Page 7 of On Her Terms

“Maybe the hot tub will help,” she calls out. The click of the patio door opening reaches my ears, and I close my eyes and try not to visualize her in that hot tub naked.

Again with the nakedness.

“Good idea,” I say. Fuck, is that my voice? I open the bathroom door and walk to the patio just in time to see her peel my shirt from her shoulders and climb into the water. Naked.

My God, she has a beautiful body. Her curves are less pronounced than they were years ago, but she was as breathtaking then as she is now. She settles into the tub, leans her head back and stares up at the night sky.

Not wanting to startle her, I speak quietly, avert my eyes even though she’s covered now by the water frothing from the jets. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Do you have any wine?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” I hurry to the kitchen, and my hands are a bit shaky as I pour her a glass of wine and grab a beer from the fridge. I pop the cap and down half of the liquid in one swallow. With my cock jumping in my shorts, I step outside and the heat of the night falls over me.

“Join me,” she says as I hand her the glass.

I wipe moisture from my brow. “I’m too hot as it is.”

She presses the glass to her parted lips and takes a drink. A drop settles on her bottom lip, and it takes every ounce of strength I possess not to lean in and lick it away.

I clear my throat and her gaze settles on me. “So, your grandfather is after you to get married,” I say for lack of anything else.

“Yes.”

“And you don’t want to.”

“No.” I settle into one of the Adirondack chairs, and her eyes narrow in on me. “What?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure I believe you.”

She lifts her chin slightly. “You don’t know me well enough to make that call. In fact you don’t know me at all.”

I take a pull from the bottle. “I know a few things.”

“Oh?” she says, an almost worried look crossing her face.

“I know you went to Oxford, and that you’re a lawyer. I know you’re Tate’s cousin, and that you two were close growing up. I know you make a mean apple pie.”

“I guess I know a few things about you, too,” she says, almost under her breath.

I lean toward her. “Such as.”

She waves her hand and water splashes over me. “You’re a corporate lawyer and work for my cousin.”

I settle back in my chair. “So, really, you know nothing about me,” I say, a bit relieved. The less anyone knows, the better.

“Well, I also know you like to sneak up on girls when they’re swimming naked.”

I laugh at that, and she laughs with me. “You said you were going back to your room. How was I to know you’d be in my spot?”

“Your spot, huh?” she says.

“Yep. Let’s just say next time you use it, be warned that I might not be such a gentleman.”

Stop fucking flirting, man.

She sits up a little straighter in the tub and I want to punch myself in the face for engaging in sexy banter with her. I need to end this now and get her out of my chalet before I do something I can only regret later.

I open my mouth to tell her it’s time to go but stop when she says, “Maybe I don’t want you to be such a gentleman.”

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