Her Billionaire's Murder Mystery - Stephanie Fowers Page 0,29

Squat palms added to the feel, though the temperature was a brisk 70 degrees.

Charlize sauntered outside, wearing a tank top and beach shorts over her swimming suit. Her dark hair was in a ponytail with most of it escaping in curls around her face. She was a breath of fresh air, her manner as natural as her smile that reflected in her warm eyes.

He jogged up to her and took both her hands. “You came.”

“It was a close one,” she admitted. “I almost slept through my alarm.”

He kissed her cheek and she drew back, giving him a wary look. Uh oh. Had someone regretted their kisses from the night before? He tried to break the ice between them. “So this is insanely early. Please tell me you aren’t a morning person.”

“Guilty,” she said. “But no worries, I’m a night person too.”

“Which makes you an insane person.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders.

She smiled up at him, which meant she was okay with that. She leaned into his shoulder and he took that as another good sign. “I’m not completely insane,” she said. “I do take naps.”

“Is that so?” He slid his hand behind her back and brought her closer so that he was looking down at her, though she was actually quite tall. Her forehead reached his chin. “I’m relieved to hear that,” he said. “I don’t want to date anyone who’s insane.”

She bit her lip and looked down, before raising her eyes to his again. Shyly this time. Okay, so Charlize was shy. That didn’t necessarily mean that she regretted kissing him. He just had to move slowly. “Is your friend in for our ghost tour tonight?” he asked. “We can do it right before our Murder Mystery starts up again at six.”

“Oh, she’ll do it. I just hope that you can sleep in the hotel after she’s through with us.”

“That scary, huh?”

“Definitely.” She broke away from him and set her towel on a chair next to the Jacuzzi. “The water had better be hot or I’m not getting in. I don’t want to freeze.”

He loved the challenge in her voice and he went to the Jacuzzi to assure her it was fine while she tugged off her tank top from her swimming suit. Oh, she’d been distracting him so she could peel off her outer layers. By the time he turned she had the towel wrapped around her. Every woman in his social circle would be strutting past him by now in a skimpy suit, but she was as demure as the Girl Next Door she played.

It was all he could do not to kiss her for it. Instead he put his hand into the water. The warmth seeped into his skin. “It feels great,” he said. He supposed he should be the gentleman, and so he stepped back so Charly could go in first. Her face went red, and, taking a deep breath, she quickly dropped her towel and scrambled inside, but not before he got a glimpse of her beautiful long legs and the curves that her dress had only hinted at last night. She was all woman in her cute one piece. He grinned as he jumped in after her. The water splashed up around them.

She slunk into the water, her chin hitting the bubbles. “Oh, this is nice.” She bobbed back up, and the wet ends of her hair were so dark they looked black. He touched them, pulling down a strand and letting it go to watch it bounce back into a curl.

Wow. He wanted to kiss her so bad. The hot tub was nestled between the two wings of the limestone building, as if they were alone, but if anyone looked out their window, they’d see them together. He didn’t care about any of that right now. Her eyes were on him and she bit down on her lip. “So you never dated Veronica?”

“I didn’t.” He held up his two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“What about Darcy?”

He ran a hand down his neck, feeling sweaty. “Okay, if you get to ask me the tough questions, then I get to ask a few of my own.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Deal.”

“I did date Darcy.”

Her mouth flew open. “For how long?”

“About six months. I know, it was stupid.” For some reason, he felt like he was trying to justify himself to Tara, and he tried to dispel that idea—it was a dangerous one. This was Charly, and even though she watched him in