But here, I could roll out of bed and right into the water. This place had half a dozen pools, and I was determined to try every one of them. And paddleboard. And surf. Hell, our own little cabin had a hot tub in the back and none of us had even set foot in it yet.
What with the hot sun, the cool water, and the gorgeous brunette, I was having one hell of a morning.
Maddie had looked beautiful in her dress at the reception last night. And the sight of her in bed in just her shorts and t-shirt earlier, when her hair was all messed up in a sexy way was hot—even though she’d been pissed at me. But now, here in the pool, now that we’d coaxed her out of her enormous t-shirt, she was a goddess.
The strangest thing was that she didn’t seem to know that.
She had eyes—gorgeous hazel eyes the color of warm honey—yet she couldn’t see the way we kept staring at her. Not that we were trying to ogle her, but damn, that body of hers… it made it really hard to look away.
So I had to distract myself. I challenged Jessie to a race—a real one this time. We did the backstroke. I won the first time. He won the second. But neither of us wanted to break the tie because it was too much time away from Maddie.
Her suit was a black one-piece. On its own, it wasn’t very exciting. Probably if it were laying on the floor next to my bed—and man, that thought made me hard—it would look dull and drab. But on her, it looked magnificent.
She had curves in all the right places. So many curves. Her hips, her ass… it was all so inviting. So damn touchable. Her waist was small, but her breasts? Damn, she was built. I’d had no idea, and I didn’t think the others did, either. For some reason, Maddie had done her best to hide it.
I swam up next to her while she was talking to Jessie. The last thing I heard her say was, “Okay, thanks.” Then she made her way over to the ladder and pulled herself out of the pool.
Naturally, Jessie and I were mesmerized by the view. I gave a low whistle as I turned back to my buddy. I wasn’t happy that Maddie had gotten out of the pool, but since she had, I was very glad I’d been here to see it.
Jessie’s eyes were on her too, as she went to a bag she’d put on a chair.
“Is she leaving?” I asked him.
“Nope.” My old pal looked rather smug, which wasn’t a usual thing for him. “She needed my help with something.” He put his hands up on the side of the pool and with one smooth movement, hoisted himself out. Water dripped off his black board shorts as he walked over to her.
I leaned my forearms on the edge of the pool and watched as Maddie sat down on the edge of a lounge chair. She scooped her curls away from her face and deposited them over one shoulder. Then she handed a white tube to Jessie.
Crap. Now I understood.
Jessie sat behind her, perhaps a bit closer than he needed to. He poured sunblock into his palm and then rubbed his hands together, warming it up. And then he ran his hands all over that beautiful, creamy skin.
Lucky bastard. If only I’d gotten over here a few seconds earlier. Then again, maybe Maddie still would’ve chosen him to rub the lotion on her back and shoulders. He had innocent, puppy-dog eyes that women tended to trust. I’d seen it happen before.
Brock swam up and joined me at the edge of the pool. “Now there’s something you both don’t want to see and can’t look away from.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You know, if we drown him, she’ll probably forgive us at some point and let us rub in the lotion.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or she might get cranky. You never know with women.”
We were silent while we watched Jessie and Maddie. Our friend was making the most of the opportunity. Probably he’d applied about a year’s worth of lotion to Maddie’s flawless skin by now. It didn’t seem right that she appeared to trust him so easily. He’d played his part in hoodwinking her earlier. That whole thing about the backward butterfly stroke was pure genius. We’d done something like this before, but the butterfly stroke was a new addition to the con.
Brock was silent as he stood next to me. In a way, I’d been a little surprised that he’d gone along with our scheme. He’d known from the minute I started dogpaddling what I had in mind. He’d frowned at me then, but then a few minutes later, he was the one who’d suggested the race.