Page 17 of Hotshot Mogul

She took the tube, thanked me, and went back to our blanket. She peeled off her pink coverup. Fuck me standing. By bikini standards, it was modest. I couldn’t stop my gaze from taking in every sweet, perfect inch of her. She slathered on the sunscreen. I did the same. When she tried to get her back, I stopped her.

“I’ll do your back if you do mine.”

She scooted her perky ass close to me. I moved her hair aside and poured more lotion into my palms. My cock stood at attention, though I hadn’t even touched her yet. I glided my hand up and down the small of her back, just above her perfectly rounded ass, then moved upward.

She sat stiff until I reached her neck and shoulder blades. I made slow circles against her knots of tension. She sighed and dropped her head, exposing the delicate column of her neck. I wanted to press my lips to her pulse but settled for covering it in lotion and leaving my hand there.

She whispered a word that sounded French.

I dropped my lips to her ear. “What does that mean?”

That startled her. “Deer turds.” She wrenched away from me, flustered.

Deer turds? I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter,” I said, desperate to keep her close. “Let’s swim.”

I stood and held out my hand, not sure if she would take it. My heart pounded in my ears. Nobody, not even Diana, had ever affected me like this.

My strong, beautiful girl met my gaze squarely and slid her palm against mine. Her smile was tentative at first. We walked past a sign that said Strong undertow.

I grew up in Florida, swimming in the ocean and in places all over the world Dad would fly to. Anneliese grew up on an island, so she would be a strong swimmer. Still, I didn’t let go of her hand.

It wasn’t quite summer yet. And the lake froze in winter. So, the water was cold. There were whitecaps. We walked waist-deep.

She dropped my hand and stared intently as a petite woman with purple hair waded into the water nearby and floated on her back into deeper water. I lowered my voice. “Do you know her?”

“She was at Callie’s restaurant. She spilled hot liquid on your friend, Livvie.”

“Livvie’s not my friend,” I barked, sounding like a dick. Be a human being, Bruce. “Was she hurt?”

“No, it spilled onto fabric.”

A wave swamped the woman with purple hair. She went under. She didn’t come up. I swam toward her.

As I dove, I heard Anneliese’s panicked scream. I took hold of purple hair’s waist to pull her up. Her hands circled my neck. She squeezed my throat, crazy strong. WTF?

I tried to pry her hands off me. She hung on. I wrenched her hands away for a second and swallowed water. She clamped on tight again as the undertow took us—farther and farther away from Anneliese. My dad—I hadn’t spoken to him since Diana died. Now I was going to die.

I couldn’t feel my arms or legs in the ice bath. My lungs were on fire. Purple hair jerked. Anneliese! She had purple hair’s wrist in her teeth. The hands around my neck fell away.

Anneliese’s arms came under mine. She pulled me up until our heads were above the water. Purple hair surfaced ten feet away.

“What the fuck?” I screamed at the stranger. “You tried to kill me.”

She wouldn’t meet my gaze. Whoosh. A small flying thing buzzed past my ear. Purple hair was gone—like, into thin air.

When I had my bearings back, we swam toward shore so our feet touched bottom. Anneliese pressed her face into my neck and murmured words I didn’t understand. “Anneliese, baby, you saved my life.”

She stiffened, then pulled away. Stunned, I stared at her. “I only have three more days. She means you harm. You must watch out for her.”

I couldn’t stop my words. I didn’t care who heard. “Why? Why do you have to leave? And how do you know she means me harm? Where the hell did she go, anyway?”

Anneliese turned away. But she allowed me to pull her back against me. “Stay with me. I helped my roommate with the immigration stuff. I’ll help you, too. I could give you a job.”

There were more people on the beach. They stared. I turned to Anneliese so we were face to face. Her hair was all over her face. Her sweet little nipples pressed against the thin fabric of her bikini. I wanted to hold her close so nobody could see what was mine.

Mine? I was stunned, again. I wasn’t this territorial with Diana, and I had planned to marry her. “Please, babe, tell me something.”

She shook her head, pulled away, walked to our blanket and sat down. I followed. I would always follow.

---