Page 33 of Wolf's Forbidden Curse

“I don’t have a problem.”

“Problem was the wrong word,” I said quickly, trying to stop her before she was offended. “I didn’t mean to suggest there was anything wrong with you. But…” I trailed off.

“But what?”

“Clearly, there’s something going on. And since you just moved here and probably don’t have any friends in town, I thought I would let you know that I’m here to talk if you ever want to. About anything.”

She shook her head. “Not anything.”

“Yes, anything.”

She looked me dead in the eye. “I’m sorry, Rory, but there are just some things that I really don’t think you would understand about me.”

“Try me. Weren’t you the one who just said you weren’t harboring any dark secrets or whatever? Now, you’re trying to convince me that your issues are too complicated for me to comprehend. Which is it?”

“You know what, this was a mistake,” she lifted her feet out of the pool.

“No, wait,” I said. “Don’t go.”

“I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t even know why I thought this would be a good idea.” She laughed bitterly. “I blame your friend Matt. He got in my head.”

“He has a way of doing that.” I sighed. “I’m sorry for prying just now and for challenging what you’ve said.”

“Basically insinuating that I’m a liar.”

“That too,” I added. “But I swear, I was only trying to get to know you a little better. That’s all. I won’t let it happen again.”

She smiled with one side of her mouth. “It better not.”

A kid wearing floaties and oversized goggles swam between me and the ledge, kicking water everywhere and getting Katrina soaked. She screamed and put her hands up, not that it did anything. I chuckled. “You might as well just get in now that you’re so wet.”

“Not a chance.”

“C’mon!” I floated on my back and swam around a bit. “The water feels great.”

“I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”

I made my way back to the ledge and was close enough now that I could reach out and grab Katrina’s foot if I wanted to. But I didn’t. “What are you wearing underneath your clothes?” I asked in a low voice. “Because you might be able to get away with swimming in your…”

She offered me a mischievous look. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I moved a bit closer. “I honestly would.”

She stared at me for a few charged seconds, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was. She slowly bent down, and I put my hands on either side of her legs, pushing myself out of the pool with little effort. Our lips were not even an inch apart when she spoke.

“Then come and find out!” she said playfully, and before I could react, she pulled her feet out of the water and darted off toward the locker rooms. I breathed in deeply, pushing down some of the delicious sexual frustration that was building up inside, and then I got out and chased after her.

I was pretty sure I’d seen her dart into the men’s locker room, which was great considering I wasn’t about to bust through the door of the women’s. Inside, all was quiet. I didn’t see any men in there, just rows of lockers and empty showers. I said nothing but listened carefully. At the end of the row, I heard a handle turn and then the rush of water. I came to the closed curtain and hesitated.

What if it wasn’t Katrina behind the curtain? What if she had gone right through the locker room and was hiding somewhere else? Waiting for me in a different bathroom or something?

Then I looked down and saw a little piece of black fabric poking out from underneath the shower curtain. Her jeans.

I tore back the curtain, and there she was—standing under the shower spray.

Completely naked.

CHAPTER 14

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