I scoff. “Mad skills, woman,” I say. I flex my muscles at her and she laughs.

“I didn’t bring a suit.” She looks disappointed.

I unzip my bag and pull out a big T-shirt, and toss it to her. “I won’t look.”

“Okay,” she says quietly.

She goes into the bathroom and changes. She comes back out and I’m already wearing the trunks I brought. “Do I look all right?” she asks.

I let my eyes roam up her naked legs and higher. Her nipples pebble against my shirt. “You look good enough to eat,” I tell her.

She looks away, but she’s grinning.

“I’m going to get you so wet,” I whisper to her in the elevator.

She giggles and hides her face.

The pool is completely empty when we get there. The sun is just going down and the sky is painted in shades of purple and pink.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she asks me.

“Yes, you are.” And, good God, she is. She takes my breath away.

She grins at me again and I can’t take my eyes off her. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Only the ones who have pants I want to get into.”

“Race you to the deep end,” she suddenly yells, and she runs down the steps of the pool, right into the water. It reaches up to grab her and envelops her. She stands up and brushes her wet hair back from her face. “Chicken,” she calls. Then she dives in and swims for the other end of the pool.

Damn, but she can make me laugh.

I don’t even wait for the lift to get set up. I set the brakes on my chair, and go right over the side into the water. “It’s fucking freezing,” I tell her when I surface.

She splashes me. “You looked like you could use a little cooling off.”

“I’m not the only one. The whole way here, you looked like you wanted to have me for dinner.” I push my palms against the water and throw a wall of water her way.

She blows air out through her wet lips and wipes her face. “That wasn’t very nice.”

I chuckle. “I think the idea of you having me for dinner is a very nice one.”

She shakes her head and starts to swim in the other direction. “You’d have to catch me first.”

I reach out and grab her ankle. Then I jerk her back against me. Her legs wrap around my waist, and I think she’s about to start getting frisky with me, but she just tips her hips and dunks me under the water.

“That wasn’t very nice,” I tell her, mimicking her earlier tone when she told me the same thing. I wipe my face.

She unwraps her legs from around me but she doesn’t move away. I can feel the heat from her body through the cold water.

“How did you learn to swim?” she asks.

“My parents used to take me.” I shake my hair, showering her with water drops, and she squeals.

“How’d you re-learn to swim?” She nods toward my legs, which are under water.

“Rehab. But it wasn’t too hard. What about you?”

“Emilio wanted something to keep us all busy during the summer, so he got us lessons at the pool.” She snickers. “He wasn’t quite used to having five girls underfoot at once. It took him a while to get used to us.”

She pushes off the side of the pool with her feet and slides across the surface of the water. The end of her T-shirt lifts up, and I can see her panties.

“Do you have paw prints on your panties?” I ask.

She grins at me over her shoulder. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

I hook her foot and draw her back to me. She paddles as hard as she can, but she can’t get away. She squeals when I throw the edge of the T-shirt up and palm her ass. “Nice,” I tell her. I look into her face. “Is it all right when I touch you?” I ask her quietly.

She goes still, floating on the surface of the water. “I’ll let you know if it’s not.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she replies.

“I kind of need for you to say yes.”

She sputters. “To what?”

“When I touch you, I need for you to let me know it’s okay.”

“Yes.”

“Deal?”

“Yes.”

I palm the back of her head and push it underwater. Then I take off for the deep end of the pool. One thing I can say for sure: this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. And I hope it doesn’t end. At least not anytime soon.

Star

I’ve never seen a pool lift in action, so Josh has to tell me how to lower it down to him and how to lift him up. It’s a lot easier than someone might think. When he’s up, he transfers to his chair and wraps a towel around his shoulders.

He holds out a towel to me.

“I’m okay.” I wave him off.

His eyes linger on my boobs. “I can sorta kinda see through your shirt,” he tells me, his voice quiet and rough.

I look down. He’s right. “Sorry.” I snatch the towel from his hand and wrap it around myself.

“No need to apologize.” He laughs. “Any time you want to give me a peek at the goodies, you go right ahead. But I’d rather you not show them to anyone else in the elevator.”

My teeth start to chatter.

“You should get in the Jacuzzi when we get back to the room. It’ll warm you up.”

Words tumble from my lips before I can even think. “I will if you’ll join me.”