“Can you take it from here?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
Jamie wasn’t fooled. “Coward,” he accused softly, but took hold of the rubber edge and deftly pulled it up to his thigh.
Using the attached squeeze bulb, Rachel sucked the excess air out of the protector until Jamie’s leg was literally vacuum sealed inside the latex.
“Nice,” he said, smoothing his fingers over his leg. “There’s no way any water is getting inside.” He looked up at Rachel and smiled, and her insides went a little mushy. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
She stepped back as Jamie swiveled his leg to the side of the chaise, and reached for his crutches. Rachel handed them over, and watched as he deftly rose to his feet. He looked over the pool.
“Should I use the steps, or the diving board?”
“Jamie!”
She was honestly shocked he would even consider jumping off the diving board with his injured leg.
“The steps,” he confirmed, seeing her expression. Sliding his sunglasses over his eyes, he adjusted his crutches under his arm.
“Here, let me help you.”
“Nope, I got this.”
Rachel watched as he made his way to the shallow end of the pool, sat down at the top of the wide steps that led into the water, and laid his crutches aside. Still seated, he lowered himself into the water, one step at a time, until he was floating up to his chest.
“Ah,” he breathed, rotating his arms in the water. “This feels incredible.” He looked up at her and grinned. “C’mon in, the water’s great!”
The cool blue of the water did look inviting. Rachel couldn’t recall the last time she’d just enjoyed being in the sun and water. There was no way she could shed her cover-up and get into the pool without Jamie seeing her, so she just took a deep breath and pulled the gauzy garment over her head, and tossed it onto the nearby chair.
“You look…incredible,” Jamie said. “That’s, er, a good color on you.”
The raspberry bikini probably made her skin seem even whiter, if that was possible, and Rachel resisted the urge to look down at herself, just to be sure everything was adequately covered. Then, aware of Jamie’s eyes on her, she walked to the steps and made her way into the water with as much grace as she could manage.
“There,” Jamie said, when she was finally floating beside him. “Doesn’t that feel good?”
“It does,” she agreed. “How is your leg?”
“Never better,” he assured her. “Nice and dry.”
He had sidled up beside her, and before she could react, he put a hand on top of her head and pushed her beneath the surface. She came up, spluttering and indignant, slicking her wet hair back from her face.
“Why did you do that?” she demanded, when she could speak.
Jamie laughed, unrepentant. “Because you looked so uptight and self-conscious. Be glad I have a broken leg, otherwise I would have picked you up and thrown you into the deep end.”
“Why, you—” Mindful of his leg, Rachel braced her hands on his shoulders and attempted to return the favor. But instead of going under, Jamie hauled her against his chest.
Rachel could have pushed away. It would have been easy enough to do. Instead, she let him steer them into deeper water. She wasn’t going to fool herself into believing she hadn’t seen this coming, or that it wasn’t exactly what she’d hoped might happen. Jamie was a gorgeous man, and she would be kidding herself if she said she didn’t find everything about him sexy as hell.
She slid her arms around his neck, and he held her in place with one strong hand against her back. His body was warm and sleek and muscular, and the water sloshing between them made wet, sucking noises. Knowing she was heading into dangerous—forbidden—territory, Rachel slid her leg against his good one, reveling in the slippery-rough sensation against her sensitive skin.
He propelled them to the side of the pool and kept them balanced there with one arm on the edge, before removing his sunglasses and setting them on the tiles.
“What are you doing?” Rachel asked.
“What I’ve been wanting to do since I first saw you getting out of that Porsche,” he muttered, and lowered his head.
The kiss was hot.
Searing.
Rachel had expected the sweet tenderness of their earlier kiss, but this one obliterated that memory. This was something primal, urgent. Jamie’s mouth slanted over hers, and his tongue mated with hers in a slick, hot glide that made her muscles clench, and her bones go soft. She shifted closer, and there was the unmistakable thrust of his arousal against her abdomen. The sensation caused an instant reaction, as her sex bloomed with heat.