Victoria’s Secret Wish(16)

He exhaled and stepped back.

“Sorry,” they both mumbled at the same time.

He’d pressed his fist up to his mouth. Was he that mortified?

“Why did you invite me here last night?” he blurted.

Wow, her heart was racing. How had she not noticed? “Um.” She wouldn’t look at him, but she needed to get this out, clear the air. “Maybe it was the twin thing, one in the spotlight and the other not, that made me feel connected to you. I’m not sure. But when I realized you’d registered for the cruise, I wanted to meet you.” His cheeks were red–she managed to look that far up, at least. “Then when we saw you boarding yesterday, we wondered how you snuck on, and decided to invite you to dinner.” That was really all she could share at this point. “Britt and I know a lot of people, but we don’t have many friends. We…know how it is to be dogged by reporters and have every action watched. Guess we felt like kindred spirits. I hope I didn’t ruin everything.” …by rubbing my face against your hand. God. Maybe she’d fall overboard or something.

He shook his head and gave her a hesitant smile. “I don’t think anything is ruined. But I should probably hit the water.”

“Sure.” She clutched the robe tighter to her chest. “Um. I’m gonna order some breakfast. Would you like something for when you’re done?”

He chewed his lip again.

“Britt will be out here by then.” Maybe that would make him feel more at ease. Did he think she wanted to seduce him into an affair?

“Sure, yeah. How about an omelet? Five eggs. With, like…anything.”

* * * *

Victoria emerged from the master suite, showered, dressed, made up, and with her hair in a French twist. By now she should have missed all of David’s workout, which was for the best. He probably wouldn’t appreciate her ogling him while he swam, after what she’d done earlier.

Ah, breakfast had arrived. The cart still sat in the living room, and the servers had long since left. She wheeled it out the French doors, where Britt and David were making an unholy noise, whooping and yelling. What the hell?

Britt was in the pool with David, playing some sort of water volleyball, minus a net. Or maybe they played catch. Dodgeball? Hard to say–it didn’t seem to have rules, other than to have fun and make noise. Poor Mia and Ron probably hadn’t been able to get their attention, so had given up and left the cart.

Men. Dorky, utterly impulsive and sexy as all hell. She could whistle and get their attention. Or…maybe she’d sit down and watch them while she ate.

First try, she found her domed platter and carried it to the outdoor table. Lucky day. She filled herself a glass of orange juice and carried the carafe to the table too. Ah. Breakfast with entertainment. Good to hear grown men laughing. Wonderful to hear Britt cut loose and have so much fun. He deserved it. His recreation usually involved vacations with her, and the occasional golf game with Mark. God knew she’d never played like that with him, and though he loved golf, she doubted this type of fun happened on the courses they played. He sounded like a kid in the pool. Maybe David would be good for them.

“What’s this, Vic?” The splashing ceased. “Eating without us? That’s not very bloody civil.”

Both men heaved themselves from the pool, Britt in his usual boardshorts–God, she loved seeing his naked abs. He might have to work at keeping big biceps, but his washboard abs always stuck around. And David. David had on very low, very snug swim gear. Oolala. If only he’d have a wardrobe malfunction. Better keep her eyes fixed higher. Without the benefit of clothes, David’s body had a more exaggerated V shape–his shoulders and chest were crazy big.

They toweled themselves on the way to the table and sat down, a couple of dripping, panting, shirtless men.

What an uncivilized, wonderful way to start the day.

“Sorry for kicking your ass, chap.” Britt relaxed back in his chair. “Hope you’ll be man enough to come back for more.”

David snickered. On the way to the cart for his food, he called over his shoulder, “There was asskicking, but I think you were on the other side of it.” He sat back down and opened his food, while Britt went for his. “Man. I haven’t fucked around in a pool like that in forever.”

Britt elbowed him on the way back. “The pool is my workplace.” He laughed. “You could have that as the title for your biography. And hey, Vic and I know just the chap could write it for you, don’t we, love?” He stopped and planted a chlorine-y kiss on her lips.

“I have yet to see his work and judge it for myself, so we’ll see. But I’ll be avoiding that guy like the plague,” she answered.