“You do know I’m not an idiot, right?”
“Idon’tknow that. In fact, I think you might be the biggest idiot on the planet.”
He scooped her up and walked down the deck stairs. When she saw his swimming pool, she said, “You arenotputting me in the water.”
“Only anidiotwould do that.” She couldn’t miss the playfulness in his voice.
His tone, paired with the gleam in his eyes, reminded her how he’d tease her, make her laugh, then love her with his entire being.
He walked over to the deep end and held her over the water.
“You would not,” she said.
“You want to count me down.”
“Go fuck yourself, Carrera Santini.”
“Not when I have you to do it,” he said before releasing her.
SPLASH!
The warm water felt great as she crashed into the pool. Rather than swim toward the surface, she went limp and allowed herself to sink to the bottom. Once there, she started counting.
One… two… three…
She got to fifteen before Carrera dove in, scooped her up, and swam toward the surface. When they emerged, she breathed deep.
“That took you way too long,” she said as she wiped the water from her eyes.
“You scared the fuck out of me,” he ground out as he swam to the shallow end, his arm still secured around her.
Fear filled his eyes.
For a split second, she wanted to pull him close, assure him she was okay. But he didn’t deserve her compassion. She was going to make him work for every damn thing in this partnership.
Nothing was a given.Nothing.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes.”
He released his vice grip.
“You play with fire, you’ll get burned.” She pulled off her shirt and tossed it on the tile. Off came her pants next. Now in her bra and thong, she dove below the water, swam the length, and surfaced at the far end.
He hadn’t moved, his lips slashed in a thin line. She’d pissed him off.
Bring it on.
She swam over to him, rose out of the water, and glared at him. “I’m not the sweet, innocent girl you loved and dumped. I’ve been trained to kill, and I’ve been trained to rescue. I could go either way with you.”
A growl so deep rumbled from him. “You are making me madder than hell.”
“Now you know how I feel.” She swam away.
The more laps she swam, the better she felt. Water always had a soothing effect on her. As she swam in his direction, he removed his pants, his massive boner stretching against the softcotton of his boxer briefs. Desire made her insides tighten with delight while her nipples turned to steel inside her bra.
When a shirtless Carrera swam alongside her, he brought an intensity that couldn’t be ignored… or denied.
