Page 113 of False God

“Have you worked on a campus project before?”

I shake my head. “But the Canada job would be as part of the design committee for the Toronto Olympics. I want that one more.”

“Wow, Lili.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just an interview. I haven’t gotten it, and even if I do, I’d just be?—”

“It’s a big deal, Kensington. Whether or not you get it, you should be proud.”

I swallow. “Thanks.”

His praise does something strange to me. It’s overwhelming, a sensation I want to savor yet also run from.

I stand on the stairs, my fingers finding the hidden snap beneath the tied back of my silk Prada minidress and tossing it toward one of the terra-cotta lounge chairs. My bra flies through the air next. My thong got left by the car.

I stroll around the perimeter of the pool, adding an extra sway to my hips because I can feel his eyes on me. As soon asI reach the deep end, I leap, cool water closing over my head. I sink until my toes brush the slick tiled floor, then kick back to the surface.

Charlie hasn’t moved.

I start to float on my back, staring up at the starry sky. My thighs drift open gradually. I’m not sure how much Charlie can see, between the water and the limited light. If he can see anything, he’s getting one hell of a view. Not that he hasn’t seen it all before.

“Wanna race?” I call out without looking his way.

About a minute later, I hear a loud splash. I let my legs sink until I’m treading water again, staring straight at Charlie’s smirk. His hazel eyes are focused on the swell of my breasts.

“And add to my perfect record of beating you? Sure.”

“I’m anexcellentswimmer,” I inform him.

Five of my six records at Dalton Academy are still unbroken, seven years after I graduated. I decided not to swim in college.

“I heard. Team captain.”

My eyes narrow at his nonchalance. “Did you swim at Oxford?”

“No.” He pauses. “They tried to recruit me though.” His smirk grows. “Never told you where I went to university.”

I duck under the water to avoid responding, swimming to the far end of the pool as fast as I can. My lungs are burning by the time I emerge.

I’ve never swum naked before. It feels strange in a scintillating way, the smooth glide of cool, chlorinated water refreshing and arousing as it drips off my face and rolls down my neck.

Charlie surfaces next to me, and I shout, “Go!”

I have a bad feeling that he’s as good at swimming as he is at polo and driving. And sex. I’ll take whatever slim competitive edge I can get.

I breathe away from him and toward the wall on the lap down, smiling underwater when I execute a perfect flip turn.Still got it.

When I breathe for the first time on the return trip, he’s even with me. I dig deeper, muscles burning as I propel myself through the water as fast as possible. I screw my eyes closed, pretending he’s ahead because that’s a very real possibility.

My hand hits concrete, and I bob upright, glancing to the right.

He’s there.

Damn it.

“Did you win?”

Charlie shrugs, his broad shoulders glistening with water. “I just got here.”

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