Page 31 of Paradise in Progress
Words won’t form on my tongue. Instead, I gesture for her to join me and reach out my hand for her to hold. She slides her delicate hand into mine, and I swear I could combust from the connection. Every time this woman touches me, a shot of electricity slices through my body. How can she not feel this?
Once inside the pool, she moves to the opposite corner, where a moan escapes her lips as she sinks her shoulders lower into the water. “I don’t know why I thought this was a hot tub.”
A laugh escapes. “I thought the same thing. Didn’t you design this, though?”
“Yeah, I did.” A chuckle leaves her lips, and I decide that I want to hear it more often. “That’s why I was so surprised. Clearly, I forgot about that suggestion.”
Stretching my arms out to the sides, I rest them against the side of the pool and soak in the silence. It’s weird being one of the only people on this property. Of course, workers and security guards are milling around the property, but there aren’t any guests.
No one is splashing in the pool, no chatter down below us where lounge chairs line the property and, best of all, no street noise from cabs honking and endless sirens.
It’s peaceful, with only the rustling of palms and birds chirping.
Hell, I could get used to this. Maybe I can just tell my dad running Nelson’s Signature isn’t for me and that I’d like to run the operations here on the island. He’d laugh in my face and tell me to grow up. That’s always been his go-to. Whenever I wanted to feel like a normal kid and play sports or go out with my friends, he’d tell me I needed to grow up and focus on the bigger picture. It’s Dennis Nelson’s life and I’m stuck living in it.
A stream of water hits my face, and my eyes snap to the opposite corner, where a burst of laughter comes from. A wide grin stretches across Kennedy’s face as I wipe the droplets from my eyes.
“Did you just splash me?”
With a cocky head nod, she shrugs. “Yeah, I did. What are you going to do about it?”
I shake my head and flash her a mischievous smirk. In seconds, I’ve pushed through the water and wrapped my arms around the curve of her hips. Without hesitation, her arms circle my neck as she holds on with all her might.
“Tristan Lawrence Nelson, don’t you dare dunk me!” she squeals, her slick body rubbing against mine as she wraps her legs around my waist. The death grip she has on me has me laughing.
“Oh, I see how it is. It’s okay for you to splash me in the face, but I can’t return the favor?”
She pulls away until we find ourselves nearly brushing our noses. My eyes get lost in her emerald greens, the joking pushed aside as we realize how close we are to each other.
Sleep deprivation plus humidity isn’t a good mix.
Clearing my throat, I snap us out of the trance. My hands snap away from her hips at the same time Kennedy releases her legs from around my waist. Pushing off my shoulders, she finds her spot in the corner again.
Heat blooms across her freckled face as I move back to my spot, needing a moment to tuck the erection, she no doubt felt, into the waistband of my shorts. Settling back on my side of the pool, my gaze can’t help but land on her. She’s staring off to the side, and I watch her watch the ships pass by.
The ringing of my phone interrupts our moment. Letting out a sigh, I shake my head. I thought I had put the stupid thing on silent but, apparently, I forgot.
“Do you need to get that?”
“No,” I snap without meaning to. “Sorry—”
“It’s fine.” She stands from her spot and glides through the water toward the edge of the pool. “It’s probably best we stop whatever that was between us and go back to being colleagues.”
“Colleagues.” I scoff, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “After all these years, that’s what we are to you?”
With her out of the pool, I can only see from her stomach up as her hands land on her hips. “Yes, Tristan. Colleagues, rivals, the competition. That’s what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. In fact, for the next month, we are merely two people sharing the same space while working together to solve whatever problems we need to in order to get this resort up and running. Then we can both go back to New York, and I can try to find someplace else to work.”
“Woah!” I stand, moving to the edge so that we’re face to face. “What the hell do you mean ‘find someplace else to work’?”
“Nothing,” she replies, shaking her head. My phone ringingagaininterrupts our conversation. “You should probably get that.”
And with that, she turns her back to me. Swim bottoms hug her curves, accentuating her toned ass. The firm contour is a testament to her cycling classes and has me unable to take my eyes off her.
While watching her walk away, I spot a tiny turtle tattoo below the string of her bikini, right on her ass cheek.
Fuck my life.
Chapter thirteen
