Her pretty lips quirk, and she stands, giving me a look as if she’s onto me. “Is Taron giving you orders now?”
I guess she thinks she has some power over me now. Maybe she does. Either way, I’m pissed. “Did something happen on the boat? Is that why you jumped in the water?”
My voice is sharp. If I find out Jerry touched her… Fuck. The anger in my stomach is irrational. Lines are getting blurred, and I’m not happy about it.
“I was feeling seasick. I told you.” But she doesn’t meet my eyes when she says it. Her cheeks flush, and she focuses on the hotdog she’s lifting off the plate.
“But you’re hungry now?”
She shrugs. “Jumping in the water cured it.”
My eyes narrow. I’m not believing any of it, but I can’t force her to tell me the truth. She takes a bite of hot dog and turns away from me as she chews. I take the other one and finish it in three bites.
A wooden bench is on the end of the pier, and I walk over to sit down. Marley said it first, now Taron. I’ve been so focused on the expansion, the launch, and keeping our shit together, I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I even thought about a woman. Then this one walked into my office and flipped everything on its head.
She’s back in that lounger, stretched out in the sun like a cat. The brim of her large straw hat covers her face, but I see her glossy, pink lips. Her arms are slim and tanned, stretched out on the chair, and her small breasts point up to the sky in her bikini top. Her hair is drying in messy waves.
Only a few inches of her stomach are exposed, but her legs are on full display, shapely and long. I remember them wrapped around my waist in the water, and my mind fills with thoughts of touching her, tracing my lips along her inner thigh, tasting her, circling my tongue around her clit as she moans my name…
“Are you uncomfortable there?” She’s staring at me, and I blink away those thoughts. “I’m sure Sandra wouldn’t mind if you used her chair.”
“I’m okay.” I should probably leave.
She pushes the front of her hat up so I can see her eyes. “Are you going to swim?”
“No.” I start to stand, but she keeps talking.
“Don’t you like to swim?”
“No.”
“Then why are we here?”
“They like it.” I gesture toward Taron and the other three standing around the grill, talking and joking. “I’d rather be snow skiing.”
She laughs, and my eyes cut back to her. “Do you always do things to please others?”
“No. Hardly ever.”
“I don’t believe you. I think every decision you make is out of concern for them.”
I study her face, and her cheeks flush under my scrutiny. She lowers the brim of her hat again and leans back.
“Why did you take the job at my firm?”
Her chin pulls back, and she pushes the hat up again, studying my face. “What do you mean? It was a good offer.”
“You could have gone corporate.”
“Do you wish I had?”
Do I? “You’d have more options, deal with fewer… idiots.” My glance moves to where Jerry is standing beside Sandra, watching us.
She exhales a little hum. “I wanted to stay closer to home for now. And I bet there are idiots everywhere.”
When my gaze returns to her, those clear blue eyes study me. It makes me slightly uncomfortable. I want to know what she’s thinking, if there’s any other reason she’s here.
“What happened out there was…” What am I trying to say? What do I want to say? “It’s not a good idea.”