Page 7 of Slippery When Wet

“Oh, good. Thank you. You have no idea how much that would help me out.”

“You’re welcome.” My smile tightened, and I knew it didn’t reach my eyes. “I should get going. It was nice—" No other words slipped past my lips. How could they when his hand, the one that had been resting between us, reached over and grabbed mine?

“Go for a swim with me,” I heard him say. But all I could see, all I could feel, was the way his big roughly calloused hand covered mine. The way his thumb gently and slowly, with the most tender touch, stroked my palm.

“Abby?”

“What?” I whispered and licked my lips before turning to look at him.

His blue eyes were laser-focused on me, like I was the only thing he could see. And somehow, it made me fall deeper into whatever I felt for the man I had never spoken a word to before today. Unbridled heat rushed through me, and my thighs pressed together to find some kind of relief.

“Will you go for a swim with me?” he asked, pointing toward the pool but never taking his gaze off me. If anyone else had stared at me that intently, it would have made me feel like I was a bug under a microscope. But with Abel, it didn’t.

“I don’t, umm… I just, well, see, umm…” Dear God, I might have been entranced by him, but it didn’t do anything to kill my nerves. This was embarrassing. How the hell was I going to explain my issue?

“There’s nothing to be scared of.” The intensity in his voice had my heart softening, “I promise I won’t bite.” His lips twitched, and my shoulders relaxed. The sexy man leaned closer. I could have easily scooted away, but I had a feeling Abel wouldn’t have been insulted, so I didn’t. I stayed right where I was, sucked into the Abel Vortex and his gaze that felt warmer than the scorching temperature outside.

“Unless you want me to.” He winked, and I shivered.

“I just… umm, I’m not really good at it,” I lied. I was a great swimmer. I could have swum in college but had decided I wanted to focus fully on academics.

“I used to be a Navy SEAL.” I blinked.

A Navy SEAL.

Without being able to stop myself, my eyes roamed over his body. He was in swim trunks and a T-shirt, not necessarily showing off his body. But that was because he didn’t need to. There was no hiding its lean muscular power. I read enough romance novels to know SEALs were always my go-to when picking through my TBR.

“A SEAL?” I repeated because my brain wouldn’t function. I’d never met one in real life.

“I’m just saying I’m pretty good in water.”

“I bet you’re pretty good on land, too.” The words slipped past my lips on accident, and my eyes popped open. “I just mean, umm, with the whole, umm, pool business,” I squeaked. “I should really go.” I started to turn to stand, but his hand was still holding mine, and he tugged on it so I would look at him.

“Please?” he asked so gently, so sweetly, I knew I wasn’t capable of saying no.

Abel

“Please?” I asked, feeling like I was holding on by a thread. I’d finally fucking approached her. It’d taken me way too long, and I had a feeling after this, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight.

“Okay,” she whispered softly. I felt like pumping my fists into the air with joy.

She wasn’t leaving.

She was staying. With me.

I nodded slowly, deathly afraid I’d spook her. I quickly let go of her hand and took my shirt off, letting it fall to the floor beside me, and slipped into the cool, refreshing water. I moved to stand in front of the girl of my dreams, with my hands extended toward her.

Abby looked at me like a deer caught in headlights. But it didn’t mean she didn’t take her fill of me without a shirt on. Her eyes kept darting down to my chest and up to my face, and I almost wished the water were about twenty degrees cooler to help kill off the hard-on coming to life I had no control over.

“I promise you’re safe with me, Abby,” I vowed, and I saw a flicker of confusion in her gaze. “You said you weren’t a good swimmer,” I reminded her.

“Right.”

I had no idea if she remembered that night or not. There hadn’t been a mention of me whatsoever in the paperwork; my buddy Morris had written it up. But there was something about the way she looked at me when she noticed me around town that made me wonder. Abby didn’t take my hands. Instead, she pushed off the ledge and slowly brought her body into the water. We were on the shallow end, but my princess was about five foot nothing, if that. The water reached her delicate shoulders. She was so damn tiny, all I wanted to do was scoop her up. I was over a foot taller than her; she barely reached the top of my chest.

“You good?” I asked, and it was obvious I snapped her back to reality. Wherever she’d been hadn’t been a good place.

“Yeah,” she squeaked. Her eyes roamed around us. “The water feels nice,” she noted with a tightness in her voice, body stiff as a board.

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