He bristled at the idea of exposing yet another phony character flaw, but shelved his reticence. Her explanation was good enough that most people wouldn’t think twice about it. A lot of men didn’t want to be shown up by their wives, although he wasn’t one of them. Lindy had his number on the other count, though. He didn’t like to do things he wasn’t good at. In fact, he avoided them at all cost. If they couldn’t be avoided? Well, he got good at them. That wasn’t arrogance. That was a fact.

“Okay, but don’t be surprised if, by the time you’re able to come back to class, I’m in your intermediate session with Nico.” That would throw the smiling bastard for a loop.

She shook her head. “Nope. You have to be bad at it. My sessions with Nico are going great. I’ve been finessing him for over a week now and I think I’m getting close. He’s about to make some sort of move, I can feel it. I’m not about to let you come in and get all ham-handed with him and wreck it. I know you don’t relish the idea of humiliating yourself, but you’re going to have to get your ego in check here, Owen.”

Her matter-of-fact tone and facial expression irked him to no end. “It’s not about my ego. At least, not this time,” he said, shoving off the bench to stand in front of her. “This time it’s about you. I know you don’t want to hear this, but the thought of him making a move on you, any kind of move at all, makes me want throttle the son of a bitch.” He took a step closer and she didn’t retreat. “I don’t like that feeling one bit, if I’m being honest. But there it is. Not that it changes anything.”

He towered over her, the icy air raising goose bumps on his skin. She tipped her head back to look up at him. “Not that it changes anything,” she agreed softly. “I appreciate your honesty. We still need to do what’s right for Cara, though. After you sleep on it, I know you’ll agree, so let’s not argue about it now.”

“All right.”

A heavy silence fell, too many unspoken words crowding the space between them. He reached out and brushed his thumb over her lips, the need to touch her skin overpowering every rational thought. Her lashes fluttered for a moment and she sighed. The warmth of her breath bathed his hand, and she pinned him with her gaze. She didn’t look away, instead dipping her face toward him and closing her teeth over the tip of his thumb. The move electrified him, every nerve receptor in his body lighting up. His balls pulled tight against his body, his length thickening to rise between them.

At that moment, he needed her so badly he could’ve howled with the disappointment of knowing he had to walk away. She was so selfless, so good. She’d asked only one thing of him, and damn it, he was going to come through for her.

He cleared the thickness from his throat and stepped back. “Make sure you get out in the next five minutes or so. I’ll see you upstairs.”

Chapter Sixteen

Lindy stared after Owen, a thousand conflicting thoughts tripping through her mind. She opened her mouth to call him back, but closed it with a snap. What was there to say? She’d asked him to have the strength for them both, and he’d come through for her. So why did she feel anything but relieved?

She slunk lower into the pool, dunking herself completely, letting the water swirl over her face and hair. Never, in all her twenty-eight years, had she ever felt so…much. So happy, so sad, so angry, so afraid. The torrent of emotions was making her crazy. It was like—

A wave of dizziness came over her and she pitched forward, clutching the side of the tub. Holy mother of God, she was in love. With Owen Phipps. How could that be? Her brain frantically tried to disprove the theory that her heart had already accepted without question.

He didn’t want a relationship.

He was way out of her league.

They’d only know each other a few weeks.

He didn’t want a relationship. At least, not the kind she wanted. She refused to entertain the idea that she could change his mind on that front. He promised he would never lie to her and he hadn’t. She needed to come to terms with the fact that it wasn’t going to happen.

But did that mean they couldn’t be together, here and now? That much, he did want. And when their three weeks were up, she’d go home broken-hearted. Was that so different than what would happen if they didn’t make love?

She waded over to the steps and climbed up, letting the shock of the frigid air clear her head. Water, instantly cold once exposed to the air, sluiced down her body. She scooped up her robe and pulled it on with trembling hands. A moment later, she scurried up the steps to their room. They’d only brought one set of keys to the hot tub, so Owen had left the door unlocked for her. She slipped in and set her slippers on the floor by the door. The patter of water against glass carried down the short hallway and she took a tentative step in that direction. Owen was in the shower already.

Did she dare?

She ran through her options and determined that, if she was going to do this, now was the time. Before she lost her nerve and ended up going home without ever knowing what it would be like to make love with him. That would be a tragedy. She marched the rest of the way to the bathroom and lifted a hand to rap on the door but paused. That wasn’t sexy at all. If you wanted to seduce a man, you didn’t knock and ask if you could come in, you went in and took what you wanted.

She turned the knob and opened the door with a muttered, “Everything’s fine.”

Only his silhouette was visible behind the frosted glass of the shower stall. He had both hands braced against one wall and his head under the spray. This time there was no hesitation. She untied the robe and shook it off her shoulders, then kicked it into the corner. Reaching behind her neck, she pulled the strings of her bikini top. Steam rose and swirled around the room as she slipped it off and tossed it onto the vanity.

Her bikini bottoms would have to wait. If he refused her, she didn’t know if she had the nerve to walk away bottomless. Like that little patch of fabric somehow contained a bit of dignity.

She took the last few steps toward the shower, trying to control her breathing. With a firm tug, she opened the stall. She stared, agape, at Owen’s magnificent naked form. If there were any lingering doubts, they disintegrated into ash.

The cooler air she’d allowed into the steamy room must have registered because he stepped away from the showerhead and swiped the water from his eyes. He turned, and his stunned gaze met hers. She blurted the four words he clearly never expected to hear.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

…

Lindy’s blue eyes were so captivating in their desire, so enchanting in their honesty, that he nearly missed the fact that she was half-naked. The long line of her neck, emphasized by the pixie cut, drew his gaze lower. The gentle curve of her breast, lower still. His throat tightened until he could barely squeeze the words out.

“What are you saying?”

“I want to be with you. For however long you’ll have me.”

The need to touch her was so overwhelming he had to close his eyes to block out the maddening sight of her. “Lindy, as much as I want you—and Lord knows, I do—it’s not a good idea. You said—”

“I know what I said,” she whispered, the squeak of bare feet on the wet tile floor of the shower compelling him to open his eyes. “But I take it back.” She pulled in a shuddering breath and stepped between his knees, closing the stall door behind her. “I take it back.”

The nude front of her body pressed to his, and blood pulsed to his groin. He let out a tortured groan. Scrambling for some sense of control before he was too far gone, he said, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s too late for that. It was too late almost from the first.” She covered his chest with her palms and smoothed them down over his abdomen, stopping at the juncture where his hips met his thighs. “But I’m a grown woman, and if I’m going to go home with the pain, I want to take some pleasure to remember, too. I won’t ask for more.”

Every move, every word hacked away at his resolve until he was left in tatters. With a muttered curse, he took her by the shoulders and pulled her to him, mindful of her bruise. “That I can guarantee.”

Her breath hitched and he took her mouth in a heated kiss, fueled by three weeks of unfulfilled, constant need. She twined her arms around his neck, her body quivering. He let out a growl and half-dragged, half-lifted her into the spray. The hot water sluiced over her, and she gasped against his lips. The sound sent his blood pulsing downward, filling his length to bursting. He broke away, desperate to taste more of her, to lick and suck every inch. He bent to her breast, flicking his tongue out to nudge the stiffened nipple and she bowed her back, straining closer.

Her pelvis fluttered against his, as if her body was seeking relief and knew where to find it. The move made him wild, the need to plow into her tight heat growing out of control.

Space. He needed a little space to get back some semblance of control. He had a promise to keep. He pulled back and Lindy whimpered, wriggling to get close again. He held her off, sliding a wet hand between them, down her smooth stomach, pausing at the bikini bottoms plastered to her. He grasped the soaked material in his hand, every instinct goading him to tear them off. Some tiny, rational part of him remembered her bruised hip at the last second, and he managed to rein it in. Gently, he hooked his thumbs under the straps. He shifted the fabric slowly over her hips, down her thighs and lower. It wasn’t his intention to stay down there, not yet. He’d take it slow, caress her back, kiss her neck. They had all night. But as he bared her sweet pussy, his best intentions came undone. He could no more back away without a taste than he could cut off his own hand.

He took to his knees, body quaking. He pushed open her silky thighs and the sight of her swollen with need nearly brought him low. Laying her hands on his shoulders, she attempted to draw him up and back into her arms, but he resisted.

“I need to put my mouth on you.” His voice was guttural, so raw, he sounded like a stranger. Lindy didn’t seem to mind as she gazed down at him, eyes hazy with lust.

“Yes,” she moaned and hands that had been drawing him away now dragged him closer.

He parted her slick sex, breathless. Her fingers became talons, digging into his skin. “Jesus, Owen. Please.”

She didn’t need to ask again because a second later, he was on her. He tongued the tight bud he’d revealed, licking and sucking. She bucked against his mouth, and he wrapped an arm around her thighs to steady her as he devoured the tender flesh.

He worked her, and her movements became frantic. Soon she was clutching at his hair, chanting his name. Yes. He slid a finger over her slit and thrust deep, while sucking hard. She froze for a moment and then broke apart in his arms.

“Owen, I—oh God!”

She held him deep with the sensual clench and release of her body on his finger, and his own sex throbbed. He wanted—no, needed—to feel that again, but next time he would be buried to the hilt inside of her. Tremors wracked her and he held on tight until the storm passed. Her breathing was harsh when he finally stood to face her.

“Beautiful,” he muttered. “Just beautiful.” He turned the shower off and opened the door, reaching for a towel. He rubbed it over her hair, then dried her thoroughly, despite her feeble protests.

“I want to touch you now,” she said, still gasping.

“And you will, as soon as we dry off and get into the bedroom. We have all night, love.”

He dropped a kiss on the tawny tip of each br**sts before taking a cursory swipe of his own hair and body. Tossing the towel on the floor, he wasted no time in scooping her into his arms.

She squealed on a laugh. “I can walk!”

“Right. And I can carry you. Now that we’ve discussed our abilities, perhaps you’ll allow me to seduce you properly without further argument, eh?”