Shaelynn took his strong hand in her wet fingers, sinking deeper into the bubbles of the gigantic hot tub so she didn’t inadvertently give him a free show. Because, of course, that would be brazen and inappropriate, right? Bad enough she’d made herself at home here while he was gone. But with her bare breasts close to the surface, her whole body responded to his touch and the wicked heat of his hazel gaze.
“My name is Damien....”
I tapped out a revised scene for my heroine later that day as I relaxed in a den off the back of Damien’s monstrous house. I’d spent all day either entertaining Violet Whiteman or prepping rooms for her and her husband in the half-finished wing that Damien had built for future guests. Since I’d taken the best suite for myself the night before, I’d had to move my stuff out and clean things up—change the linens, wash towels and whatnot.
I’d misplaced some stuff that I still needed to look for, but I was too tired tonight. The flash drive that had been in my laptop was missing, the biggest cause for concern, since I liked to back up my manuscript each time I worked on it. Knowing me, it had fallen out while I was moving things from the SUV into the guest room the night before. I’d been so tired after helping with the new foal, I’d hardly known my own name. I couldn’t find a shirt I’d had from the Gutsy Girl show, either, but since my whole life had been stashed into a vehicle for the move, I guess the disorganization wasn’t a big surprise.
Now I waited for Damien to get home so I could give him an update on his guests. Before Scotty left for the day, he’d told me his boss had escorted a stallion to another breeder about an hour away. I might have made myself comfortable in a different guest room if Damien had one, but the rest of the visitors’ accommodations were unfinished, so I’d come here.
His house was huge. As was his hot tub, which I’d noticed while wandering around the massive house. Seeing it tucked in one corner of a lower-level living area had made me think of my manuscript, and I’d decided to write a little more. The words came faster, now that I could visualize the hero so well. I had come to think of Damien as the stranger who owned the house in the woods where my heroine had crashed her snowmobile. The man who sparked sexy thoughts in Shaelynn with a simple touch of his hand had become so real for me. So vivid and enticing...
...She needed to release him before the moment turned awkward. But it was as if this gorgeous man had walked out of a sexy daydream when he’d appeared out of nowhere. The moment was surreal, as if the night had no consequences.
So, against all social conventions, she dragged his hand down into the water. Placing his palm on her bare left breast.
She watched his eyes widen for the briefest of moments before they narrowed. He plunged his hand deeper, cupping the weight of the taut mound and lifting it above the water. Her nipples pebbled to impossibly tight peaks as he lowered his head to capture one pink tip between his lips—
“Miranda?”
The unmistakable male voice in the hall behind me made me sit up so fast I knocked over my laptop. It fell with a clunk to the thick carpet beneath the love seat.
“Here!” I announced myself, feeling oddly guilty and more than a little overheated. My heartbeat raced. “In the den.”
I stood up and yanked the power cord stretched over my legs out of the device. I reclaimed the laptop from the floor and closed it with a click, ensuring the screen went dark.
“Hey,” he offered by way of greeting, looking far too gorgeous in faded jeans and a long-sleeved black tee. “Sorry I left you here by yourself all day.” He stepped deeper into the room and I noticed he’d taken off his shoes. There was something intimate about a man walking around in his socks. “I forgot about a stud appointment at a nearby farm. Normally I have a transportation guy come in to do that, but since it was close...”
With a weary sigh, he sank into the love seat I’d just vacated. He didn’t finish his sentence, instead gesturing for me to sit beside him.
All I could see were his lips around my—that is, Shaelynn’s—nipple. So awkward. So delicious. I had no experience handling situations like this. After Rick had mocked my virginal efforts in bed, making me feel graceless and undesirable, I’d really avoided intimacy. Really. As in, no sex since Rick.
I was so far out of my depth with Damien it was laughable. Still...a girl could dream.
“Can I get you some dinner?” he asked, thankfully unaware of me drooling over him as he scrubbed a hand through his thick, dark hair. “There’s a Greek place up the road that caters.”