“Have you ever?” she asked.
“Ever what?”
“Ever gone skinny-dipping?”
He couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. Not while she stood inches away, breasts straining against the nearly sheer fabric, tempting him with hidden secrets she had yet to reveal.
“Tell you what. I’ll break the ice. I’ve gone skinny-dipping.” She clasped her hands behind her back, rocked on her heels and grinned.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Damn but she had a way of catching him off guard. He supposed a part of him still thought of her as prim and proper Mallory because she’d actually shocked him with the admission.
He shut his eyes against the carnal images she provoked deliberately. “Let me guess. Kiddie pool at day camp.”
She laughed, the sound breaking through the night air and the crashing waves behind them. “Not hardly. High school, senior year. Prom night. My last hurrah.”
Mallory recalled her one and only venture into the waters nude—like tonight it had also been on a dare. She’d grasped at that one last bit of spontaneity and freedom before buckling down for her ordinary, well-planned life.
“Did you like it?” A grin caught his lips in a devastating smile.
“Not as much as I’d thought I would.” As she listened to the sound of the water around them, she recalled the chillier waters on a cool May night at the New Jersey shore. A stark difference from the warmer summer waters here. “Let’s just say it was an experience.”
He shook his head, a combination of amusement and amazement lighting his expression. “If I hadn’t seen you in action last night, I’d never believe you had it in you.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” And she was surprised she’d divulged as much as she had.
Even Julia didn’t know she’d shed her good-girl inhibitions that one night. But Mallory was learning that Jack was a surprisingly easy man to open up to, and she enjoyed the intimacy created by revealing her secrets under the night sky.
His eyes focused on her, intent and serious. “Good thing I’m an eager student. I want to learn all about you.” He held out his hand. “Walk with me.”
She accepted the gesture. Warm and eager, his fingers closed around hers and he tugged her toward the rushing tide. Cool water lapped at her bare feet in erotic contrast to the heat inside her.
“You never answered the question. Skinny-dipping,” she reminded him. “I’ve done it. Have you?” She dared a glance from the corner of her eye.
“Would you respect me in the morning if I said no?” He bowed his head at the admission.
Jack Latham, embarrassed? Her heart skipped a beat at his surprising confession. The exchange of secrets had just become mutual. Her body hummed in keen anticipation of more closeness to come, so she didn’t make light of his honest statement.
“I respect the truth. So why wouldn’t I respect you?” She opted for sincerity since heckling him now would only drive him away and she wanted him as close as he could get. “How’d you miss out?”
He shrugged. “No opportunity. We grew up in the city. I’ve been sprayed by many a fire hydrant but I’ve never dipped.”
“You never left the city? Not on a vacation or anything?”
“We didn’t do family vacations.”
Her chest constricted at the unsaid but implied discontent in his childhood. “Neither did we,” she admitted softly.
She caught the flicker of recognition in his eyes, of a possible kindred spirit who understood.
“There’s always time.” She deliberately downplayed the subject. Only she needed to know he’d given her ammunition for a more opportune time. Another night, another invitation.
He paused and pulled her close beside him. “How about now?”
She shook her head. He was naughty tonight and she liked his playful side. “How about not? I like to wade before diving in. Test the waters, you know?”
Those intense eyes seemed to darken even more. “Why do I get the sense you’re testing me?”
“Because we’re obviously alike. Neither of us can resist a challenge.”