Dare to Touch (Dare to Love 3)

Olivia nodded. “I understand. I’m sure we’ll find time later to talk.”

“Come on, babe.” Nick placed a hand on his wife’s back and steered her toward the back of the pool and the extremely expensive covered cabanas. Nick, both in personality and ability, deserved the best the team could offer him.

“Want to take a swim?” Dylan asked her when the family was out of sight.

She blew out a breath and nodded. “That sounds great. It’s brutally hot out here.”

He rose and extended his hand, offering to help her up.

She shot him a grateful look and placed her palm in his. He helped her to her feet, unable to keep his eyes off her hot body. From the way she eyed his chest, the feeling was mutual. He shifted to the side, wishing he could discreetly adjust himself. He was rock hard and needed to get under the water immediately before everyone around the pool knew what he wanted to do to Olivia and damned whoever was watching.

They started in the shallow end, walking down the wide steps inside the pool. She had one hand on the metal bar and eased into the comfortable water. She hit the second step down and pushed off, gliding through the water and cooling off her body, the ends of her hair trailing through the water.

He caught up with her with one good push off the step ledge and grabbed her around the waist, backing her into the wall.

“Dylan!” she squealed in surprise, but she didn’t look unhappy with his approach.

Knowing how important appearances were to her, and aware of proper decorum himself, considering he was technically on the job, he glanced around. Sure enough, people were either sunbathing or too preoccupied reading, talking, or splashing one another to care what he and Olivia were up to.

She met his gaze and shyly snaked her arms around his neck. One of the things he found most endearing about her was her honest reactions and lack of pretense. She wasn’t bold and certain in dealing with him, and he respected that. He needed to be aware of her uncertainty and occasional insecurity, but he hoped that, in time, she’d lose those inhibitions.

“You feel good here, in my arms.” He pulled her against him, and she wrapped her legs around his waist beneath the water.

“I like it here,” she admitted.

He pressed a kiss to her damp lips. “Let’s have dinner here tonight. They have a restaurant, and you can rent private cabanas where they’ll serve you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? That sounds great!”

“Just you and me,” he clarified.

Her smile widened.

Without warning, a splash of water hit them both, leaving them soaking wet.

“Kyle Andrew Lerner!” a woman called out angrily. “I told you, no splashing! Apologize to those people right now, and then out of the pool for a time out.”

Dylan glanced at the mother, who was fairly young herself. She had a toddler at the steps across the way, and she was pointing toward the empty pool chair right near her, where she obviously expected her son to sit.

Dylan’s gaze shifted as a little boy, around eight, looked up at them with big brown eyes filled with tears, his bottom lip trembling. “Sorry,” he said, then turned and made a beeline toward his mom.

“She’s a good parent,” Dylan murmured.

His own mother wouldn’t have cared whether or not he splashed another person. She wouldn’t have bothered with discipline unless he kept her from doing something she wanted to do. And most importantly, she wouldn’t have taken him to a pool for fun, never mind on a vacation of any kind.

He drew a deep breath and refocused on Olivia. Her gaze was still on the little boy, who was now pulling himself out of the pool.

“I feel for the kid,” Dylan said. “Gotta be embarrassing getting yelled at by your mom in front of strangers. And having to apologize. But she did well with him.”

Olivia swallowed hard. “Yeah. She did.” She pulled away from him and started for the far stairs nearest to their seats.

Dylan narrowed his gaze. “Liv, wait up!”

He followed her out of the pool, where she grabbed her towel off the seat and wrapped it around herself like protective armor.

“Hey, what just happened?” he asked.

She shook her head, her eyes damp. He needed to let it go, and he would. For now, but not for long. Obviously something about the episode had affected her deeply. Dylan’s reaction to the boy went back to his childhood. Had Olivia’s? Or was there something more?