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A groan worked its way up, but I swallowed it. The eddying shivers in my system coiled tight then unfolded again. We were both playing with fire. Then Marsha’s voice echoed in my ear about not wanting me to miss out on anything and all the things I wanted to experience
“You know what…yes, I’d like a glass of wine and to sit in the hot tub and to hang out with you.”
“Done and done.” Then he kissed me, a hard, fierce kiss where he tasted like chocolate. “Hmm… I’ll get the wine. You remember where the tub is, or do I need to come back and get you?”
“I remember.”
After he left me, I had to fight the urge to flop back on the guest bed. I laid my dress over a chair after I’d changed into the suit. The red bikini was skimpier than anything I’d ever worn. The thin triangles hid nothing, they were mostly window dressing.
It also put my breast hickey on prominent display.
Before I went downstairs, I slid back into his room and then ran up to jump on his rumpled bed. Turning my face into his pillow, I took a deep breath and sigh. Okay. Wine. Hot tub. Archie. I pulled my hair back and rolled it up and tucked it into a knot atop my head before I left the room.
I didn’t have to go far to find him. He waited for me at the bottom of the stairs. It was chilly inside the house in only the bikini, but the rake of Archie’s gaze over me warmed me right up.
“I wish I had my phone,” he admitted as he held out the wine glass. It was a clear, almost golden color. “I want a picture of this.”
The blushing returned in full force. “I don’t mind as long as I don’t end up on your Instagram.”
“Oh, babe, no this would be all for me.” He trailed his knuckles down my arm leaving shivers in his wake. “Next time, yeah?”
Outside, the rain continued to come down, but the hot tub bubbled away cheerfully, hints of steam rolling off the top. It wasn’t that cold, but my nipples were twin peaks of stiffness. I tried a sip of my wine—it was so sweet—before I slid into the water. The lights were on, but they were only fairy lights strung over the awning and gave a low glow. He reached over and hit a switch to turn off the lights in the water.
The dim light transformed it, made it easier. Then he climbed in and sank in next to me with a sigh. I tried another sip of the wine before I set it on the edge and then turned back to lean against the side. The water eddied around me, lifting and soothing. I hadn’t even realized how tight my muscles were until we got in.
The heat was wonderful. Archie found my hand in the water and slid his fingers between mine. “Good idea?”
“Great idea,” I sighed. “Better than a walk around the lake.”
“I liked the walk around the lake,” he told me, giving my hand a squeeze and then tugging me a little closer. “I even like mini-golf when I do it with you.”
Snickering, I tilted my head back. “You never said you didn’t like mini-golf.”
“Confession time—not my favorite thing. It’s ridiculous and goofy. But it’s fun when I go with you.”
“Archie, we were going every weekend for a while there.”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I know, and I’d go every weekend with you now, if you wanted.”
Elbowing him, I turned in the water so I could look at him. “You can’t do that. You have to tell me when you don’t like something.”
“I told you, I liked the time with you. Didn’t matter much what we were doing.”
Sometimes… “You say the damnedest things.”
Dipping his head to press a kiss against my shoulder, he whispered, “I know there are things you do for us or with us that you aren’t a fan of and you do it anyway.”
“Hmm…” I sighed when he mouthed a kiss to my throat.
“You know, I keep looking at these hickeys—and I want to leave one, too.” There was something possessive in his voice, and it sent a shudder down my back.
“Covering them up is already a challenge,” I muttered.
He slid his arm around me and lifted me off the seat and turned me until I straddled his lap. “I’ll leave it somewhere you can cover easily. Promise.”
“Tempting,” I admitted as he nuzzled a kiss to my other shoulder.
“Good,” he said with a chuckle. “So come on, ‘fess up. What have you done with me that you didn’t enjoy?”
