Page 52 of My Temptation

“No. I told her she needs to get a new number since he’s still texting, but she doesn’t agree.”

“That would be my suggestion.” He paused. “I’m planning to stop at Colin’s office this afternoon. Give him a heads-up on all of this. Not the particulars, but just let him know she has an ex who doesn’t like the word no. You good with that?”

“Yeah.” I exhaled. “She thinks I’m being overprotective, and maybe I am.”

“No such thing when it comes to family, brother.”

I grinned. “Doesn’t surprise me you think that.”

He chuckled. “Keep me updated.”

“Will do,” I replied, but Brody lost my attention when I saw Mila walk across the area around the pool area toward the chairs on the other side.

I didn’t need to look at my phone when there was silence. Brody wasn’t someone who often said goodbye to end a call, but I couldn’t have looked anyway. My attention was immediately locked on the woman who had taken up residence in my mind day and night. Fuck, she was beautiful. She’d been wearing a coverup when she left the room, but now she was walking around in a yellow bikini like she wore the damn thing for a living. Not self-conscious at all. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched a man stand, his eyes locked on Mila, and he began to follow her to the chair directly below our balcony.

“Hey,” I called out.

Mila tilted her head back and shielded her eyes with her hand. “Hey, baby.”

I could tell by her response that she knew he was following her. “You save me a seat?”

She laughed and looked around. “Looks like we might have to share.”

My eyes stayed locked on the man who finally walked past her. “I’m coming down now.”

She glanced to her side. “Can’t wait.”

I closed the balcony door and headed out of the room toward the elevators, relieved when it came quickly. Within a minute, I crossed the pool area to stand in front of Mila.

She smiled. “I got a good look. It wasn’t him.” When I didn’t reply right away, she tilted her head. “Part of me wished he had eyes on us and had followed us here. Lure him out, you know?”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “I was thinking he had.”

“I figured.” She shrugged. “You have good instincts, Ethan. That guy was watching a little too closely.”

My eyes flicked to the side when I felt like we were being watched, and I wasn’t wrong. The same man headed toward us again, his eyes locked on Mila as if I wasn’t standing in front of her. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her body flush against mine and leaned down, putting my mouth next to her ear. “He’s watching you.”

She slid her hands over my chest and looped them around my neck. “Does that bother you?”

Dropping my forehead against her shoulder, I breathed in her scent before lifting my head and watching him pass us. “Bothers me that he has the balls to stare when I have my arms around you.”

“Hmm…” she hummed quietly. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the jealous type.”

I squeezed my hands against her waist and slid my eyes back to hers. “Guess you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

She smirked. “I guess I don’t.” She leaned in closer and slid her hands down until they lay against my chest. Her smooth, sultry voice felt like fingertips sliding over my skin. “You know what I like?”

I wanted to know. More than I wanted anything else at this moment and that included finding the bastard who was stalking Beth. I wanted to know everything I could learn about Mila Kavanaugh, and I feared it still wouldn’t be enough.

“What?” I growled, sliding my hand over the silky skin of her lower back. Her skin was warm from the sun and so fucking soft I wondered if her whole body felt the same way, and it took everything in me to keep my hands from exploring.

She smiled seductively. “A puzzle.” She ran her fingertip down my chest and wrapped her hand around the hem of my T-shirt. “And you, Ethan, are a puzzle I want to solve.”

She shoved my shirt up, and I reached behind my neck to pull it off before throwing it on the chair behind her. But I kept my hand on her lower back. “I think you’re overestimating me.”

“I’m not, trust me.” She laid her hands on my chest and tilted her head back, the edges of her long hair brushing my hands. I barely held back the groan when my groin tightened. “Now that you came down, what do you want to do?”

My cell phone rang before I could answer her, and maybe that was for the best. I was about to say something I couldn’t take back, something that I wanted from her, but not because she was a puzzle to me. She intrigued me in a way no woman ever had, proving my attraction was growing well beyond physical.

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