“Maybe the problem with so-so… is me.”
Rhys strode closer. His hands locked on her hips, and turning her, he walked her into the bathroom. “Doubtful,” he said against the shell of her ear.
He kissed her again.
Kissing this man was unlike anything she’d known, when every kiss had been the same. It wasn’t like they’d used up their magic. His tongue slid into her mouth. The tension fled her shoulders. Need spiraled in her core, pulsing between her legs.
“You okay?” he asked, his lips softly teasing her before he inched back, waiting for her answer.
No one had ever looked at her the way he did. Everyone wanted something. Maybe that was how she looked at them too. But she and Rhys didn’t have that quid-pro-quo connection required in Hollywood. “Completely.”
He pushed her hair behind her ears, touching her like she was fragile, like no one had ever really seen who she was, and now that he had, he was keeping a secret from the world. “What do you want to do?”
Did he want her to go to bed with him right now? She could do that.We could…Her pulse picked up.
“Let’s go swimming,” he said, as if knowing she was on the edge of spiraling into a panic.
“My swimsuit isn’t here.” None of her belongings were. Though they should arrive any minute.
He eyed her gauzy pants and white linen blouse. “What do you have under there?”
Jules blushed. “Not much.”
“You’ll figure something out.” His midnight eyes flared, and Rhys pulled his shirt over his head.
God. This man.Carved and sculpted, he stood before her, letting her drink in the hard planes of his chest and the rippled muscles of his stomach. Fifteen years, she’d known him. Fifteen years, she’d seen his body grow from the gym-earned muscles of a twenty-something to the hard-cut muscles of a man.
“Come on.” He laced his fingers with hers, as was his custom, and led her outside, through the sliding glass door in their bedroom to the patio overlooking their infinity pool.
Rhys unbuttoned his shorts and unzipped them then let them fall to his bare feet. His dark boxer briefs curved over him like they’d been custom-fitted for his powerful thighs, his muscled backside, and the length of his thick cock.
Again, he let her drink him in as though she’d never seen a real man before.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said, breathless, feeling her body turn to liquid. She was unsure whether she could handle more of him before her legs gave out. “Are you getting naked?” Could she sound any more uptight and prudish? Probably not.
He smirked. “Not yet.”
That mouth on him might kill her. That mouth onher. God. That was what she wanted. An instant blush shot from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.
“C’mere.” His hands found their place on her hips again, and Rhys walked them out of the shadow of the bungalow, into the warm glow of sunshine. On each side of them, protective hedges and a fence taller than the bungalow blocked them from theneighbors. Straight ahead was the infinity pool that transitioned into the ocean of turquoise and aquamarine.
“Are you going to get in?” she asked.
“Are you?”
She nodded.
“Good.” Rhys released her, walked to the far side, dived in, and stroked under the water until he glided to the far corner against the ocean, then he rested his arms on the edges. “It’s perfect.”
A beautiful man perched against a beautiful world.She couldn’t imagine anything more inviting. Her fingers trembled as she unfastened the buttons of her linen shirt. The fabric slid down her arms as he watched, mesmerized. Her heartbeat thundered as she unfastened the drawstring of her pants and let the gauzy fabric pile at her feet.
In her bra and underwear, she’d never been more vulnerable. Never felt more desired.
He stole her breath and wasn’t even close enough to reach. He was just watching, like he had all the time in the world and intended to use every second of it.
Jules walked to the spot he’d dived from and did the same. The cool water ran over her hot skin, and she swam straight to him then surfaced, wiping her eyes. She treaded water an arm’s length from him.
