Page 47 of Just a Little Tempted

And if he didn’t—if he tried something else—I’d deal with that too.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Simon

Ifrowned asI spotted Raina and Chuck in the hallway just outside the restaurant while I was talking with Alexander. Her back was to me, so I couldn’t see her expression, but I had a clear view of Chuck’s face, and the smirk curving his lips set my teeth on edge. Something about the way he was looking at her, the predatory gleam in his eyes, made my protective instincts flare hot and immediate.

I excused myself from my conversation with Alexander, who was eager to rejoin his family anyway, and made my way toward them. Raina turned away from Chuck just as I approached, and I caught the flash of irritation tightening her features before she smoothed it away.

I slipped an arm around her waist, acutely aware that Chuck was watching. The gesture came naturally now—these casual touches that had started as performance and evolved into something I craved. She fit perfectly against me, her body molding to mine like we’d been doing this for years instead of just a week.

But she was stiff. Tense in a way that had nothing to do with me.

I guided her away from Chuck, keeping my pace unhurried even as questions burned on my tongue. Only when we were well out of earshot did I lean down to murmur near her ear.

“Everything okay?”

Raina exhaled slowly. “Just Chuck doing what he does best. Trying to undermine things.”

Vague. Deliberately so, I suspected. But while annoyance still lingered in her eyes, she didn’t seem shaken, just irritated. I knew Raina well enough by now to trust that she could hold her own against someone like Chuck. Whatever he’d said, she’d diffused the situation, so I didn’t press further. For now.

“It’s still early,” I said, changing the subject. “Want to check out the hot tubs?”

The tension in her shoulders eased, replaced by a small smile that made something warm unfurl in my chest. “That sounds perfect.”

We returned to the suite to change, and now that we were alone again I was very aware of the sexual tension that was still so evident between us. It had been almost an entire week since I’d touched her—reallytouched her, the way I’d been dying to. I’d kept my hands to myself deliberately, wanting to prove that what I felt went beyond physical attraction. Wanting her to understand that she was more than a woman to warm my bed.

But God, I still craved her.

Raina disappeared into the bathroom with her swimsuit, and I changed in the main room, pulling on board shorts and trying to steady my breathing. This was fine. We were just going to relax in a hot tub. Nothing had to happen. Then she walked out and my body responded instantly, blood rushing south so fast it made me dizzy.

She was wearing a one-piece. Not the most revealing swimsuit I’d ever seen, but it clung to her curves in a way that left absolutely nothing to my imagination. The sleek material was a deep sapphire blue that made her eyes brighter, with strategic cutouts at the sides revealing the smooth skin of her waist and hips.

She reached up to pull her hair into a messy bun, and my gaze traveled over her slowly—the graceful line of her arms,the delicate column of her throat, the way her breasts strained against the front of her suit.

Fuck.My erection ached behind my shorts.

Before I did something stupid like cross the room, pin her against the wall, and fuck her like an animal, I tore my gaze away and retreated to the bathroom to grab towels. I needed a moment—several moments, actually, so I didn’t walk out in public with a boner.

Jesus Christ. Get it together, Powers.

***

The hot tubroom was empty when we arrived. Glass walls offered a panoramic view of the night sky, where stars scattered across the darkness like diamonds on velvet. A nearly full moon hung low on the horizon, casting silver light across the space. The lighting inside was dim and intimate, and the scent of eucalyptus hung in the warm, humid air.

Four hot tubs were set into the floor, each one bubbling gently, steam rising in lazy curls. The setting was undeniably romantic, the kind of place designed for couples to relax and reconnect.

Raina took a deep breath and released it slowly, some of the day’s tension melting from her frame. “This is beautiful. But I doubt it gets much use.”

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

She stepped to the edge of the nearest hot tub and dipped her toe in, testing the temperature. “Look around. This is the kind of thing couples enjoy together. It’s quiet, intimate, and an adult setting. But almost everyone we’ve seen today is part of a family with young kids.” She stepped down into the water, sighing as the warmth enveloped her. “I doubt most parents want to leave their children alone in a hotel room just to have a nice soak.”

I followed her in, settling onto the built-in bench beside her. The heat seeped into my muscles immediately, loosening knots I hadn’t realized I was carrying.

“So you think we should consider doing away with the hot tubs when we build the second resort?”

She chuckled, a low, warm sound that did dangerous things to my self-control. “You sound pretty confident Alexander’s going into business with you.”