Before I Die

Without waiting for a response, he walks past me, toward the pool.

I twirl around in time to see him step up to the edge and then dive in gracefully. A few seconds later, he surfaces and gives his head a shake. Droplets of water fly around him, and I imagine licking them off his body to quench my thirst.

“Are you going to make me swim alone?” He shoots me, what Blaire would call, a panty-dropping wink.

I give him a soft smile. “Yes, I am. I dipped my feet in there earlier and it’s too cold for me.” Lie.

“Liar,” he says with a knowing smirk. “It’s warm.”

“I just ate. I was taught not to swim after you eat.”

“Thought you weren’t doing what your mother says anymore.”

Damn him! He’s got me there.

“Whatever.”

“Don’t make me beg,” he says with an adorably sexy pout. “Get in here.”

I’m pretty sure Ethan has never had to beg for anything in his life, and the thought of him begging me for a simple act such as me getting into the pool with him has my heart racing.

“No,” I deadpan.

“Did you just tell me no?” he asks, as if he can’t believe I uttered that simple two-letter word to him.

“I did.”

He grins from ear to ear, making me crack a smile.

“I’m not a huge fan of that word.”

I shrug. “It’s one of my favorites.”

His smile turns cocky. “Fair enough.”

His muscles flex as he pulls himself out of the pool, and my mind goes back to the night in the club when he used those same muscles to lift me onto the bar…

Ethan grabs my hand, the coldness from the water touching my palm, and leads me over to the hot tub. He gets in first and turns toward me, still holding on to my hand as he helps me step into the hot, bubbly water. The entire reason I didn’t want to get in the pool was so I wouldn’t be so close to him, and now I’m about to be even closer.

“No swimming in here,” he points out before I can think of a reason not to go in.

He lets go of my hand and finds a seat, and I push away the thought once again of how badly I want his body touching mine.

With him sitting on one side, I make it a point to sit on the other. His shoulders shake with silent laughter, but he doesn’t call me out on it. Instead, with his arms spread out on either side of him, he leans his head back against the hard surface and closes his eyes. With nowhere else to look, I use this moment to admire his features. His chiseled jaw is covered with thick stubble, his strong nose is slightly crooked, as if he’d broken it once and it didn’t heal properly. With his eyes closed, his thick lashes rest on his cheekbones. I wonder how a man, who is so dangerous, can be so gorgeous. Shouldn’t he look more evil? Then I think about what I’ve learned over the years about temptation and laugh softly to myself. He’s like the devil in disguise—a spider ensnaring his prey—he’ll lure you in with his good looks, and before you know it, you’re trapped in his web.

A web I wouldn’t mind being tangled up in…

“You’re staring.” It’s not a question. I’ve been caught. This is usually when I would shy away out of embarrassment, but I don’t. How am I ever going to start living if I’m always embarrassed or nervous or unsure of myself? I’m stuck in this beautiful house with this gorgeous man. Maybe instead of him luring me in, I should do the luring…Why does he get to be the spider and I the prey?

“You’re kind of… pretty,” I admit, shocking myself.

Ethan sits up and glares my way. “Just what every man wants to hear,” he says dryly, but I can see the laughter in his eyes.

“Okay, fine.” I huff dramatically. “You’re ruggedly handsome. Is that better? Make you feel more manly?”

“Yes.” He nods matter-of-factly.

I roll my eyes and tilt my head back, just like he did before, enjoying the jets hitting my back.

“Tell me about the other night,” Ethan says after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

“With Logan?” I ask, confused that he would ask when he already knows what happened.

“No, I don’t want to talk about that fucker. I want to talk about the night you kissed me.”

I open my eyes and give him my attention. “My birthday night? What do you want to know?”

“Shit. It was your birthday that night?”

I give him a tiny nod.

“Well fuck, now I feel like a shitty boyfriend. I didn’t get you flowers or anything.”

I giggle at our inside joke. “You gave me more than you know.” I lick the beads of perspiration that are forming above my lip from the heat of the water, ignoring the way Ethan has zeroed in on my mouth. “I wasn’t expecting to run into Gerald that night—”