His playful antics force a smile on my face while also saturating my one-piece swimsuit. Leaping up from my sun chair, I snag a towel off the table next to me and pat my vibrant red one-piece swimsuit dry.
Since I’m so immersed in drying my swimsuit, I don't notice Colt sneaking up on me until it's too late. Goosebumps prickle my forearms when he wraps his thick arms around my torso and hoists me off the ground. I squeal an ear-piercing protest. My pleas to be put down are barely heard over Lacey's boisterous giggle.
“Do it, Colt! Throw her in the water!” Lacey yells through a barrage of laughter.
I scamper up Colt’s torso—climbing him like a monkey climbs a tree—before locking my eyes with his mischief-filled gaze.
“Don’t you dare,” I warn, my voice low and crammed with false anger.
I've always been a sucker for Colt's mischief-filled eyes and cheeky grin. Normally, he just flashes me the quickest smirk, and I do anything he requests. But today is different; I'm not the same Blaire I was five days ago.Not even close.
“Don’t you want to go for a swim, baby girl?” Colt smiles so broadly, the dimples in his bronzed cheeks become exposed.
“No.” My reply is quick and resolute. “I’m happy tanning.”
Colt stops striding when we hit the edge of the pool, then drops his gaze to me. The afternoon sun beaming off his blond locks shrouds him in a golden halo, making him look more angelic than his mischievous composure.
“Tanning?” His quick reply is unable to hide his laughter.
I return his sassy glare before nodding. Chlorinated skin, sunscreen, and the scent of a burly male filters through my nose when we face off in an intense, sweat-producing stare down. Lacey doesn’t pay us any attention, as this type of bantering is nothing out of the ordinary for Colt and me. Every time we’re together, flirtatiousness hangs thick in the air. We’ve been flirting pretty heavily the past seven months, but it’s never gone any further than two friends toying around.
"What are you willing to give me not to throw you in the water?" Colt barters with his green eyes locked on me.
I narrow my eyes into thin slits, pretending I’m annoyed by his banter. "Nothing, because you’re going to put me down as I'm requesting."
My grip on his thick biceps tightens when he straightens his arms and dangles me over the water like I'm a weightless child. This is no hard feat for Colt. He works as a personal trainer at the local gym. He can bench press two hundred and fifteen pounds, so my five-foot-six 120-pound frame is easy-peasy for him.
“Colt! Don’t you dare!” I squeal, praying to the lord he doesn’t dump me into the pool.
Colt’s smile broadens when I wrap my legs around his waist and clamp his hips with my thighs.
"Do you have your phone on you?" he asks, obviously recalling the prior time he threw me into the pool fully clothed while I had my cell phone in my pocket. His wages were stretched to the absolute limit when he replaced my phone with the latest model the very next day.
“Yes!” I lie. “I have my cell!” I’ll say anything if it saves me from being thrown into the deep end.
My lie is squashed when he turns his eyes to the lounge chair I was lying on and spots my cell phone sitting on top of my beach towel.
“Nice try, baby girl,” he chuckles, returning his blazing eyes to me.
I dig my nails into his biceps. “Please, Colt. I'm begging you.”
This time, my voice comes out sounding like a plea instead of a demand. I’m not below getting down onto my knees at this point.
“Three, two, one...” Colt counts down, ignoring my begging protests.
“I have a tattoo!” I scream when his shakes loosen my death-tight grip curled around his waist.
Colt freezes.
Time freezes.
Everything freezes.
Feeling an indiscreet stare burning a hole in the side of my head, I swing my eyes to my left. Lacey is staring at me, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.
"No way. You'd never get a tattoo.”
The veins in my neck thrum when she scampers out of the pool and stands next to Colt in less than a heartbeat.
