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I’m standing by the pool with two perfectly salted margaritas in hand when she steps outside.

Holy fuck.

Cammie’s wearing the tiny pink bikini I picked out, heart-shaped sunglasses perched on her nose, and a pair of heeled slip-on sandals. And because there is a god… nothing else. The late afternoon sun kisses her skin, highlighting every curve I’ve been dying to get my hands on for weeks.

She looks like sin and sunshine wrapped in one gorgeous package. I have to remind myself she’s still healing before I do something stupid like drop the drinks and maul her.

I walk over, grinning like an idiot, and hand her one of the glasses. “Pool time calls for margaritas. And since you’re officially off all the heavy meds, these are doctor-approved.”

She takes the glass, brings it to her lips, and licks a slow stripe of salt off the rim before taking a sip. The little moan of pleasure she makes goes straight to my dick.

“Oh, Rita,” she sighs happily, “how I have missed you.”

I bark out a laugh. “You named her Rita?”

“I name a lot of things,” she says with a saucy little shrug, taking another sip.

My eyebrows shoot up. “What about me?”

She looks me up and down slowly, eyes dragging over my swim trunks, my abs, then lingering on the straw cowboy hat I’m wearing. I know it looks cool as shit, no matter what Piers says.

She bites her lip, fighting a smile. “I’m tempted to call you Cowboy.”

I grin so wide it almost hurts. “I’ll take it.” I set my own drink down and gesture toward the pool. “No swimming for you yet, sugar. Doctor’s orders. But you can sit on a lounge chair or put your feet in the water if you want.”

“Feet in the water,” she says immediately.

I grab a thick cushion from one of the chairs, drop it on the edge of the pool, and carefully help her sit. Once she’s settled, I hand her margarita back. “Here’s Rita.”

She takes it with a bright smile and coos at the glass like it’s a baby. “Did you miss your mama, sweet girl?” Then she licks another bit of salt off the rim and takes a long, satisfied drink.

I stand there watching her, heart thumping hard in my chest. I take a long sip of my margarita, then nod toward the pool. “You mind if I get in?”

“Absolutely not,” she says, lips curving around the rim of her glass.

Grinning, I set my drink down, take a few steps back for a running start, and launch into a full front flip off the edge. I cut cleanly into the deep end, the cool water closing over me. When I surface, my hat is still perfectly in place. I shake the water out of my eyes and grin up at her.

Cammie’s laughing. It’s bright and carefree, and it makes me feel all buzzy inside. She looks like she’s having the time of her life, and I did that. Me.

I swim over until my feet can touch, then walk through the water until I’m right in front of her. She spreads her legs enough for me to step between them. I rest my forearms on the edge of the pool on either side of her thighs, looking up at her like she hung the damn moon.

“Someday,” I vow, “I’m going to take you on a proper date. Candles. Music. The whole nine yards.”

She reaches down and plucks the straw cowboy hat off my head, setting it aside. Her fingers slide into my wet hair, pushing it back from my face. The touch sends heat racing down my spine.

“I don’t know,” she murmurs, eyes soft. “This is pretty perfect.”

I quirk an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

A slow, sexy smile spreads across her face. “Hot cowboy, salty margarita, sexy bikini, and heart sunglasses that are perfectly me.”

I lean in and press a lingering kiss to the inside of her thigh, right above her knee. Her skin is warm from the sun and tastes faintly like coconut sunscreen. She shivers, and then I feel it—the soft, sweet bloom of her perfume rolling off her in waves.

Fuck. That scent is going to be the death of me.

I kiss her thigh again, slower this time, letting my lips linger on the soft skin. Her perfume blooms even stronger. My cock throbs hard against the inside of my swim trunks.

When I lift my head to look at her, she gently pushes it back down with one hand in my wet hair. Fuck. An omega who knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to take it.