He closed his fingers around hers, nodded, and hauled her from the pool as if she were a feather, albeit a very big, wet one.
Whoa, hot, and strong.
She steadied herself, ignoring the gawking people around them, and the laughing people filming the situation on their phones. Ignoring Simon cursing and swearing and promising to break Owen’s ass when he got out of the water.
Ignoring everything except Owen.
“I’m not sure if what I just did is grounds for being deported,” he said, “but I hate seeing a wanker go unpunished. Goes against my—”
She threw herself at him, wrapped her soggy arms around his neck, and crushed his mouth with hers.
He thoroughly joined in with the kiss, grabbing her sodden ass with strong, firm hands and hauling her hips closer to his.
Her mind registered a rather impressive, rather hard bulge, and liquid appreciation flooded her core.
Oh yeah, baby!
“Bitch!” Simon’s whiney shout sank into her pleasure, and she broke away from Owen, breath ragged. Ignoring Simon—and everyone else around them—she looked up into Owen’s gorgeous hazel-green eyes. “I need to get out of these wet clothes.”
Something dirty flickered in his gaze. “You do.”
“Wanna help?”
His nostrils flared. “Bloody oath.”
“What?”
His smile turned as dirty as his eyes. “Means hell yeah.”
“Hell yeah,” she echoed, slipping out of his arms. She lifted her right hand to her mouth, pulled off her dripping fuzzy brown Scooby-Doo glove with her teeth and tossed it over her shoulder.
In the pool, Simon continued to rant and insult her.
Owen flicked him a glare, but she stopped him with a gentle palm on the side of his face. “Forget about him,” she ordered. “He’s a snake. Not worth your time or mine.”
“Fuck you, bitch,” Simon snarled, splashing water at her from the pool.
Owen’s eyes narrowed, and he looked back at her. “Okay.”
God, she loved how easygoing he was.
She snagged one of his hands with her bare one, threaded their fingers together, and pulled him closer to her again. His head dipped down to hers, his lips hovering barely an inch from her own. “Ready?” she murmured.
“Lead the way,“ he murmured back.
She turned and led him through the crowd, headed for the apartment she shared with Elisa and Zeta. Her feet squelched with each step, the thick, brown fluffy socks she’d worn as part of the Scooby-Doo costume now more like thick, brown sponges wrapped around her feet.
“Screw this,” she muttered, stopping abruptly.
Owen stopped beside her, his curious smile turning to a grin as she used him as a balancing wall while she yanked off her left sock.
“Consider this foreplay,” she instructed with a smirk, switching feet.
He laughed and caught her with a quick hand as a shard of cold pain sank into her left hip, making her yelp and crumple toward the ground.
Concern filled his eyes as he watched her straighten, his hands on her upper arm and elbow gentle but still firm. “You okay?”
Letting out a huff, she gave her hip a rub and scowled. “Yeah.”