“Since we’re both wet”—Chad’s hand drifted to her butt and he gave it a soft squeeze—“how about we have a race? Loser makes the other dinner tomorrow night.”
The one thing Chad had never been able to beat her at was swimming. “What are you making me?”
He whispered, “Not so fast. You have to beat me first.”
He looked so irresistible with his hair wet and slicked back, with droplets of water weaving their way around all the muscles in his neck and chest. And the cold water wasn’t keeping him from growing hard against her belly. She’d better agree to the race before she did something stupid like make love to him right there in the pool. “You’re on. One lap. To the other end and back. And then I really have to go.”
He let her wiggle out of his embrace, so she headed for the end of the pool. As soon as he’d joined her, she said, “Go!” and took off.
He appeared by her side and matched her stroke for stroke. He could usually keep up for the first quarter of the race, but then all his bulk tended to slow him down. Jo dipped under to make the turn and was shocked to see him still keeping up with her pace.
She hated to lose, so she dug deep and gave it all she had. Chad kept up. As she approached the side of the pool, she surged forward to beat him. But his arm was longer, and they touched the at the exact same time.
She had to hang on to the side while she gasped air into her screaming lungs. “Pretty impressive, Mr. Jenks.”
He wasn’t even out of breath. It was annoying.
Chad reached out and pulled her close. “I had a conditioning coach a few years back who made us swim every day. It seemed stupid, like there’d be much better ways to increase our endurance, but it worked. What are you going to cook for me?”
“No way, pal. That was a tie.”
“I won. But just to show you what a good sport I am, I’ll settle for a kiss.”
As his lips met hers, Jo didn’t even bother to pretend she didn’t want him to kiss her. Heck, if she weren’t going to be late as it was, she might have let him make love to her. To get it out of her system so she could concentrate when she was around him. Lately it’d been harder and harder not to cave.
His kiss was so gentle, sweet, and incredibly hot, it made her sigh. When his tongue joined hers and then his hands roamed her body, flaming her crazy desire for him, she leaned back to end things before she made a big mistake.
He blinked open his eyes and whispered, “If your date doesn’t make you sigh like that when you kiss him good night, you know where to find me.” He released her and pulled himself out of the water. Then he held out a hand to help her out.
“Thanks.” She clasped his hand and let him yank her right out of the water and onto her feet. She sometimes forgot how strong Chad was. She wasn’t five foot two and a hundred and ten pounds like Shelby. “It’s freezing outside. Can I borrow some dry sweats?”
“Sure.” He frowned as he walked to the other end of the pool and grabbed towels. He joined her again and stuck one out without a word. He wouldn’t even look her in the eye.
As she dried her hair the best she could, she asked, “Are you mad at me?”
He shook his head and then led the way to his bedroom. She followed along, wet shoes squeaking on the tile, confused by his change in demeanor. “Seriously. What is it, Chad?” She grabbed his arm to stop him.
He turned and faced her in the hallway. “I don’t like the idea of you with someone else. But I can’t give you what you need. It stinks, Jo. But have fun on your damned date!”
She didn’t know what to say to that. He was right. He couldn’t give her what she needed. She’d known that all along. Maybe that was why at first it’d been easier to be mad at him rather than face the fact that she wanted him too.
Before she could figure out what to say, he turned and disappeared into his bedroom. She slowly followed behind.
He dug through a drawer and found her something to wear. “Here. See you tomorrow. I’m going to take a shower. A very cold one.”
He walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Half of her wanted to join him, but the sensible side of her brain made her slip out of her wet things and then change into Chad’s T-shirt and sweats that were five sizes too big for her.
Their situation really did stink.
After dinner, Chad flipped through channel after channel on the TV, looking for something to hold his attention. Anything to keep his mind from thinking about Jo, on a date with another guy. He hated that their lives just weren’t meant to intersect at the moment. And how he couldn’t ask her to wait for him. He might play another five or six years if he got lucky and stayed healthy.