Marriage Made on Paper(28)

Instead she reached up and released her hair from its clip, letting it fall down over her shoulders in a wave before she headed over to the ladder that led to the water below them.

She could feel him watching her, could feel the heat of his gaze, touching her like a caress. A shiver ran through her. Her breasts felt heavy and she knew, without having to look down, that her hardened nipples were clearly visible through the thin fabric of her bikini.

She turned and put her foot on the first rung of the ladder, very determinedly not looking at Gage. She made it halfway down the ladder when Gage dove over the side of the boat, his perfect entry barely making a ripple in the clear pool of water.

She rolled her eyes and continued down the ladder. “I’m very impressed,” she quipped when he came back to the surface.

“I am, too,” he said, not bothering to hide his frank appraisal of her.

Embarrassment warred with pride and arousal. It was the strangest thing. Men had liked her looks before. Men—adult men—had been making passes at her since she was a freshman in high school. Her first, immediate response had always been to discourage. It always made her feel defensive.

But this didn’t feel like something she was being subjected to. She felt a part of it, like they were both trapped in the same swirling undertow, unable to escape the pull. She felt like she knew Gage’s thoughts, knew them and shared them. That their desire mirrored each others.

She dropped into the water, shocked at how warm it was. Gage swam to her, and put his hand over hers, over where she was still clinging to the metal ladder.

“You can swim, right?”

She nodded. “I just haven’t in a long time.”

His touch was doing all kinds of things to her, making her ache, making her want, but also, offering comfort. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever felt before, and she hated that she was feeling it for him. That she was feeling it for her boss.

He smoothed his thumb over her ring finger, over the ring that was settled there. His ring. “Don’t lose this. I don’t want to have to send a dive team out.”

She looked at her hand. “Oh!” She hadn’t even realized the ring was still there. And it had felt so heavy at first that she’d been conscious of it all the time. She didn’t even want to know what that might mean. “I can go put it back.”

“I’ve got it.”

He took her hand from the ladder and slid the ring off of her finger, climbing quickly back onto the boat.

She flexed her fingers. Now they felt bare. It was an irony she didn’t enjoy.

Gage came back down the ladder and she moved to the side as he slid back into the water beside her. “Can you swim to the shore?”

She nodded with more confidence than she felt.

“Let’s see if you can beat me,” he said.

She couldn’t fight the slight smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You know me so well. How can I resist a challenge?”

“I knew you couldn’t.”

He turned and swam toward shore, smooth strokes barely making a splash in the crystal water. She followed, trying hard to keep up, but she couldn’t. He must have known she couldn’t or he wouldn’t have issued the challenge. He probably swam competitively or something.

She gave up trying to preserve her makeup and slipped under the water, knowing she would be faster that way. When she finally surfaced to get air, Gage was already on shore, lying on the beach, the white sand a light dusting on his golden skin.

When she finally got to where her feet could touch bottom she walked the rest of the way onto the warm sand. “That was cruel,” she said, wiping water, and what she was certain would be trails of black mascara, from beneath her eyes.

“You should always carefully consider challenges.”

“I accept every challenge.”

“Which is why you lose some of them.”

She scowled at him and sat next to him, the heat from the sand burning her partially exposed backside.

Gage was having trouble drawing breath, but it had nothing do to with his recent physical exertion, and everything to do with the woman sitting next to him. He’d seen Lily polished to perfection, ready to tackle the press. He’d seen her dressed for an art gala, her hair and gown perfectly pressed. But he’d never seen her like this.

Her brown hair hung wet and curling, her makeup washed off by the saltwater. He could see a light sprinkling of freckles over her nose and across her high cheekbones. She looked softer, more touchable.

And then there was her body. A body that had inspired him to get into the water as quickly as possible so he could avoid revealing to her the effect she was having on him.

Her curves were always flattered by whatever she wore, but seeing them revealed by the bright red bikini was an entirely different experience.