Page 42 of Beneficial Misfortune

Wow!

While she pulls them in place, I take a second to look around for Desmond. I hadn’t seen him since we came out and can onlyassume he’s still inside. With shaking fingers, I pull off my dress and drop it onto one of the sun chairs just as Addison comes toward me, ready to go.

I shouldn’t be nervous. Desmond and Alex both saw me naked. Hell, they did a lot more than see me, but I can’t help it.

“Ready?” I ask her as I head toward the pool, and she gives me a nod.

The water is cool with the heat of the day, but I push myself down the stairs without care, trying to get into the water before…

“What’s the rush, Kitten?”

Desmond’s voice calls, and I almost scream. Whipping my head up, I look out into the pool to find Desmond already in the water. He swims out from behind the waterfall, and my jaw almost hits the ground.

“Des!” Addison yells happily, jumping in the water to swim to him.

I can’t peel my eyes away from Desmond as the water rolls down his face and chest, and the smile on his face tells me he knows exactly what he’s doing. Reaching up, he pushes his hair back from his face as he continues toward us. Every step leaves more of him exposed as the water gets shallower. By the time he reaches Addison, the water sits just under his swim trunks, swim trunks that sit very, very low.

Crap.

“Hey, Princess,” he says to Addison, reaching out to grab her and pull her further in with him. She laughs and splashes before calling for me to join them, and I realize I’m still standing on the stairs.

So much for getting in the water, so he didn’t see me.

“Yeah, come play with us, Kitten,” Desmond purrs, and suddenly, the water doesn’t feel as refreshing as it had a moment ago.

“Kitten?” Addison asks, looking at her brother in confusion. “Her name is Kat, silly, not kitten.”

Desmond barks a laugh as he falls back into the water, still pulling her along. The sound washes over me, raising goosebumps on my skin.

“I know that, but I think she’s adorable, like a kitten. The same way I think you're a princess,” he says, reaching out to boop her nose.

“Desmond,” I hiss his name, trying to get him to stop, but he only laughs harder.

“You should call him Des!” Addison proclaims, turning around to look back at me, where I’m still a few paces behind them. “That way, you both have nicknames.”

She seems so proud of the idea, but there’s no way I’ll be calling him that. It’s bad enough he has a silly nickname for me. I don’t want to play into this game.

“Awe, thank you, Addy, but that’s your nickname for him. I don’t want to take it,” I tell her, trying to spare her feelings.

For a second, I think it’s going to work—that is until Desmond has something to say about it.

“Don’t be silly. Addison is great at sharing, aren’t you, Princess?” he asks, and she's quick to nod her agreement.

Before I can come up with another excuse, Desmond dips below the water. I’d thought he was just being funny, going underwater so that I couldn’t say anything. It’s not until I feel something on my leg that I realize that wasn’t it at all.

The water here comes up just under my breasts, and I jump slightly when the splash of him popping up behind me sprays my upper back with tiny, freezing cold droplets, stealing the air from my lungs.

“See, Kitten, Addy doesn’t mind sharing. Besides, what's a nickname among friends?” He asks, swimming behind me, his hand ghosting over my arm and his leg brushing mine.

Friends? I’m not sure what kind of friends he’s used to, but I don’t sleep with my friends, and I certainly don’t rub up on them like he is now.

“Can we play?” Addison asks, cutting off my line of thought and pulling Desmond's attention back to her.

“Of course. What else would we do in the pool on such a perfect day?” Desmond asks, but even as he says it, he remains where he is. “How about Marco Polo?”

Addison squeals in excitement, and I’m going to assume she’s happy with that. Without another word, she closes her eyes and plugs her nose before dropping under the water. A second later, her hand pops back up as she begins lifting her fingers and counting.

“Come on, don’t tell me you’ve never played before,” Desmond says with a chuckle, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him as he swims back away from her. “You're supposed to hide, Kitten.”

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