Page 5 of His Kingdom

“I’m good,” he says.

“Suit yourself, but just so you know, you’re missing out.” I sink under the water and close my eyes. I stay under for as long as I can. When I come back up for air, Louie is crouched down at the side of the pool.

“What the fuck, Charlotte? I was about to jump in and pull you up,” he grunts.

“Why?” My brows crease together.

“Because I thought you were… Just don’t do that again. Keep your head above water.” He stands and reclaims his seat.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” he says, looking away from me.

“Right.”

The proper thing to do right now would be to get out of the pool and let this man get back to doing whatever it was he was doing before he sat down at my table. I don’t do that, though. Instead, I turn around and start swimming laps.

ChapterThree

There’s something about this woman that’s pulling me towards her. My brain is telling me to get up and walk away. Let her swim to her heart’s content and leave her alone. My body, though… it wants to do everything but that.

I’m itching to jump into the pool, press her up against the wall, and sink my cock so deep into her pussy she won’t remember she was supposed to get married today. What kind of fucking idiot cheats on a woman like that?Like her.I can’t fathom it. If she were mine, she’d never have to worry about me even looking at another woman.

She can’t be mine, though. She’s too sweet, innocent, kind. She does not belong in the world I live in. She’d get eaten alive. She’d become a target—something my enemies could use against me.

One of the reasons I’ve never been in a relationship is so I don’t have any weaknesses. I’ve also never met a woman I’ve wanted to keep longer than a night. I’m not saying I want to keep Charlotte longer than a night, but I’m not sure I don’t want to keep her either.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out while not taking my eyes off her. She’s swimming laps, continuous laps. Surely she’s going to wear herself out soon. Looking down, I open the message on my screen.

Sammie:

Bossman, you got a heartbeat still? If not, I better be in your will. Where the fuck are you?

Fuck, I was supposed to meet up with him an hour ago. I got distracted. And Charlotte is a distraction I’m not ready to get rid of.

Me:

Rooftop pool. I’m taking a pass on tonight.

I pocket my phone and go back to watching Charlotte. She wasn’t shy at all when it came to stripping down in front of me. I think her need to swim overrode any objections she might have had about getting nearly naked in front of a stranger.

When she comes back to the shallow end of the pool, she stops and looks up at me, her chest heaving as she takes a moment to catch her breath. “You should try this. You look tense and the water always eases my stress,” she says.

“I’m good.” I don’t tell her I’m tense because my mind is focused on trying to figure out if I can get away with fucking the sadness out of her eyes.

“You don’t have to babysit me, you know. I’m sure you have other things to do.” She looks away, and I follow her gaze to the strip.

I own this fucking town. Taking time out to sit by a pool isn’t something I’ve ever done. And yet, here I fucking am.

“Tonight just happens to be my night off. I’ve got no other plans.” I smile. “Besides, I’m happy to sit here and look at the view.”

“It is pretty,” she says, staring out at all the lights.

“It’s fucking breathtaking,” I reply, staring right at her.

Charlotte’s cheeks turn pink. It’s a faint change, and I’m sure I’d be able to see the flush in them more if I were closer. The sound of the door opening has me standing, ready to deal with whatever asshole managed to get up here without a damn pass.

And then Sammie saunters over. “Boss, not like you to go for a midnight swim.” He smiles and looks behind me. At Charlotte. “Ah, I think I see the appeal now.”

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