Page 24 of A Favor Owed

“Allow me.”

I freeze and look up at him. “Sure,” I manage to say.

His long, strong fingers grasp the knot and tug at it. I stare at him, looking at his light eyes and quick-to-smile mouth, smelling the faint scent of his sweat from having been in the sun all day. His eyes slide over to mine, catching me mid-stare, and his mouth turns up slightly before he focuses on the knot again.

“Got it,” he says. But instead of stepping away, he unties the rest of the knot, gently pulls the sarong away from my body, and drops it on the ground. He doesn’t even try not to touch me. He puts his hands on my shoulders and runs them down my arms, leaving a trail of fire in his wake that goes all the way down to my toes and back up, stopping somewhere south of my stomach and north of my thighs.

“Goddamn, Ange,” he says in a choked whisper, his eyes slowly taking everything in. “Shit.”

I back away from him slightly, letting our lightly entwined fingers break apart, and step into the jacuzzi. I sit down on the ledge, grab my drink, and watch as Brady reaches behind him and yanks his T-shirt over his head. Goddamn is right. Broad shoulders, one of which sports a Celtic cross tattoo, a broad chest, a long torso packed with abs, a thin line of coppery hair starting just below his belly button and disappearing into his board shorts… I swallow at the glorious sight of him and take a long sip of my drink.

“Not too bad yourself, McDaniels,” I murmur, unable to take my eyes off him.

He climbs in and sits across from me, keeping his distance. That’s smart. Very smart. And very disappointing. I feel the disappointment mingle with the heat, and I can no longer tell the difference between longing and need. I’m just one hot mess of desire.

“Did you have fun at the party?” he asks.

“Yeah.”My God, those shoulders.I gulp my drink and bite into a bean. “Did you?”

“I always have fun.”

“You could probably make a funeral fun, Brady.”

“I have been known to liven up a wake or two. I mean, who wants a sad funeral, right?”

I laugh and shake my head. “I think every unattached girl at your party wanted a piece of you.” He’d been surrounded by them yet still managed to make me stand out somehow. I’d seen the looks thrown my way, trying to tease out what was going on between us and reluctantly concluding that whatever it is, it’s something.

“Nah,” he says, taking a sip of his beer. “You’re the one everyone notices, Pines.”

“I’m not actually trying to be noticed.” Silver hair with lavender streaks is meant to make me blend into artsy Dos Torres, as much as to make me look as different as possible from my old self.

“Epic fail, princess.”

I shrug. “God, this feels so amazingly good,” I say, sliding farther into the water, tilting my head back and closing my eyes.

Brady says something in a choked whisper that I don’t catch.

“What?”

“Nothin’,” he mutters. I reluctantly open my eyes and look at him. He looks like he’s in actual pain.

“What’s wrong with you?” I demand.

He takes a long drink of his beer, practically draining it. “Nothin’,” he says again.

I settle back into the hot water.

“So, you got a boyfriend lurking around somewhere, Pines?”

“No,” I murmur, the heat and the alcohol making my limbs heavy and my mind light. “Do you?”

“I don’t play for that team, no,” he says, a smile in his voice.

I grin. “I meant a girlfriend.”

“Nope. I don’t have one of those, either.” I feel his foot tap mine under the water. “So, no one’s gonna come after my ass if I make a move on you?”

I laugh nervously. Make a move on me? What does that even mean? Well, whatever it means, I want it to happen, no matter how nervous it makes me. “I take care of myself, Brady. No one’s in charge of this,” I gesture toward my body, “except me.”

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