“And miss the chance to push off from the wall like you all will? I don’t think so.”
Kincade chuckled. “Can’t fool you.”
“Are we ready?” Brock demanded gruffly. We all nodded and he continued. “Just once to the far side, tag the wall, and come back.”
“And remember, all you have to do is to beat one of us,” Jessie said. He had his arms spread in what he clearly seemed to think was a butterfly-ready position.
“You start us off, Maddie.” Kincade hunkered down in the water, one foot flat against the pool l wall behind us.
I mirrored his pose and took a deep breath. “Ready?” Three gorgeous men nodded. “On your marks… get set… go!” I pushed off from the wall, doing a modified freestyle stroke. I preferred not to get my hair soaked if I could help it. But there was water rushing at me from all sides, or so it seemed. I sputtered and put my feet down. Wiping my dripping eyes, I looked for the men and my jaw dropped in shock. All three of them were nearly halfway across the fifty-meter pool.
Brock was doing a freestyle stroke that was much more professional than mine. His elbows bent at ninety-degree angles as he twisted from side to side, turning his head to the side to breathe every second stroke.
Kincade swam long distances underwater, coming up only to breathe every so often. He looked like a damn dolphin.
And Jessie… Jessie was doing a butterfly stroke worthy of Michael Phelps himself.
I gave up all thought of trailing after them as I watched them go. All three of them were phenomenal. Outside of the Olympics, I’d never seen such fast swimming.
And it was obvious they’d hustled me. I shook my head as I thought about how Kincade had pretended he couldn’t float on his back. And I’d bought it!
But Jessie was the one who really shocked me. Brock, well, he was a hard man to figure out. But Jessie seemed like an open book, yet he’d completely fooled me with his so-called attempts to figure out the butterfly stroke.
The men were on their way back and I moved to the side, not wanting to be knocked off my feet by guys moving so fast they looked like torpedoes. Brock touched the wall first, lifting his torso out of the water and throwing his head back, causing water to spray out in a wide arc around his head.
Jessie was a close second, doing that perfect butterfly stroke until the very end. But where was Kincade? I scanned the water, but I didn’t see him until he emerged right next to me, scaring the crap out of me.
“Hello, Maddie. How many of us did you beat?” He smirked at me and didn’t even seem winded.
“Technically, I was at the wall before you all,” I pointed out.
Jessie and Brock joined us. “Because you never left it,” Brock said.
I shook my head at the three of them, trying to figure out how get them back for tricking me. It made me angry—but not at them, at myself. Because somewhere, deep down, I was a little turned on by how they’d manipulated me, and especially, how they’d worked as a team to do it. There was something sexy about three men who knew each other this well. Whether they were using their powers for good or evil, it was impressive. Or hot.
Kincade grinned at me. “I believe you owe us something, Miss Maddie.”
I sighed. “You were serious about that?”
“Deadly serious.” Kincade nodded.
“What difference does it make if I keep my shirt on? I’m not hurting anyone.”
“A deal’s a deal,” Brock said.
I huffed out a breath in frustration. “All right. But you three have to turn your backs.”
“So you can take off your shirt? We slept next to each other, for God’s sake,” Jessie said.
“Plus we’ll see you once it’s off anyway,” Kincade pointed out.
“I know, but just turn around while I take it off,” I insisted. Kincade rolled his eyes, but he turned his back to me. The others did the same.
All three of them were a few feet away, their broad, muscular backs to me.
Which was exactly where I wanted them.
Pulling the extra-large t-shirt off, I plunged it into the water, really soaking it. Then I lifted it out, gathering the heavy, dripping wet fabric into a ball. “Okay, you can turn around now.”
When they did, I heaved the shirt as hard as I could, flinging it right at them. It hit Kincade in the face, hopefully wiping the smirk off. Part of it plunged in the water, splashing Jessie. Only Brock was fast enough to move out of the way.
I grinned as I watched them sputter.
The look of shock on their faces was priceless.
9
Kincade
God, why wasn’t every morning like this? Most days, I barely had time to roll out of bed before the calls, the texts, and the pounding on the door started. I lived in a suite at the Cabot Hotel and Casino in Vegas. When you lived where you worked, you were never off the clock.