him, and they both crashed into the water. She sank fast and came up kicking, sputtering, and, with her left hand, shoving water out of her eyes.
He was beside her. Against her. Still holding her right hand. Water dripped down his face. His chest. They’d fallen into the deep end, and her feet didn’t touch the bottom. She was treading water as she brushed against him.
“Did you just push me into the pool?” Joel demanded in his deep, dark voice.
Why did she like that voice? “Yes, I did. I thought you looked like you could use some cooling off.”
“I’m not cooling off.”
Her legs kicked in the water. “Let me go.”
His fingers smoothed along her wrist. A careful caress. Then he released her.
Swim away. An internal order.
Instead, she kept treading water and staying exactly where she was. “I’m not a robot,” Chloe said again. “I feel and I need just like everyone else.”
“What do you need right now?”
That voice… She wouldn’t answer him. She couldn’t open herself up that way.
“Because I can tell you what I need, Chloe. I can tell you what I’ve been wanting ever since I came home tonight.”
Home. Did he even realize that he’d just used that word? Probably not. Probably didn’t matter. Just a slip of—
“You.”
Her feet stopped kicking. She would have slipped right beneath the surface of the water, but her hands flew out and latched onto his shoulders. She held him tightly as her body pressed against his.
“I was in my bed, thinking about you. Wanting you. Then you showed up at my door with your half-assed apology.”
“It wasn’t half-assed.” Her voice had gone husky. “I meant it.”
“You showed up in the shirt that showed your tight little nipples. A top that told me quite clearly that you weren’t wearing a bra.”
“In the interest of honesty, I’m not wearing panties, either.”
His hands wrapped around her waist. His cock shoved against her.
“You looked at me like you wanted to eat me alive, Chloe.”
“I was distracted by your six pack…” Twelve pack?
“You don’t care about my scars.”
She stared into his eyes. The blue light of the pool was all around them. “Do you care about mine?” Her question slipped out.
“You don’t have any scars, Chloe. I’ve never seen a single one on your body.”
That was because the scars weren’t on the outside.
A furrow appeared between his brows. “What do you mean about your—”
She stopped his question by kissing him. She pressed her mouth to his. Opened her lips. Darted her tongue into his mouth.
If possible, his hold on her became even harder. Even more unbreakable. He kissed her back slowly. Carefully. As if he was afraid he’d scare her off if he used too much force.
She wasn’t the type to be scared. She wanted force. Passion. Power. She wanted everything that he had to give her. In return, she’d give him all that she had.
His tongue met hers. He tasted her. Took. He deepened the kiss. Let more of his hunger out to play. She loved that, and a moan trembled in her throat.
Her legs were curling around his hips. Her body arching into his.
But—
He tore his mouth from hers. “Not here. The last thing I want is your brother interrupting again.”
He kept his hold on her and swam with her toward the stairs that led out of the pool. They walked up together. Her knees felt a little shaky. She stood there, dripping onto the stones of the patio.
He held out his hand to her. “This has nothing to do with our partnership.”
She reached for his fingers. “Absolutely nothing.”
She started walking with Joel toward his place—
Or maybe she ran with him to his home. It was a little hard to tell. All she knew was that seemingly in the next moment, they were inside the guest house. He’d slammed the door shut, and she was pinned against it. He was in front of her. All big, hot, and sexy, and his mouth was on hers. He was kissing her with the raw power she’d so craved moments before. Kissing her as if nothing mattered more.
Desire exploded within her. Her nails raked over his chest. She wanted to feel every inch of him against her body. Skin to skin. But her wet clothes were in the way.
He pulled back.
“The clothes have to come off,” she panted. “I need—”
He was staring down at her chest. His expression could only be termed savage.
She looked down. Her wet clothes clung to her like a second skin. Her nipples were