“That sounds kind of nice.”
“It wasn’t.” He came into view. His face was flat, lips tugged ever so slightly down. “Those first few weeks were a nightmare. I would’ve died more than once if my brother hadn’t kept my afloat.”
“Are you close? With your brother?”
“I was. He died a long time ago.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He did a lazy backstroke then looked at me again. “I don’t know why I find swimming so calming. It isn’t a good memory, but maybe that was a simpler time.”
“Is your father still around? Are you close with your parents?”
“He passed two years ago. My mother lives in upstate New York in that house on the lake. I speak with her every day if I can, but I wouldn’t say we’re close.”
“I know what you mean. My mom died when I was little and my dad was sort of… He was sort of absent.”
“Absent is an interesting way of putting it. You mean he was too busy running a gambling ring and extorting small businesses into paying him protection money to spend much time with you.”
“I wasn’t going to put it that way, but yeah, that’s probably right.” I felt a sudden pang of anger. I didn’t know the judgmental tone he took when he talked about my family. “I didn’t know any of that. It wasn’t like he told me. I thought he was just another normal Dad.”
“When did that change?”
I leaned back and floated on my back. “I was a teenager when I realized things were weird. You know, when I was old enough to notice my friends’ parents, how they lived and stuff. We always had cash. My dad paid for everything in cash, and he had bundles of the stuff lying around the house. That was so weird, but I guess it makes sense now.”
He floated next to me, drifting closer. The room was so quiet except for the hum of the pool filters and my breathing and the water lapping against my ears.
“Why did you run away from home?”
The question made my fingers curl into fists. “Something happened. I don’t want to talk about it.”
I heard his face turn toward mine. But if he wanted to press, he chose not to. “Do you miss Boston?”
“No, not at all.”
“Do you miss the family? All those MacKenna bosses?”
“Not even a little.”
“That’s good. I think they won’t be happy with you.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
He came closer. His arm brushed against mine. I was suddenly self-conscious—my scar might be showing. I dropped down under the water and swam away then came up and tread water.
He looked at me curiously.
“You look good in the water, you know. The wet hair suits you.”
“That’s a weird compliment, but I’ll take it.”
“I wasn’t sure about the red though. You strike me as a girl that wears black or dark blue, but it suits you too. Brings out the pink in your cheeks and the slight red highlights in your hair, at least before you jumped in.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
He swam toward me. “Yes, I am.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
“Based on the color of your lips and the way you’re looking at me, I think you’re okay.”
“You know you have this way of looking at people, right?”
“No, I don’t. Describe it to me.”
“It’s like you want to rip me to pieces.”
Another quirk of his lips. “More like rip that bikini to pieces.”
“You could’ve chosen something more revealing, you know.”
“Would you have put it on?”
“No, probably not.”
“Then I chose right. You look good in that, Cassie. I think you’d look good in less.”
“You can think about it all you want.” I floated up onto my back again, heart racing, nipples stiff with excitement. “I’m not sure I want to give you the real thing.”
I turned and started to swim away. I wasn’t very fast though and he easily caught up with me. But instead of passing, he moved to the side and grabbed my hips.
I sucked in a shocked breath as he wrapped his arms around me—
And pulled me tight against him.
We tread water together, his arms around my lower back, my hands flat against his wet chest.
I felt something stir against me. Something hard.
Something thick and very, very hard.
His other hand moved down and gripped my ass hard.
“I think you’d let me untie that bikini right now if I wanted it,” he said softly, almost a whisper, and yet his voice filled the pool, bouncing off the tiled walls and ceiling. “I think you’d let me push you up against the wall, or pin you down to one of those benches, and let me strip off that tip, those bottoms, and let me have my way with every inch of your delicious skin.”
“I don’t think you know anything about me.”
“Let me find out.”