Overnight Sensation

Swiping water out of her eyes, she followed their length upward and saw with shock that they were attached to a very naked Eric Terrell. He held a drink in one hand and swayed as he leered down at her.

Where had he come from? Glancing around the pool area, she spotted a robe draped over a chaise partially concealed behind a cluster of potted palms. Damn. Why hadn’t she looked more closely?

“Ivy James,” he said, his voice slurred, “so nice to see you again.”

Ivy quickly averted her gaze, although she’d gotten enough of an eyeful to realize he was probably too inebriated to do much more than leer.

“Eric,” she replied in a strangled voice. She pushed herself back into the water and glided to another wall of the pool. “I wasn’t expecting anyone out here at this time of night. Um, where are your clothes?”

He laughed as if delighted she’d noticed. “Well, I guess I wasn’t expectin’ to see anyone out here, either.” He strolled over to where she clung to the side of the pool. “But now that you’re here…be a shame to let this go to waste.” He waggled his hips suggestively, as if unaware that his body wasn’t quite up to the task he envisioned it for.

Ivy laughed uncertainly. Inwardly, she cursed. How had she managed to get herself into such an awkward situation? The guy had no business coming on to her in such a crude way, but, damn it, he was Eric-Freaking-Terrell. She couldn’t just tell him where to stick it. Not if she expected to keep her job.

“Ah, thanks, but I’ll have to pass.”

When it seemed he might actually lean down and offer her a hand, Ivy pushed herself back into the water and swam to the far side of the pool. Unfortunately, the only way back to the hacienda was past him. Once again she realized that in his intoxicated state, he wasn’t actually a threat, but neither did she want to play games. She couldn’t imagine anything more undignified than being chased around a swimming pool by a naked, drunken Eric Terrell.

He took a hefty swig of his drink as he considered her. “Well, then,” he finally said, moving with the studied precision of somebody who’d consumed way too much alcohol. “I’m just going to have to come in there and change your mind.”

A masculine voice cleared itself behind Eric, startling him so that he staggered and sloshed the contents of his glass over his hand. “Goddamn it, Stokes, don’t you know better ’n to sneak up behind someone like that?”

Garrett Stokes materialized from the shadows, his eyes going straight to Ivy. Even from this distance, she could read the question there. You okay? She gave a barely perceptible nod.

He carried a towel in one hand, and now he thrust it at Eric. “Hey, man, cover up. There’s a lady present.”

“I can see that,” Eric said, scowling at Garrett. “You’re interruptin’ my efforts to get to know her better.”

“Say good-night, champ. Ivy’s here to meet me, so you’ll have to find yourself another girl.” He pressed the towel into Eric’s chest until the other man had no choice but to take it.

Eric stared first at Garrett, then at Ivy. “That right? You’re together?”

“That’s right.”

“Shit.”

Garrett walked around the pool to Ivy, reached down and offered her a hand. She gasped as he hauled her effortlessly out of the water, but she wasn’t prepared when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tucked her against his side, heedless that she was dripping water all over him. “C’mon, babe, let’s get you out of that wet suit.”

He shot her a meaningful look, and Ivy’s acting skills kicked into gear. “The sooner, the better,” she said in a sultry tone, and stood on tiptoe to plant a moist kiss against his jaw. She felt him stiffen, but he recovered swiftly.

“I already ran you a bath,” he replied, and drew her along with him as he circled the pool. “Eric, have a good night.”

Eric had wrapped the towel around his hips, and now he raised his glass in a mock salute. “G’night, kids. Be good,” he said, the words slurred. “And if you can’t be good, be careful.”

Ivy and Garrett made their way back toward the hacienda, but he didn’t withdraw his arm from around her shoulders.

“Cold?” he asked.

She shook her head, too dismayed by this turn of events to answer. He was too close. Too completely irresistible. Her heightened senses absorbed everything. The warmth from his body seeped through the wet fabric of her bathing suit as his thumb soothed a circular pattern on her bare shoulder. He probably wasn’t even aware he was doing it. He smelled incredible, of clean soap and citrus.

They entered the dim interior of the hacienda, and at the foot of the winding stairs, she pulled him to a stop. “I’ll be okay from here.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d just as soon walk you to your door.”

There’d be no arguing with him—she could see that from the implacable expression in his eyes. She nodded and tucked a wet strand of hair behind her ear. “Sure. Okay.”

He released her, and they slowly climbed the stairs.

“Thanks for—for intervening the way you did,” she said when they reached the top. “Did you know we were out there, or was it just luck?”

One black eyebrow arched upward, and Ivy realized that nothing this guy did was a result of luck.

“I saw you walk out to the pool,” he said, confirming her suspicion. “Somebody should have warned you that Eric’s a night owl. If we were in a city, he’d be at a club, surrounded by women happy to give him all the attention he wanted. Even here, there’re usually a few girls hanging around the pool in the hope he’ll make a late-night appearance.”

They’d arrived at her room, and she faced him, uncertain what to do. Would he expect her to invite him in? Or would he simply say goodbye? He was so close that one small step would bring her smack up against the hard planes of his muscled chest. Every nerve in her body tingled with awareness, and she forgot to breathe as their eyes locked.

His shimmered, hot and bright, and an answering heat unfurled low in her center. It spread outward until every cell in her body urged her to step forward and press herself wantonly against him. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such an immediate, raw reaction to a man.

“Well, I’m confident I could have handled him if he’d gotten frisky,” she responded, forcing herself to think rationally, “but I’m glad I didn’t have to. It would have made working with him so awkward.”

“He probably won’t even recall it in the morning,” Garrett assured her. His eyes lingered on her face, then dropped slowly to her breasts. His voice roughened. “You’re cold. You should go in.”

Following his gaze, Ivy saw her nipples were hard nubs beneath the thin material of her bathing suit. But only she knew it had nothing to do with the damp fabric and everything to do with his proximity. Just the fact that his eyes were on her was enough for her body to tighten, and her nipples ripened even more.

“I forgot,” she said in a husky voice, “that my room key is in the pocket of my robe.”

Which she’d left at the pool.

Garrett reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, but before she could see what he intended to do, he turned away from her, shielding the wallet from her view. What might she have seen? A photo? A condom, maybe? Be Prepared.

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