Page 61 of Wicked Sin

I blame the fact I haven’t had sex with another living, breathing human being in three years for my reaction. And our kiss. Also, probably, his parents, for having the audacity to give him genes that gave him a body that wouldn’t quit.

Hard.

He’s so hard. Big and broad across the shoulders, bulky and round and strong there, but then tight all the way down, tight and sculpted and—

It’s a mistake to spend any time with him in a pool when I’m basically a born-again virgin.

I should grab one of the towels he’s just dumped on the bench by the door and skedaddle inside before I do something stupid like climb him like a greedy little kitten scampers up a tree.

Of course, I don’t. I tread water and watch him, more tigress than kitten, as he paces to the deep end and dives in.

It’s a clean dive. Long and strong, and he swims all the way past me underwater and doesn’t surface until he reaches the other end.

And he’s even hotter with his hair all wet and slicked back.

Fuck me.

Yes, please, fuck me.

He won’t. Damn him. But a girl can’t help but want what her parched little body wants.

It’s time I fully admit just how thirsty I am for the good detective.

But when he looks at me, now with his face well lit by the light from the living room, I see his face is tight with tension. Maybe now isn’t the best time to indulge in my fantasies. I swallow down that hunger and reach for the right thing to ask.

“How did it go with my sisters?” I don’t really want to know. It can’t have gone well. Tension and conflict and all things Reid. “Was Ali upset?”

“She’s okay. It went as well as an awkward conversation can go. They read your note and knew it was in your handwriting, so that was a great idea.” He adds a thin smile at the end.

“Good.”

He doesn’t expand, and I don’t know what to ask next. So I keep treading water, letting him sit in the silence like he made me yesterday. But he doesn’t fall for it, and I eventually swim away. He watches me do a couple of laps, then joins me, swimming in the opposite direction, so we cross paths in the middle of the pool each time. Slow. Back and forth.

What happened today that he doesn’t want to talk about?

Finally, my muscles start to tire. I do two more laps to push myself then slowly climb out of the pool.

I hope he’s watching.

If we’re not going to talk, maybe we can burn some inappropriate tension instead.

Behind me, I can hear him climbing out of the pool as well.

I grab a towel.

“I need to apologize for leaving you alone today. For so long. I ended up going shopping after I went to the station, and then I went for a long drive out to Big Bear Lake to make sure I wasn’t being followed. And to clear my head. It’s—”

“You don’t need to apologize. I know you’ve thought all of this through.”

“It’s just that I realized today just how important security is to you. Meeting your sisters today showed me that in stark relief,” he says from behind me.

I keep my head bowed low and keep drying off.

“Taylor, I know you need—”

“I don’t need anything,” I say, turning around. I wrap the towel around my body, tight under my arms, tucked in between my breasts. Suddenly I do care that I’m wearing next to nothing. Suddenly I feel very much like I can’t hide anything from Luke. Because how the hell did he see that? I didn’t show him anything.

And that makes me livid.

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