Luke walked over to the rickety wood dresser and rummaged around in the top drawer for his swim trunks. After he’d stripped off his boxers, he pulled the trunks up to his hips, his mind running.
She wanted a swim?
Or had she come up with a plan?
She has a plan.
Okay, so that was indisputable. Ellie Dawson always had an ace or two up her sleeve. Like in college, when Josh had refused to release funds from her trust fund to allow her to go on a coed singles cruise. Rather than giving in, Ellie took a month off from her classes and worked full-time at a frozen yogurt stand to save up the money. And the kicker—she’d convinced her professor to count the job as extra credit.
Oh, she definitely had a plan, and it obviously involved him. She’d made it clear she didn’t want him in this town, and if he knew Ellie, the wheels in her head were working overtime looking for a way to get rid of him.
He reached for the sunglasses sitting on the dresser and pushed them on top of his head. Then he sighed.
Damn, he wasn’t in the mood for games. He’d endured too many of Robin’s games these past few months, had suffered enough manipulation to last a lifetime. Why did women always feel the need to play games?
You won’t lose this time.
He thought about the last time he’d seen his ex-girlfriend, when Robin’s final lie floated to the surface and slapped him in the face like a splash of ice-cold water. The betrayal still resonated in his blood, slithered through his system like a hefty dose of arsenic. But hell, at least he’d learned his lesson. He’d strayed from his bachelor lifestyle, committed himself to one woman, only to have it all blow up in his face.
He wasn’t about to make that mistake again.
Luke grabbed the keys for the SUV he’d rented and headed for the door. No, he wouldn’t lose this time. He wasn’t going to let another woman play him for a fool.
Even if that woman was Ellie.
Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up in the driveway of her little pink bungalow. He stared at the house, noting just how Ellie it was. Pink and sweet and easy on the eyes.
He got out of the car and strode up the flower-lined front walk. There was no doorbell, so he rapped his knuckles against the sleek white door, waiting. When she didn’t answer after his first few knocks, he called out, “Ellie?”
“I’m out back!”
Her voice drifted in the wind, and he made his way around the bungalow toward the beachside backyard. When he spotted her, she was sprawled on a lounge chair, wearing a yellow halter top and denim shorts.
“Hi,” she called as he came near.
“Hi, yourself.” He sank on the beach chair next to hers and stretched out his legs.
He couldn’t stop himself from giving her a long once-over. Nobody could argue that Ellie wasn’t cute. A pair of oversized sunglasses sat perched on her dainty nose, and she’d tied her hair up in a messy ponytail. His eyes briefly rested on her bare legs, admiring the sleek, golden tone of her skin. She looked young, healthy and really, really good.
Josh’s sister.
Those two words were all it took, the same two words he’d used almost as a mantra each time he’d found his thoughts drifting into forbidden territory. Josh was the best friend he’d ever had, and he wasn’t about to mess around with his sister.
Of course, that didn’t mean he hadn’t wondered what it would be like to date Ellie. She was so different from the women he typically went out with. Sassy, sarcastic, the kind of woman who never backed down from a challenge. He’d been with all types of women. Strong CEO types, ditzy supermodel types, complacent yes types, but never someone like Ellie.
Truth was, there wasn’t anyone like her. She was one of a kind.
“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” she chirped, sliding up the chair so that she sat cross-legged.
Her feet were bare, and her shiny pink toenails made his groin stir. He pictured her wearing those dainty little ballet slippers and his groin stirred some more. He’d always thought ballerinas were extremely sexy.
Josh’s sister.
“It’s a very nice day.” He noticed his voice sounded hoarse.
“I’m glad you came over for a swim. Viv was here a while ago, but she hates the ocean. She’s terrified of it, actually.”
Luke lifted a brow. “Vivian, terrified? Seems like she has nerves of steel.”
“She does.” Ellie shrugged. “But ever since she watched a documentary on currents and riptides, she’s boycotted the ocean.”
“I’m actually surprised you called me.” He searched her big blue eyes for a reaction, hoping she’d reveal a hint of her true intentions, but her gaze remained innocent. Too innocent?
“I hate swimming alone,” she replied. “And since you’re refusing to get out of here, I figured we could spend some time together.”
He forced his eyebrows to stay in place and not shoot upwards. She wanted to spend time with him? Now he was certain she had something up her sleeve.
“That sounds terrific,” he said, matching her cheerful tone.
If she wanted to play games, he was more than ready to play back.
“So, ready to take a dip?”
No, he wasn’t. He wanted to sit here next to her and do some digging. Find out why she’d suddenly decided to welcome him with open arms. But the afternoon sun beating down on his head already caused beads of sweat to dot his forehead, and the blue-green water lapping against the white sand looked mighty inviting.
“Sure,” he finally said.
Luke stood up and unbuttoned his shirt, then dropped it on the chair. As he took a step forward, Ellie’s voice stopped him.
“Would you rub some suntan lotion on my back first?” she said, her big eyes focusing on his. “I burn easily.”
His throat went dry. “Uh…”
“Please, Luke? You don’t want me to get a sunburn, do you?”
He found his voice. “Of course I don’t.”
“Good.”
He thought he saw a whisper of a smile—a satisfied smile—sweep over her mouth, but he must have imagined it, because when he looked at her again her lush lips were closed in a straight line.
“Is that what you’re wearing in the water?” he asked, gesturing to her shorts and halter.
This time she did smile. “I’ve got my suit underneath.”
She jumped up from the chair and reached for the tie that held her halter together. Quickly, she undid the knot and pulled the top over her head. The second she did that, not only did thick cotton fill his entire mouth, but a rush of heat pooled in his groin.
A string bikini. She wore a fucking string bikini.
He tried not to stare, but his foolish eyes kept darting toward her chest. Small, perky breasts barely covered by the tiny green triangles of her bikini top. He was pleased to see that he’d been right—the corset had made her breasts appear larger.
But those small luscious mounds still looked just as inviting.
“Here.”
He unglued his gaze from her, wondering if she’d caught him staring. If she had, she didn’t comment on it, just handed him a tube of sunscreen and flopped down on the chair, offering her back to him.
He stared at the flimsy string at her back and noted that he could probably tear it off with his teeth with no trouble.
Josh’s sister.
“That’s the only thing I hate about living on the beach,” she said. “My skin is far too sensitive. Two minutes in the sun and I turn into a tomato.”
The sensitive comment stayed in his head. He wondered which parts of her were most sensitive. Her lips? Her nipples?
“Luke? The sunscreen?”
He forced his mind out of his swim trunks and unscrewed the cap of the tube. Squirting a glob of sunscreen into his hands, he rubbed his palms together and stared at her golden skin.
He took a breath.
Then he touched her.
The second he made contact with her delicate shoulder blades, a jolt of
electricity coursed through his body and settled in his crotch. Damn, her skin felt like silk.
“So, are you still with the same bodyguards-to-the-rich-and-famous agency?”
It was impossible to hold a normal conversation while his hands rubbed sunscreen on her back. He managed a short, “Uh-huh.”
Ellie suddenly leaned back, filling his palms with more of that soft skin. “Mmmm, that feels good. You should give up life as a bodyguard for a career as a masseur.”
Josh’s sister. Josh’s sister.
The mantra grew louder in his head, desperate, as he fought back a barrage of sensual thoughts.
You think this feels good? Well, come to bed with me. You’ll feel even better.
He swiftly dropped his hands from her back and wiped the excess sunscreen on his own chest. Okay, this was bad. Normally he exercised a hefty dose of restraint, yet in the past few seconds, he’d lost every bit of control he’d ever managed to maintain around Ellie.
“Okay, all done.” His voice sounded too high to his ears, and he cleared his throat. “Let’s go for that swim.”
Cold water. That’s what he needed. Being submerged in cold water would shoot some sense into him.
Ellie stood up and flashed him another endearing smile. “Thanks for doing my back. Let me just get my legs before we go in.”
She wiggled out of her denim cut-offs, revealing a pair of green bikini bottoms. He almost sighed with relief. High-cut, but modest. He could handle these bottoms, no problem.
He watched as she slathered sunscreen on her bare legs, and then tossed the tube on the sand.
“I’ll race you,” she said with a grin.
He was about to accept the challenge and start dashing down the sand, but the second she took a step forward, all the breath sucked out of his lungs with one swift whoosh.
She was wearing a thong.
“Are you coming?” She broke into a slow jog, smiling at him over her shoulder.
All he could do was stand there, stare at her ass and will away his erection.
This was really bad.
He swallowed, unable to tear his gaze from her butt, and it wasn’t until he saw her diving cleanly into the waves that he snapped out of his lust-filled stupor.
Okay, no big deal. Just a thong. Lots of women wear thongs. Some don’t wear anything at all. You can overcome this.
With a breath, he jogged down the sand toward the water’s edge. Ellie was already a few yards out, languidly floating on her back.
“Slowpoke!” she teased.
He dove into the water, grateful for the cold rush that filled his body. As he swam toward Ellie, his desire slowly dissolved, much to his relief. By the time he reached her, he’d almost forgotten all about the dental-floss string nestled between her ass cheeks.
“Finally,” she said as he approached her with slow strokes. “You’ve lost your edge, Russell.”
He sent a small splash of seawater in her direction. “You cheated.”
“How did I cheat?”
“You didn’t count us off. You can’t have a race without a count.” He neglected to mention the real reason for his less than speedy entrance.
Luke watched as she did a leisurely backstroke, her shapely legs kicking through the water. He realized this was the first time he’d ever been alone with Ellie. It was incredible to think it, that he’d known her for fifteen years, and they’d never spent more than a few moments alone. He wondered why that was, but got his answer quickly as Ellie smiled at him again and her face lit up.
Being alone with her was dangerous, which was why he’d always made sure someone else was around whenever he was with Ellie. He could trace it back to her eighteenth birthday, when he’d first realized that Elenore Dawson had become a woman. A beautiful, alluring, sexy woman.
A woman who was totally off-limits.
His dating track record was impressive. He’d been with many women, and his past encounters all had one commonality—they were brief. He wasn’t ashamed of his love ’em and leave ’em past. In his line of work, settling down wasn’t really an option, as he constantly traveled the country, moving from assignment to assignment. When he was home he tried to spend as much time as possible with his father, who’d been a mess ever since Luke’s mom died ten years ago.
Making a commitment to one woman was nearly impossible considering his conflicting loyalties. He’d learned that the hard way with Robin. While her betrayal still infuriated him, he found himself unable to let her shoulder all the blame for their break-up. Robin had wanted him to devote every second of the day to her, she’d wanted full and total control of his heart, and that’s the one thing he hadn’t been able to give her.
He’d never felt guilty about the casual affairs he engaged in, but he knew that, with Ellie, casual wouldn’t cut it. Josh would kill him if he got involved with Ellie, if he kept things with her light and deprived her of a real future, a family, his heart. So he’d never let himself act on his attraction to her. Hell, he hadn’t even been sure there was an attraction.
Until now.
“The water feels wonderful, doesn’t it?”
She swam over to him again, brushing damp strands off her forehead as the water bobbed over her tanned shoulders.
“Yeah. I rarely have time for swimming anymore.”
Treading water, she suddenly grinned. “Weren’t you on your high school swim team?”
He suppressed a groan as he remembered the designated Speedo he’d had to wear back then. “Don’t remind me. It was my dad’s idea, not mine.”
“I think Josh might have taken me to one of your meets.” She splashed him. “Didn’t you have to wear a g-string or something?”
He saw the playful twinkle in her blue eyes and glared at her. “No, it wasn’t a g-string, Elenore.”
A wave of laughter bubbled out of her throat. “Do you still have your g-string? Do you model it for your girlfriends?”
“Oh, that’s it.” With one swift move, he reached out and dunked her under the water, enjoying the shriek of surprise she let out before she went under.
She shot up to the surface, water sputtering from her mouth. “You’re really going to get it, Russell!”
She launched herself at him, pressing her hands against his shoulders and trying to push him under. He fought against her attempts, until they were both laughing and spitting water from their mouths.
“Okay, okay, game over!” she cried out as he cupped his hands and shot a spray of salty water into her face. “I need to catch my breath.”
As he watched her push her hair out of her eyes, he realized he was actually having a good time. So good a time that he’d forgotten all about his goal. What was he doing? He was supposed to bring her home, not frolic in the ocean with her.
“Let’s go in,” he suggested.
She looked disappointed, but she nodded. “Okay.”
They swam toward the shore, and it wasn’t until he saw her step onto the sand that he remembered.
The thong.
Don’t look at her.
He diverted his gaze to his feet, and when she said, “Here’s a towel,” he finally looked up.
She’d wrapped a fluffy pink towel around her waist, thankfully shielding her barely-there bikini. As he dried off, he tried to regroup. All right, so she’d distracted him during that swim. And yeah, that sexy thong had made him reconsider telling his college friends that he was a boob man and made him realize he was most definitely an ass man.
But he was focused now. And ready to start pressuring her to go back. People always caved under pressure. You just needed the right amount, and they always caved. Ellie would be no exception.
“So, do you have a show tonight?” he asked, tossing the towel on the lounge chair.
She shook her head. “It’s my night off.”
Perfect. “So, you want to have dinner tonight?”
He saw the reluctance in her eyes. No matter how confident she’d been a few minutes ago, he knew
she didn’t want to have dinner with him again. Because she’d give in. They both knew she would.
“I can’t,” she said, running her fingers through her wet hair.
“Come on,” he coaxed.
This would be easy. One more dinner, a few more guilt-trips about how much her brother missed her, and Ellie would be sitting next to him on a plane back to San Francisco.
“No, I really can’t.”
“Why not?” She’s getting desperate. She knows you’ll win this little game.
And then she threw him for a loop. “Because I have a date.”
Chapter Four
I have a date.
Why, why had she said that?
Ellie collapsed on the plush white sofa in the center of the living room and let out the sigh she’d been holding. Luke had left only five minutes ago, but those five minutes, saying good-bye, walking him to his SUV, had been the longest of her life. Especially when he’d thrown in a few innocent questions about her date, questions she had no answers for.
As she’d watched him speed off, all her confidence had sped away with him.
No way could she beat Luke in a battle of wits. He could be sly, ruthless when he wanted, and he just oozed confidence. Sure, she’d had the upper hand for most of the afternoon—the string bikini had worked to her advantage—but she’d had to blow it by coming up with a ridiculous lie.
A date.
Ellie groaned. Where on earth would she find a date? If she knew Luke—and really, she could read him like a book—he’d undoubtedly show up at the club tonight, the location of her so-called rendezvous. No way would he stay away.
Okay, I can do this.
She rose from the couch and began pacing the hardwood floor. The living room was spacious and airy, the perfect place to think. Too bad her brain was mush. Had been that way the second Luke had shown up at her house today.
How she’d managed to get through the afternoon was beyond her. When Luke had taken off his shirt earlier, revealing his broad, golden chest, her knees had grown wobbly and her heart thudded in her chest. Why did he have to be so good-looking? Why did sex appeal pour out of him like lava from a volcano?
She cursed her brother for sending Luke here. Josh had tons of friends, why hadn’t he sent Martin Hodges, his stuttering poker buddy? If Martin had been in that ocean with her today instead of Luke, she might have been able to focus.