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“Then allow me to be the first male to bother you during your workout with an inane attempt to get you to notice me.” He gestures to the room. “As you can see, it’s a bit of a sausage fest, so I will not be the last, especially if you insist on walking around in those tight-as-fuck jeans.”
The way he says that in his posh voice, with that casual confidence that almost leads me to believe I misheard him, makes my insides all gooey. I meet his steel-gray eyes, and I’m not thinking about the Bellua boys anymore.
“I don’t plan on frequenting the gym, so it won’t be a problem. I like my exercise outdoors, away from sweaty people and loose nuts.”
“That’s fair. There’s an excellent running track through the woods. I run most mornings. Perhaps our paths will cross again during your stay.” He quirks an eyebrow at me. “May I ask what brought you to the Bridgemont Hotel? Business or pleasure?”
Mmmmm. The way his voice rumbles over the wordpleasure.
“Business. You?”
“Business.” Levi’s gaze sweeps down my body, and his full, pouty lips curl back into an appreciative smirk that should have me calling the feminist police but instead makes my stomach twist into knots. “And pleasure.”
Okay, maybe this guy isexactlymy type.
My fingers brush the remainder of the stones in my purse. I should finish laying them out and then get back to my room and use the spell Becka showed me to activate them.
I glance toward the hot pools. Steam curls off them, enticing me.
“Were you heading to the pools?” Levi asks. “After an encounter with Old Man Rodney, one feels the need to scrub one’s body clean, so I’m taking a dip. I’d be delighted with the company.”
A stab of something that may be guilt shoots through my gut. I ignore it. I owe nothing to those three dickweasels upstairs. I can take a little break from work…
“Sure. I’d love that.”
I follow Levi through the glass doors into the partially outdoor pool area. There are several small pools dotted around different levels with waterfalls cascading between them, all extending off a large central pool beneath the curving slate wall. Couples cuddle in the smaller pools, their heads bending together in private conversations. Wait staff move between, offering champagne and water.
Levi heads to an ornately carved wooden bench and peels off his shirt. I’m momentarily distracted by the tattoos that curl around his taut pecs—a startlingly beautiful rendition of Hieronymus Bosch’sGarden of Earthly Delights.
The line work is stunning. The tattoo looks like a painting, but it’s an interesting scene to have inked on your body. Naked men and women engage in various pleasures around a central, water-bound globe.
“I’m an art historian, of sorts,” Levi says when he catches me staring. “I work for someone who likes to collect beautiful things. The Dutch masters are of particular interest.”
“Of course,” I manage to choke out.
My mouth goes completely dry as Levi kicks off his gym shorts to reveal a pair of shiny boxers, a trim waist, and one of those Adonis Vs. I’m mesmerized as he steps into the nearest pool, his fucking perfect body disappearing into the steam, and his hand beckons me.
“You coming?”
It’s only then that I realize two things.
One—I don’t have a bathing suit with me.
Two—my entire body is strapped with knives.
But I can’t back down from the challenge in his eyes or that amused tilt of his mouth. His eyes devour me as I drop my hoodie onto the bench and tuck one of my knives inside it. I kick off my boots and shove them under the bench, managing to avoid stabbing myself in the foot with the knife in my boot.
Finally, I remove the strap from my waist and discard it, mentally thanking myself that at least I wore my nice black underwear without the holes in them.
The walk from the bench to the pool feels like a million miles with Levi’s gray eyes watching me. I bring the third knife with me and rest it on the edge of the pool.
“Just in case you’re a psycho stalker,” I say as I wade into the blistering hot water.
A lady can’t be too careful.
Levi lowers himself into the water. Steam curls around his muscular arms. His leg brushes mine, and the water heats up another ten degrees. I look over my shoulder and see that we’re alone in one of the tiny pools. Dangerous.
Intriguing.
