But when I left the Lowe house, let myself in through her gate, and walked up the hill toward her pool, she was nowhere to be found.
“Erika?”
I dropped my bag on one of the loungers and peered toward the windows of the house. We’d come a long way in our relationship but barging in uninvited to her house wasn’t something I felt comfortable doing yet, plus I was still wet from the pool. Maybe she was in her pool house.
Heat rose inside me at that idea. We could role play and reenact when we’d watched each other jerk off, only this time we’d get to do all the things we’d wanted to do then. That could be hot.
But she wasn’t in the pool house either.
I stared at the work bench where she kept her chemicals. Fuck it. I was here and I was supposed to do it anyway. I grabbed the water test kit, went outside, and plunged the plastic collection block elbow deep into the pool, turning it right side up to let it fill with a sample.
I put the drops in and swirled the block, checking all the levels—which were fine. The skimmers were mostly clean, but I emptied them anyway. I dumped the sample water in her rock bed, repeated the process for the spa, put the kit back in the pool house, and measured out the chemicals I needed. She didn’t use her pool much, but it’d been a few weeks since I’d shocked it.
When I came out of the pool house carrying the measuring cup, Erika was standing in the shade of her covered patio. I tossed the cup of powder into the deep end, then set the plastic measuring cup on the table beside the lounger, making my way up the two steps to meet her.
Holy shit.
Around her shoulders was a white, gauzy cover-up, but I was more focused on what was beneath. I gazed at her blue-green bikini with a small ruffle accentuating her magnificent cleavage. “Is that new?” I grinned. “I like it.”
“Thanks.” She seemed distracted as she pulled out a chair at the table to sit. “Can we talk business for a minute?”
“Yup.” I sat in the chair opposite her. “Before I forget, you’re almost out of shock for the pool. Want me to order more for you?”
“What?” She blinked. “Uh, sure, but I need to find someone else to handle that going forward.”
I couldn’t help my teasing, hurt tone, and pressed my hand to my bare chest. “Are you saying I can’t be your pool boy anymore?”
Her smile was humoring me. “I highly doubt you’re going to have the time.” She drew in a deep breath. “And also . . . I can’t be your manager anymore.”
It was warm outside, but the way her voice broke as she said it left me cold. “Sorry, what?”
I hadn’t noticed the papers on the table until she pushed them toward me. “This transfers the copyright of ‘Power’ over to you. I retain the credit, but it’s your song, Troy.”
I picked up the paper and stared at the dense, legal text, but couldn’t process any of it. She was just giving me the song she’d written? “Wait, go back to the part where you said you can’t be my manager anymore.”
Her eyes were wide and full of fear, and it turned my stomach. “Ardy has offered to pay me a finder’s fee and take you on as a client.”
Anger flared inside me. “And you’re just going to let him?”
“No,” she said. “I asked him to.”
“What?” I stood fast, making the chair chatter over the wooden planks of her deck. “Why the hell would you do that?”
She swallowed so hard I saw the bob of her throat. “Because,” she whispered, “if we’re going to have a chance at a future, I can’t be your manager.”
My body froze as her meaning hit me. Future. This was fucking huge. The power of it was enough to drive me to my knees beside her chair and slide a hand into her hair, cupping her cheek.
“Okay, wait.” My voice was as uneven as I felt inside. “Just wait a minute.”
“I don’t want to hide anymore. We do this, and no one’s going to say I took advantage of you, or that you’re just fucking me to get ahead.”
I scowled. Would people think that? Ardy had said he respected my hustle when he’d found out I cleaned Erika’s pool. If he knew we were dating, it was possible he’d think that was true.
Oh, shit. “You don’t think that, do you?”
The corner of her mouth lifted like she was amused I’d even had to ask that question. She covered my hand on her cheek, moving it enough so she could plant a kiss in the center of my palm. Her stunning tenderness lit me on fire. She’d been bossy and needy with me, but never like this.