Pool Man Read Free Page B

ah… Did you want me to join you?”
    Good lord. He was shy. I patted him on the chest, fingers lingering on his beefy pecs. They rippled to my touch. “Not now, Jimmy,” I said, stifling a yawn. I really was awfully tired. “Maybe later.”
    Later. Yeah. We had all week.
     
    Here’s the thing about power naps.
    They are awesome.
    A couple hours in the darkened “blue bedroom,” which really was very lovely and feminine and frothy, and I was ready to go at it again. Most specifically, I was aching for a soak in the hot tub.
    It had been a five-hour flight from LA to Miami and at least another three navigating the antiquated island hopper network. Plus schlepping my bags, lifting and stretching, not to mention the torture ride with Mr. Lucifer. When I woke up, the sun was just setting on the island, and my body ached, screamed, to be immersed in steamy water for extended periods of time, like a tea bag.
    I slipped back into my almost-bathing-suit. Sleeping nude wasn’t really my thing, but I’d been too lazy to unpack, much less rummage through my suitcase for my nightgown. Besides, the silky sheets had felt far too decadent against my bare skin. I had snuggled in, sinking into the soft pillow, and slipped into the warm, waiting arms of Morpheus.
    The house was quiet and shadowed as I padded back to the pool. I didn’t see any sign of Jimmy, which was just as well. My dreams had been filled with him; he’d haunted every crevice of my sleep. I felt like I’d been steeped in him, reliving every touch, every glance, every fantasy.
    Those dreams clung to my consciousness, as dreams sometimes do, stoking a hunger I hadn’t even realized I had.
    I’d been kind of joking when I’d invited Jimmy to my room, but in truth, it hadn’t been a joke at all. I wanted him. Really wanted him. Needed him, maybe.
    Needed the oblivion a wild, steamy, pointless affair could provide.
    My ego ached after Harlan’s betrayal, but it was more than that. It was more than assuaging a hit to my self-esteem.
    I simply wanted Jimmy.
    Wanted him in a way I’d never wanted a man before.
    Maybe it was the isolation. Maybe it was the magnificent surroundings. Maybe it was simply the fact that he was hotter than hot. Certainly hotter than Harlan with his bad-boy-biker persona, his bull ring. His tattoos. Nothing about him had been real in the end. Nothing about us had been either.
     
    The tiny lights strung around Marlee’s patio glowed as they bobbed in the breeze. The waters of the hot tub steamed a warm welcome, bathed in a surreal blue that shone like a beacon in the gathering night.
    I tossed my towel on a lounge chair and stepped in. And hissed.
    Warmth lapped at me. I sank, allowing the water to consume me slowly. My skin shivered as I eased deeper, all the way to my neck. I turned around and leaned against one of the benches formed in the tile and closed my eyes.
    Heaven.
    I owed Marlee. And I owed her big time.
    This place was, indeed, heaven on earth. And Jimmy… Well, the jury was still out on that one. Marlee had been frank. “Paige,” she’d said. “You need to get laid. And trust me, if anyone can help you forget about that douchebag Harlan Rivers, it’s my Jimmy.” I tried not to let it bug me that she’d put it that way. My Jimmy. Not that I had any ownership of him. Not that I wanted it.
    I just wasn’t used to sharing men with my best friend.
    Remembering the ripple of his pec beneath my palm, I nibbled my lip.
    I could probably get over it…
    “May I join you?”
    I opened my eyes at the deep voice, at the question tinged with a throb.
    My heart stuttered. My breath caught.
    Gawd.
    Jimmy. Standing there next to the hot tub, wearing nothing but a tight black Speedo. Everything I had imagined under his casual clothes, everything I had hoped for, was there. Thick muscles roping his chest and forearms, thighs like tree trunks, a flat, taut belly, sculpted abs and a tantalizing dark line arrowing toward a magnificent