“Yes.” She sounded a little reluctant, which made me smile.
We waded back to the jet ski, and Maddie seemed to have regained some of her equilibrium. I had her wait while I dragged the giant machine deeper into the water. Then I climbed onto it and held out a hand to her.
She reached for it but then hesitated, cocking her head up at me curiously. “When you showed up before, did you use a line from the Terminator?”
I laughed. “It was too perfect to resist.” She was definitely recovering if she’d remembered that.
Maddie took my hand and climbed up behind me. Now that she wasn’t so out of it, I could enjoy feeling her body pressed snugly against my back. Her hands barely reached around be, either because of my broad chest or her ample breasts. Either way, it felt incredible with her behind me. It almost made up for missing out on laying next to her at night like Jessie and Kincade did.
Almost.
It didn’t take long to get back. I pulled the jet ski up beside other boats the resort had for rent. I wanted to walk Maddie back before I dealt with checking it in.
She walked somewhat stiffly by my side as we made our way along the beach. That seemed a little odd since it felt like she was more comfortable with me than before. Finally, I asked her what was wrong.
“It’s all this salt. The lagoon was lovely, but I still feel sticky, and the salt keeps scratching me.”
She had such soft, delicate skin that I didn’t doubt that. “If you give me sixty seconds, I can solve that problem for you.”
“You can?” She looked up at me as if not sure if I was serious.
“Yep.” We were getting near the main beach in front of the lodge.
“You’re not going to throw me in the pool, are you?”
I grinned. “Not unless that’s on your island bucket list.”
“It’s definitely not.”
“Then come with me if you want to be less sticky.”
She grinned at my rephrasing of the Terminator quote and followed me as I turned onto a wooden boardwalk. The wooden ramp rose up, skirting some sea grass and rocks. It led to the far end of the pool area, but we had one stop to make along the way.
Halfway up was a little area off to the side with three wooden walls that came up to my chest… and a showerhead mounted on a wall.
“I thought these were changing rooms,” Maddie said.
I snorted. “Would you change in there?”
She looked at the little structure, blushing when she noted it was open on one side. “No, but I’d only seen them from a distance.”
I gestured to her to step inside. “Ready to become salt-free?”
She giggled. “Low sodium products are never as good as the original.”
Her joke made me smile, but it also made me wonder what it would be like to taste her.
Tentatively, she twisted the handle to turn the showerhead on. As a spray rained down, she stuck her hand under it. “It’s warm!”
“One of the benefits of being in the tropics.”
All hesitation gone, she peeled off her dirty t-shirt and slung it over one of the walls. This was the closest I’d been to her while she was wearing her bathing suit. Her curves were really… generous. It made me think about how it had felt to have her breasts pressed against me on the jet ski, and I had to turn away to hide my growing erection.
Maddie closed her eyes as she put her face under the flow of water. “This feels so good.” The throaty little moan she gave didn’t help my problem, but at least she had her eyes closed. She pushed her hair away from her face. “If only I had some shampoo, this would be perfect.”
The contented expression on her face showed that it already was pretty damn perfect, but what the hell, the lodge wasn’t far. “Stay right there,” I said and then jogged up the boardwalk. We needed towels anyway.
Once at the lodge, I grabbed some towels and a small bottle of shampoo from a woman at the front desk who was clearly in no hurry to see me go.
But I was in no mood to dawdle
My eyes locked on Maddie as soon as I stepped outside the building. I had to grin as I jogged back to her. Though there were no signs, shampoo likely wasn’t allowed in the outdoor showers because of its effect on the ecosystem. But Maddie was worth breaking the rules for. I vowed that when I got back home, I’d plant a tree or two to make up for it. Or, more likely, I’d make an intern do that and then donate money to some kind of environmental charity.
Maddie was still blissed out under the stream of water when I returned. The only difference was that she’d taken off her shorts and hung them on the wooden railing next to her t-shirt. I paused for a moment to admire the change. The woman was built—and just my type. I liked a woman I could touch and hold and squeeze without feeling like I was going to break her. And God, did I want to touch, hold and squeeze Maddie. The trouble was, I knew two other people who did too—and none of us had a fucking clue what she herself wanted.