a slut. "Just had a disagreement with a hard object," I mumbled, flushing with embarrassment.
Steinwick frowned at me a moment, his bushy, white eyebrows drawn low. Then he sighed and moved out of my way. "If it still hurts in the morning, I suggest you have James take a look. He's recently completed his EMT training, so I'm sure he would be happy to help."
It took me longer than it should have to remember who James even was. The groundskeeper. Archer was way too accurate in saying that I paid little to no attention to the people surrounding me. No wonder I was proving such an easy target to stalk.
"Thanks Steinwick," I replied with a smile, then hurried on up to my room to change into the sexiest swimsuit I owned. Steele and I were way overdue a one-on-one catch-up, and I didn't want to waste even a minute longer than necessary.
Only one problem. I had no idea where the pool was located within Archer's mansion.
37
My logical guess was that the pool might be somewhere near the gym, and I was right. Just past the gym doors was a set of double doors that I'd never ventured through. I guess I'd just assumed they went to a storage room or maybe another entrance to the garage or something. Either way, I'd never bothered to open them, so I’d never realized there was an indoor pool around four times the size of my bedroom in there.
"How have I never known this was here?" I exclaimed, spotting Steele sitting on the edge of the pool, already in a pair of black swimming shorts and nothing else. Good God, he was a snack.
"You've been a bit preoccupied since getting back from Cambodia," he commented with an amused smile. His gray eyes tracked my movements as I padded around the pool with bare feet and dropped my towel and robe on a sun lounger.
I sat down on the lip of the pool beside him, shivering as the cool tiles touched my ass. "That's true. I'm glad I know now, though." I dipped my feet in the water and groaned at how warm it was. "Oh my god, that's so much better than I expected."
Steele grinned. "You thought it was going to be one of those lukewarm, tepid kind of pools? Gross."
I shuddered. "So gross. Warm or cold. Not in between."
He pushed off the edge, sliding down into the warm water and spinning around to face me, his hand extended. "Coming in?"
His eyes were full of mischief, and his grin was all sex. How could I even consider refusing an offer like that?
I followed him in, my skin shivering all over as the warm water encased me and Steele's arms wrapped around my waist. It was exactly what I needed, but I'd have to do catch-up work on psychology later.
Worth it.
Steele gently moved us through the warm water, and I snuggled into his chest, resting my chin on his shoulder as he glided. His fingers were tight on my skin, though, and I knew he had something on his mind.
"Alright, spill," I ordered when we got to the deepest part of the pool. It meant we both needed to tread water to stay afloat, but there was something crazy intimate about being there together. The whole room was dead silent, so even while talking quietly, our voices echoed.
"Spill what?" he replied, swimming around me like a sexy shark.
I smiled at his attempt at coy. "You've got something on your mind, so spill. No one else is around to hear us... What's going on, Max Steele?"
"What makes you think there's something to tell, Madison Kate Danvers?" he countered, sweeping his arms around me from behind and kissing my wet neck.
I tipped my head to the side, offering him better access and letting my own buoyancy hold me up in the water for the most part. Benefits of having big boobs, right there.
"Because," I replied in a soft murmur. "I can just tell. I know you."
"Mmm," he murmured against my neck, then captured my earlobe between his teeth. Such a simple act shouldn't have been so insanely hot, but it sent electric ripples right through me. "Maybe it's not something to tell you," he whispered, an edge of wickedness in his voice. "Maybe it's something to show."
My brows shot up. What could he need to show me?
His hands glided over my body under the water, cupping my breasts teasingly. "This bikini should be banned, Hellcat."