Page 100 of Simon Says

Dakota couldn’t help it; she laughed. “I would be a lot better if you’d shut up and get on with it.”

He leaned back to see her, and Dakota said, “I’m not a shy woman, Simon. I won’t suffer in silence. If you do anything I don’t like, trust me, you’ll hear about it.”

“And if I do things you like?”

She sighed. “I imagine you’ll hear about those, too.”

“Perfect.” He took her hand. “Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 13

Ahigh wooden privacy fence with the gate locked kept the hot tub hidden from the yard. The house gave the only access, and the doors were all secured. They were alone, and Simon had hours before he had to pack for his trip to Vegas.

There were so many things he wanted to do with Dakota, but the number-one thing on his list was to give her pleasure. He wanted her to know that sex with him would never be anything but good. Men were easy—just seeing a desirable woman could put most near the edge. He was there now, aware of Dakota standing beside him, her arms around herself to ward off the early morning chill as he uncovered the hot tub and turned it on. From the second she’d agreed, he had a boner.

But Simon wasn’t a boy. He was thirty-one years old, and he knew women, knew how complicated and elusive an orgasm could be for a woman.

For someone who’d been sexually abused, it’d be an especially tricky business because there was much to overcome, and old expectations didn’t die easily.

For someone like Dakota, with her strong personality and strength of will, the past would play an even bigger role. More than anyone else ever could, she condemned herself for past mistakes. It’d take finesse, experience, and a little faith to ease her past her false impressions and apprehension.

When Simon first realized that she’d kept her last name as a sort of punishment, a constant reminder that she had erred in judgment, he knew he’d have his work cut out for him. Dakota caught a lot of flack on the name. And granted, Dakota Dream did ring of a suggestive stage handle.

But she could change it easily enough, if she only would.

He’d work on that, along with giving her pleasure.

Though Simon wore only boxers, he barely noticed the weather. Dakota was still fully dressed and shivering as the hot tub churned and steam rose into the air.

Heart thumping and muscles tight, Simon turned to her. “You need to skin out of some of those clothes.”

“Yeah, I know.” But she stood there, watching him.

Pretending that it meant nothing, Simon stepped up to her and caught the waistband of her jeans. While he unsnapped and unzipped, he talked to distract her.

“At the gym, I’ve seen you taking notes.”

Dakota blinked at him, trying to hide her nervousness. “Notes?”

“Yeah. When you’re watching me.” He eased his hands into the pants and, fingers spread, cupped her hips. God almighty, she was soft and well rounded. Simon swallowed down the surge of lust. “What the hell do you write?”

She looked at him, then at the hot tub and down at herself. “Uh…”

“Training tips on things you think I’m doing wrong?” As he said it, he shoved the jeans down to her knees.

“No,” she said on a high note. And then: “Don’t be stupid.”

“Sorry.” He grinned at her reaction to having her pants down. “So what is it, then?”

She licked her lips as if trying to gather her thoughts. “I write down stuff I see that I think maybe I can learn. Stuff that’d be good to know.”

Simon absorbed that, and nodded. Going to one knee, he held the jeans and said, “Step out.”

Dakota braced a hand on his shoulder and did as he asked.

She wore thick white socks, and again, he noted her legs, lightly muscled, shapely and smooth.

A T-shirt, panties, and crew socks. Not exactly an outfit meant to seduce, except that this was Dakota, and he was on fire for her.

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