Page 17 of High Seduction
His final words took the wind out of her blustering sails, her lips twitching into a smile. “You haven’t changed much yourself. Still able to charm the savage breast, and win all people to your side.” She grinned hard for a moment. “Tripp has a boyfriend, by the way. So don’t get your hopes up.”
Minx. “He told me on the drive over to the pool. I wasn’t planning on seducing him, just enjoying the man’s skilled touch. That is possible without wanting to become lovers.”
She pulled in a ragged breath, her dark eyes glittering as she fought to match his gaze. “Pleasure without emotional attachment.”
“Oh, I’m very emotionally attached already,” Tim insisted, knowing that they weren’t talking about the man at all anymore. “Physical and mental and emotional connections are always mixed up, kitten. You can’t have one without the others, or it’s like masturbation. Even the best private session is missing something vital.”
Another crack appeared in her untouchable façade as a smile escaped. “What is it with you and talking about jerking off? I remember you doing that at the worst possible times, as if you were trying to see who you could freak out.”
“And if I remember correctly, you always laughed. Said you didn’t mind if a few uptight eavesdropping cranks got a bit of the stuffing knocked out of them.”
She nodded slowly, glancing to see who was near this time, but the closest person was out of earshot. Erin rolled to her side, her lean body only inches away.
When she spoke it was in a low, husky voice that scraped his spine as if she’d applied her fingernails to his skin. “And are you trying to knock some stuffing around?”
“Just saying that emotion doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I got to see Tripp in action today. I talked to people who admire him, and I’ve formed an opinion, which is I like the man. I don’t want to fuck him, but I’d go out of my way to make him smile.”
His blandly spoken honesty drew out a snort of laughter. “Like I said, you haven’t changed.”
He made an instant decision and shifted closer, connecting their bodies at the hip and shoulder, daring her to move away. There was nothing intrinsically intimate about the gentle brushing of bare skin.
Far, far too intimate at the same time.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I have changed, a hell of a lot. I’m here to prove that to you.”
She took a quick breath in, a pulse beat visible at the base of her throat. “I thought you were here for a job.”
It might be too soon, but part of having grown up meant he was not going to lie, not even by omission. “That as well, but I’m really here for you. I want you back, Erin, and I’m willing to work for it.”
Between them the water rippled as a family swam past, the small waves cresting over her skin and his where they lay side by side. A minor tremour, miles apart from the tsunami of passion that could flood over them soon if he had his way.
Erin lifted her gaze to meet his. Stared silently for a good sixty seconds. Nothing but the gurgle of the pool gutters and low voices.
His breathing.
Hers.
She rolled toward him, increasing the contact points between them. His arm rested between her breasts, her knee slightly over his thigh, and he tensed. She was solid muscle and soft skin. A combination of strength and feminine beauty that he could hardly wait to experience all over again.
“You’re awfully confident. What if I don’t want you back? What if I told you that while you’re a part of my past, I don’t want you in my future?”
“Not even as a co-worker?”
She trickled her fingers over his chest and he held his breath, fascinated by this new side of her. Bolder, more determined. He loved it, and wondered how long she’d hold that stance.
Erin tilted her head as she dribbled water over his skin. “I could work with you. You are talented, and the team could use you.”
“I have talents in other areas as well,” he teased.
“So do Devon and Alisha, but I don’t sleep with them.”
“Touché.” He crossed his arms under his head, tightening his abdomen as she continued to drive him mad. “So you won’t sleep with me. I can handle that. Until you ask.”
She snapped her fingertips against his stomach, the tiny blow stinging on the wet, bare skin. “You’re such an ass.”
“You just earned a spanking,” he warned.
A low laugh escaped her. “See? There’s that old Timothy I knew so well. The new Tim, if he’s changed, wouldn’t try to dole out punishments I haven’t agreed I want to earn.”
