitely didn’t do celebrity client crushes.

Plus, Daxon Miles made her nervous. Kendall had assumed his love of danger was all an act, a show he put on for his bazillions of YouTube followers. Who the hell in his right mind would actually want to dive off cliffs just for fun? But after a week in Costa Rica with him, she was forced to admit that, number one, he truly did love these stunts, and number two, he wasn’t crazy. Okay, number three, he was hot as sin, but she wasn’t counting that realization.

She might have even written him off. It wasn’t like she’d never had a hot, ultra-fit client before. But the conversation she’d had with him back then about the difference between high risk and high consequence—the one that stretched long beyond working hours—had her questioning all her safe choices. The things he had said that last night in Costa Rica had stayed with her, bubbling inside when she was debating whether or not to accept a job at the Kalani Resort and move to Hawaii. With enough preparation, Daxon really was up for just about anything, and she...well, over the past six months, she was trying harder to be. But ignoring her risk-averse nature certainly didn’t come easily.

When Sheila Alleyne, the Kalani’s mysterious “wish maker,” had contacted her about this assignment, she’d said Daxon Miles had specially requested her. Though each guest at the resort was entitled to a “wish”—a special request to be fulfilled during their stay—she had never heard of a personal request like this. Wishes were usually more along the lines of a personal chef or a paragliding instructor, and Sheila and the staff took care of it. Kendall had tried hard not to waste her time contemplating questions likeHow the hell did he know I was here?orDo I just ignore the scorching-hot kiss that happened in Costa Rica while my hands are on his thighs?Instead, she’d focused on the reason she hoped he’d requested her: because she was a damn good physical therapist. Thorough, methodical and careful.

But for a guy who had personally asked for her, Daxon had seemed awfully surprised to see her at his door. Then again, her first clue that she wasn’t getting the full story was in Sheila’s words:he also wished for you as a personal healing coach.The Daxon Miles she knew would never use words like that. The man wasn’t really the type to wish for help with anything. And what the hell did that title mean? The only service she was giving him this week was physical therapy.

Her last assignment with him in Costa Rica had been her most memorable as a travelling physical therapist for many reasons... Daxon being one of them. Kendall had started to think her memories had mixed with fantasy, overexaggerating his appeal. But no. When he opened the door earlier, tousled wet hair, strong jaw and piercing grey-green eyes, she remembered why she had turned him down that last night. Daxon Miles was trouble. Shirtless, his hard, lean muscles flexed in stark relief. Up close, the raw sexuality of his body was almost irresistible. Another wave of heat rippled through her. Trouble. Especially for her, who seemed to have been born with an extra-large caution gene.

Daxon entered the room again, and the scent of him—freshly showered and very male—wafted in the air. She shivered as he brushed by her. Definitely trouble.

He took a seat at a safe distance on the couch and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. All the surprise from their greeting was gone, and in its place, he was giving her that smile. The one that said he knew exactly what effect he had on women. He had been melting panties with it for years between all the skydives and cliff dives and free climbs, if the tabloids were to be believed. She should know better, but that look was pulling her in.

“I promise I won’t flash you again,” he said, eyes glittering. “Unless you ask for it.”

“You know, most people start conversations with ‘hello’ or ‘how have you been?’”

His smile spread wider. “Do you really think I’m aiming to be like most people?”

Everyone with internet access knew the answer to that.

“Let’s just get this started.” Kendall opened her tablet and found the bullet points for the introduction. “Welcome to the Kalani,” she said, reading straight from the notes, in her best professional voice. “I want to make sure your stay is everything you want it to be.”

Kendall almost rolled her eyes.Everything you want it to be.Yeah, that definitely had sexy overtones.