“I’ve got my boxers on. I’m good.”
I laughed. A good hearty laugh, a laugh like I hadn’t laughed in a long time. And it felt so good.
“All right, Jonah. Lead me to your pool.”
We walked down the carpeted hallway, through the kitchen, to a lovely little family area complete with bar. Two gorgeous French doors opened out onto the redwood patio.
And a huge yard. A panting golden retriever ran up to us.
“Hey, girl,” Jonah said, petting the dog on the head. “Meet a good friend of mine. Melanie, this is Lucy.”
Lucy licked my hand. She was beautiful. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”
“Oh, yeah. All three of us do. We love animals around here.”
A cobblestone walkway led to his pool. Lucy walked next to me, her soft fur brushing my leg. A light breeze was blowing, but I wasn’t chilly. Still, I thought it might be a little too cold for swimming.
As if reading my mind, Jonah said, “Dip your toe in. You’ll see. It’s a great temperature.”
; I did as he suggested, and sure enough, the water was pleasantly warm.
“I swim every morning, even in the dead of winter if I can get out here. As long as we’re not snowed in, I swim.”
“You mean the water doesn’t freeze?”
“When it gets really cold, I cover the pool at night, but remember, it’s heated. So, no, the water doesn’t freeze.”
I didn’t even want to think about the electric bill…but Jonah Steel wasn’t the kind of man who had to worry about bills.
“I keep my hot tub up and running year-round as well. And Melanie, there is nothing like sitting in a hot tub, with a martini, while snow is falling around you.”
I created a visual in my mind as I looked over at the hot tub sunken into the ground next to Jonah’s pool. Would I ever sit in the hot tub during a snowfall with Jonah?
Right then, I wanted to more than anything in the world.
“So you feel like a swim?”
“I’m not a great swimmer,” I said. “I mean, I know enough not to drown, but I won’t win any medals. I mostly just splash around a little.”
“That’s absolutely fine. Here, let me help you.” He untied the oversize silk robe at my waist, shoved it over my shoulders, and set it neatly on a nearby chaise longue.
“So is the water to your liking?”
“Yeah, feels great.”
He licked his lips, grinning. “Good.” And he pushed me into the water.
Chapter Twenty–Seven
Jonah
I hoped I hadn’t gone too far, but within a few seconds, Melanie’s blond head bobbed up, and she had a smile on her face.
I wondered, then, when was the last time she’d had any fun. Real honest to goodness fun.
And I wondered if it had been before or after I had.