No one else was near them. His peripheral vision was shutting out any movement or colour around them. All of his focus was on Grace. His internal monologue was trying to talk sense to him but right now he wasn’t thinking about the fact she was a member of his team. Right now he was doing his best to forget it. Right now he was concentrating on the fact that every time he was near Grace his senses were scrambled. All he could think about was acting on the unspoken acknowledgement between them.
He smiled. He couldn’t help it. It was a smile of expectation about what could happen next.
The sun was getting lower in the sky behind her, lighting up every curve of her body, every drop of water on her skin. He couldn’t have pictured her any more perfectly.
The tidal surges were strong. They were hit by one wave and dragged back towards the ocean by another. His reactions were automatic and his hands were on her waist in an instant. Her palms landed on his chest and they both lowered their gazes, staring at them there.
Her eyes lifted to meet his. The green almost hidden next to her wide dark pupils. He could see the pulse throbbing at the base of her neck and it willed him to lean a little closer. To touch it with his mouth.
‘Great minds think alike,’ he murmured. He was talking about the fact they’d both headed for the ocean. But it didn’t quite come out like that. Not while they were standing so close and their bodies were touching. It was as if the words danced across her skin, edging her closer until their hips met underwater. The cool water was doing nothing to dull the fire in his blood. Nothing to dampen his desire for her. If things heated up any more the ocean around them would start to sizzle.
His fingers around her waist pulled her even closer, leaving her in no shadow of a doubt about his reaction to her bikini-clad body.
Her body reacted too, her nipples hardening against his chest.
This was it. This was the outcome of the electricity that had been around them right from the start. If Donovan stuck his hand into a socket right now he could light up the national grid.
He felt her take a deep breath. It was as if she were calming herself. Steadying herself for the next step. She relaxed her head and neck, letting her head tip back to reveal the pale skin of her throat. Her hands moved, sliding slowly up his chest onto his shoulders, and he let out an involuntary groan. She raised herself on tiptoe under the water, bringing her head into closer alignment to his. He tipped his downwards until their noses almost touched.
Neither had really spoken. Only those few words. But the air around them was charged with electricity. Every time she breathed her barely covered breasts came into contact with the planes of his chest.
Donovan didn’t want to waste another second. He dipped his head and claimed her lips as his own, tasting the salt, mixed with some lip balm. Her arms curled around his neck as she pressed her body into his. Grace wasn’t shy. She was more than a match for his kisses.
Their mouths parted and the kiss deepened. His hands moved from her waist, sliding down the curve of her firm backside. Her breasts were pressed against his chest. Grace Barclay was all woman. And, boy, did it turn him on.
There was a little noise. A little whimper as their kiss deepened. Heat was coursing through his body. He moved from her full lips, turning his attention to the soft skin of her neck and throat. Finding the throbbing pulse at the nape of her neck and luxuriating in her sighs as he worked his way round.
His hand moved in one movement from outside of her bikini bottom to the inside, cupping the bare skin of her backside. No one was close enough to see a thing, and even if they had been, the ocean was covering the lower halves of their bodies.
Her fingers were gliding across his back, pulling him even closer as they were buffeted by the waves. Then they changed direction, following his lead downwards. The movement made his stomach muscles twitch as they skirted past the hairs on his lower abdomen and headed even lower. They skirted around the edges of his shorts, tentatively making their way beneath.
Suddenly this seemed like a much more private party.
He let out a growl and pulled back. Her eyes widened at his release and the water swept between them. He lifted his feet from the sea bed, leaning back a little and letting the water take his weight. Grace was breathing heavily, trying to compose herself after what had just happened. Donovan was hoping the cool water would soothe the fire in his groin. Thank goodness for baggy running shorts. Leaving the water could give someone an eyeful.
Her breathing started to slow. He could see the hesitation flickering in her eyes. There it was again. That doubt.
Why did she think he’d stopped? He’d had to. They were on a public beach. It was the first time he’d touched her. The time in the DPA shower had been entirely different. He wasn’t even sure what he was doing here. He’d never made a move on a colleague before.
Relationships in the DPA had consequences.
He moved in the water, catching her hand in his. ‘Grace? We’re out in the open. Anyone could see us.’
‘I know.’ Her voice was quiet. She straightened as her feet connected with the sea bed again and she took a couple of steps closer to the shore. Her eyes were averted, focusing on the motel next to the beach. ‘This wasn’t meant to happen.’
The words jolted him from the current euphoria his body was feeling. It was one thing for him to have doubts about what he was doing. It was another for Grace. Was he really that arrogant? He planted his feet down. A wave of disquiet started to crowd his senses. Maybe he’d misread this situation completely. ‘What do you mean?’
Her voice had the tiniest tremble, but her tone was determined. ‘I mean that you’re my boss. This is my first assignment.’
She was saying the words, but the conviction in her eyes just wasn’t there. His head started to swim. What was he doing? Law suits and legal terms started to circulate in his brain. Would Grace claim some kind of harassment? The cool breeze prickled his skin, every hair on his arms standing on end. He had no idea how to play this. He’d never been involved with someone at work before. Had never wanted to cross that line. Maybe this was why.
‘Are you trying to deny what’s happening between us, Grace? Tell me I’m not imagining this. Tell me I’m not reading this wrong.’ He was feeling panicked. Was all of this in his head? He’d never had any problems reading signals from the opposite sex before. The thought that he’d misread Grace was alarming in more ways than one.
But Grace shook her head. There was a sheen in her eyes. Was she going to cry?
He reached over before he could stop himself, putting his hands on her shoulders. ‘Then what is it, Grace? Tell me what’s wrong.’
He could see her gulp, licking her lips and flinching from the taste of salt that must be on them. The tremble in her voice had increased. ‘Go online, Donovan. Read Twitter. See what my colleagues have to say about me.’ She pressed her hand to her chest. ‘I want people to think I earned my place on the team not by getting naked wi
th the boss. I want to be here because I deserve to be here. Not because you’ve decided I’m flavour of the month.’
‘What on earth are you talking about?’ She was moving away. Striding back towards the shoreline.
He couldn’t figure out what was going on here. One minute she had been kissing him like her life depended on it, the next she’d been looking at him as if he’d just crossed some unspeakable line. Which he had. And which he didn’t want to think about.
The semantics of should he/shouldn’t he kiss a team member couldn’t even figure in his brain right now. What was front and centre was the way Grace had just looked at him. As if she’d been disgusted with both him and herself. As if they’d just done something terrible.
That was the expression that was going to keep him awake tonight.
‘Grace! Come back. Talk to me.’ His voice verged on desperation. He almost didn’t recognise the sound. None of this was familiar to him.
But his words fell on deaf ears. Her strides were becoming longer as she neared the shore and the pull of the water lessened.
Should he go after her?
If she’d been wearing anything else when she’d come down here it was clear she was abandoning it. As she hit the beach she didn’t stop, walking as swiftly as possible across the sand and back to the motel.
He had a clear view of her body, but his eyes were drawn to the ragged scar on her shoulder. In this fading light it stood out angry and red. A clear reminder of something that had happened in Grace’s past. Something he didn’t know about. Something he wanted to ask her about.
Every bone in his body wanted to go after her. But every brain cell told him not to.
He had to stop. He had to think this through. What on earth did she mean about Twitter—and why would that have any impact on what was happening between them?
Donovan couldn’t remember the last time he’d logged onto his account. Social media wasn’t really his thing. He liked the internet, he liked the opportunity of access to information and facts whenever he needed it. But did he really want to know what someone else had for dinner? No. Not at all.