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“Downplay how terrific you are.”
She squirmed a little beneath his intense regard. “I get uncomfortable when anyone says nice things about me.”
“Why is that?”
“I guess I don’t always believe that I deserve it.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
She lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “Ever since I was three, I knew my father didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I thought that was my fault.”
“But you know it wasn’t.”
It was easier to talk about her insecurities when she was staring at his chin. His outraged expression made her feel even worse. “These days, sure. But it hurt for a long time and I forged some armor that I wear when I’m feeling vulnerable.”
“You don’t need to wear it around me.”
He kissed her with reverent gentleness, endeavoring to heal her hurts with tenderness. Violet’s chest ached. Falling deep in love with him was so easy when he offered her his support like this. But she couldn’t help but be saddened by the fact that he wouldn’t let her help him in kind.
In the calm after their earlier passion, JT and Violet snuggled in his big bed, their hands offering comfort and connection, their lips meeting in affection. They exchanged no words. The union of their bodies was an effortless way to communicate.
Violet didn’t return to the problem of how to broach the subject of his father’s possible identity theft until almost five in the morning. JT lay on his stomach beside her, hands buried under the pillow, his features softened by sleep. She reclined on her side, head propped in her hand and watched him. Memories of their lovemaking moved through her nerves like a breeze through a weeping willow. Her hormones stirred lazily in response.
Too wide awake to sleep and knowing she’d be tempted to rouse JT if she kept staring at all his naked glory, Violet slipped from the bed and put on a robe. The moratorium regarding her skinny-dipping had been lifted and she padded downstairs. Earlier, their hasty retreat to the bedroom meant that the living room’s glass walls had not been closed. Nor had the lights been turned off anywhere. Violet moved through the various rooms and left a trail of darkness in her wake.
The warm night air pressed against her skin as she stripped off the robe and used the stairs to enter the pool. Despite the water’s comfortable temperature, she shivered. Swimming had always been both a way to exercise and a method for sorting through whatever problems she was having.
She’d been on both her high school and college swim teams. Maybe she hadn’t been the fastest competitor, but driven by a fierce desire to catch her father’s attention, she’d worked harder than most. All in vain, of course, because it wasn’t as if he’d ever attended a meet. Eventually she’d accepted that their lack of a relationship was her father’s loss not hers, and she’d learned a valuable lesson in loyalty. Never would she let anyone down. If she gave her word, she would move heaven and earth to keep it.
Which brought her to the file on Preston Rhodes. Tomorrow she would show JT what it contained. With the stockholder meeting approaching and his father still holding all the cards, if they had the chance to discredit him, they needed to take it. But was JT ready to destroy the last member of his immediate family?
Violet left the pool and grabbed a quick shower in the pool house before returning to the master suite. Dropping the damp towel on the floor, she climbed naked between the sheets. Convinced she’d left and returned withou
t waking JT, she was surprised when his arms snaked around her waist, drawing her firmly against his side.
With his face buried in the crook of her neck, he murmured, “You smell like chlorine.”
“Impossible. I showered before coming back here.”
“It’s barely detectible, but there.” He pressed his lips against the pulse in her throat. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d have enough energy for a swim. I guess I’ll have to do better at wearing you out.”
She laughed at the sting of his nip. “I didn’t swim. I waded. It isn’t always about burning off excess energy. Sometimes it just feels good to hang out and enjoy the scenery.”
“Is that what you were doing tonight? Enjoying the scenery?”
“And thinking.”
“About what?”
She hesitated, unsure she wanted to disrupt JT’s good mood. “About the upcoming stockholders’ meeting and the shares we still need.”
JT stopped kissing her neck and lay very still. “I don’t want you worrying about that. This is my battle to fight, you’ve done enough.”
“This is my fight, too.” Although she was certain he was merely trying to protect her, Violet bristled. “Don’t shut me out. I can help.”
“My father. My problem.”
“We’re married. Our problem.”
