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“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Who said you were asking?”
“Jonah, your plate is so full already with running the ranch and trying to unravel Talon’s history. You can’t take mine on as well.”
“Who says I can’t? We will figure it all out, Melanie. I promise. But right now, would you please take a swim with me?”
She smiled, and her beautiful emerald eyes lit with green fire. “All right. Like I always tell my patients, if you fall off the bike, get back on.” She stood and came to me, gazing down. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here for a while.”
“Please don’t worry about that. I want to help. It’s the least I can do.”
If she only knew.
I stood beside her, and together we walked out onto the deck and down the walkway to my swimming pool. I shed my jeans and dived in naked. The water was warm yet crisp against the night air.
I rose to the surface. Melanie was shyly touching her toes to the water.
“Go ahead and get in the hot tub if this is too cold for you. I’ll join you in a while.” I was aching to do a few laps and work off some of this tension.
“It actually feels good.” She tentatively shed the robe and laid it on a chaise longue. Then, instead of going in slowly via the steps as I expected her to, she walked to the edge, only limping a bit, and executed a perfect swan dive into the water.
When she rose, her blond hair slicked back against her head, her breasts bobbing on the surface, I said, “I thought you said you weren’t much of a swimmer.”
She laughed. “I’m not. But I’m a pretty good diver.”
“So I see. That was perfect.”
“Not exactly perfect, but it will do.” She started swimming forward.
I followed, doing several laps of the front crawl and then switching to the backstroke.
After a couple laps, Melanie rested on the side of the pool, sitting on the steps, while I continued swimming.
When I was sufficiently winded, I joined her near the side. “Ready for a dip in the hot tub?” I asked.
“Sounds heavenly.” She followed me to the tub.
As we stepped into the hot water, it occurred to me that I had never had a woman in my hot tub. I’d had women in other places in my house, but never out here. I was happy that Melanie would be the first. If only she could be the last.
She took a seat in one of the shallower seats, stretched her arms out on the railing, and inhaled. “This feels great. The only thing missing is—”
“Lavender?”
“Yes. How did you know what I was thinking?”
“Maybe I know you better than you think I do.” I hoped that was true.
She closed her eyes, inhaling again. “Wow, this could relax the tension out of anyone. And boy, do I need that.”
I leaned over and kissed Melanie’s forehead. “Just relax all you need to, baby. No one is going to bother us.”
And then a voice.
“Joe?”
Chapter Sixteen
Melanie
