Defiant Mistress, Ruthless Millionaire(17)

Men like Josh Tremont should definitely come with a warning firmly plastered on their foreheads, she decided.

But still there was that niggle. Despite the man she was growing to  know, there was still the matter of the information he'd gathered on the  Palmers. He'd delved deeply into their personal lives. Knew every minor  detail, right down to Bruce Palmer's dental appointments. It was  bizarre and not a little obsessive.                       
       
           



       

Callie shook her head. Thinking about it wasn't going to prove anything.  If she was to do what Irene expected of her, she needed to find out  more details about Josh Tremont himself. More than the fact he was a  completely unselfish lover. More than the fact that the mere sound of  his footfall coming toward her on the polished wooden floor was enough  to set her heart beating like the wings of a startled flock of pigeons.

"Sorry about that," he said as he moved behind her and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her back against him.

Callie inhaled deeply as his unique scent enveloped her. In itself it  was an aphrodisiac to her. Already her body stirred in response. She  laughed inwardly. At this rate she'd barely be able to move by Monday.

"I imagine you're never fully off duty," Callie replied, relishing the  feeling of protection she felt within the circle of his arms.

"I promise you have my undivided attention for the rest of this weekend. What would you like to do today?"

A squall of rain splattered against the glass doors in front of them.

"I suppose a swim is out of the question," Callie said, gesturing to the  rain-washed terrace and sheets of rain that peppered the tiles.

"Why should it be? It's been years since I swam in the rain. How about you?"

Callie gave an inelegant snort. "I don't think I've ever swum in the rain."

"Not even as a kid?"

"Especially not as a kid."

In fact, she hadn't learned to swim until she'd been at the Palmer Home  for Girls. At first the prospect of putting her face under water had  terrified her, but eventually she'd overcome that fear and had learned  to use the experience to tackle bigger fears, bigger problems, and  overcome them. It was another opportunity Irene had opened up to her.  Another reason to be grateful.

"So how about it?"

Callie thought it over for a minute. She'd had little enough time in her  life for frivolous fun, now here she was at twenty-eight and she hadn't  even done something as fun and simple as swim in the rain.

"Yes," she nodded her head. "I'd love to. But I didn't bring my swimsuit."

"Who said we need to wear a swimsuit?"

A spear of something electric jolted through her. Swim in the nude?

"What about your neighbours? Can't they see the pool?"

Josh gestured outside. "There's no one who overlooks us here. It's one  of the things that drew me to this place. We have complete privacy."

Josh led her through a covered walkway from the side of the house to the  poolhouse set off to one side. There, they undressed and ventured out  into the rain.

Callie squealed as the cool raindrops hit her, sending her into a half  jog toward the pool. At her side, Josh dived cleanly into the water,  surfacing about halfway along and encouraging her to join him.

She took a deep breath and dived in. Not as clean as Josh's entry to the  water but competent enough, she decided as she cut through the water.  The deliciously erotic sensation against her body was like gliding  through silk. The pool was warmer than the rain and the contrast against  her skin when she surfaced was invigorating. Laughter bubbled from deep  inside.

How long had it been since she'd indulged in something purely for fun.  Aside from her shoe habit, which she acknowledged had deeper-seated  issues, she tended not to let her hair down like this. And it was way  past time she did.

"What do you think?" Josh asked as he swam toward her.

"Bliss," she smiled in return.

Callie floated onto her back, her eyes closed, relishing the sensation  of the rain dancing on the surface of her skin. Josh stood beside her  and supported her with his arms before lowering his head to lick  raindrops off her breasts. Callie felt the feather-light touch all the  way to her core and she moaned with pleasure as he suckled gently at her  nipples.

"Now we're talking bliss," he murmured.

He seemed to magically know exactly where and how to touch her. Exactly  what would make her slow burn and what would strike an inferno. She  delighted in the gentle teasing he did now, allowing him to support her  weight in the water.

When he suggested that they leave the pool, she was more than ready, and  when he dried her slowly in the cabana, before lowering her to the  daybed, she thought she couldn't feel more alive or happier than she  felt at that moment.

Later, after they'd dressed and made their way back to the main house,  they worked together in the kitchen to prepare lunch. They ate in the  informal lounge off the kitchen, joking with one another about water  sports.

"You don't have fun often, do you?"                       
       
           



       

His question was blunt and came out of left field, catching Callie by surprise.

"Of course I have fun."

"Then why have you never skinny-dipped before, or even swum in the rain."

"Not everyone gets the opportunity, you know."

"In New Zealand? It doesn't take money to be able to do those things.  Most of us live within shouting distance of some body of water."

"My parents were never into swimming."

No, she remembered, they indulged in other, darker, things. Things that  didn't include their only daughter and for which she was always in the  way.

"Callie, what were they into?"

"Stuff. None of it good. Let's just say they weren't involved in the usual family pursuits and leave it at that."

Josh lifted a hand and gently stroked one finger over her cheek. "I'm sorry about that."

Callie shrugged. "I survived."

"Yeah, but every child deserves more than survival."

There was a thread of bitterness to his voice that surprised her. That  same hint of anger she'd observed in him last weekend when he'd talked  about his mother.

"You didn't exactly have it easy yourself, did you."

She made it more of a statement than a question.

"No, I didn't."

Josh tugged Callie across the two-seater they shared, and into his lap.  She snuggled against him, loving the way her body curved to fit his.

"Tell me about it," she coaxed.

As much as she felt like she was intruding on what was obviously  intensely private, she hoped he could give her a clue as to why he was  so intent on knowing everything there was to know about the Palmers, and  why he seemed determined to destabilise their business. As much as it  sickened her to have to pry, she knew that if she could get the  information that Irene wanted, then, and only then, could she hope to  allow her relationship with Josh to become something real. And it  shocked her to admit just how real she wanted it to be.

Today had made her realise that she'd had enough of being someone else's  pawn, and she was sick of false pretences. Instead of allowing herself  to simply enjoy being with Josh and letting her feelings for him take  their natural course, she had to second-guess herself all the way. It  was time the deceitfulness ended. But even as she reached her decision,  she knew she could do nothing until she'd delivered on her promise to  Irene. There was something about Josh that probably wasn't the truth,  either, and she had to find that something out.

"Long story short? My mother worked for an older married man. She had an  affair with him. She got pregnant with me. He tried to buy her off with  $10,000 and made her move away."

Callie couldn't hold back the cry of sympathy that rose from her heart.  She knew all about rejection. She'd experienced it nearly every day of  the first sixteen years of her life.

"So, yeah, I have some idea of what it's like to survive. If he'd shown  once ounce of respect for her and her feelings, things wouldn't have  been as bad for her as they were."

"Surely he owed her more than that. Couldn't she have applied through the courts for support for you?"

"Her pride would never let her. I think she was so hurt when he rejected  her that she decided to just disappear off the radar. She changed her  surname from Morrisey and adopted her mother's maiden name and then set  out to give me the best childhood she could."

"So you still got to swim in the rain and go skinny-dipping?" Callie asked with a gentle smile.

"I did-and more. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't know she  loved me more than life itself. That's the kind of gift you take for  granted until it's gone."