Husband Sit (Husband #1) (25 page)

When
he’d finished his inspection, we looked into each other’s eyes, and really, I
had nothing to say.

He
did. “I don’t want you to think this is all about sex.”

“But...?”

“I’d
happily give ten years of my life if you’d just kiss me now.”

“Kiss
you where?”

He
blinked at me. Twice. Then he said quite clearly, “I need to cool down,” and
turned away, his expression pained, before he did a shallow dive into the tidal
pool, stroking away to the other side. When he was there, he stood with his
back against the concrete side.

I
pointed down to the water beside me. “Is this my side?” I called across.

He
nodded. “For now.”

I
slid in and the water came just above my breasts. It was every bit as delicious
as I’d imagined it would be, soothing my over-heated skin with the silky
saltiness I adored in the ocean. Yet instead of being restless water, it was
lovely and still, and so clear, I could see my toes on its sandy bottom. In an
effort to concentrate on the sensation of water against skin, instead of sex, I
held my nose and ducked under so my hair would get wet. I stayed down for as
long as I could hold my breath, then I came up and shook my head, my ponytail
slapping my cheeks.

“Ouch.”

I
turned around and he was almost on top of me, but with a hand over one eye.

“Serves
you right, sneaking up.” But I didn’t mind the proximity.

He
wiped at his eyelashes but they still looked like starfish when his hand came
away. Sunlight was reflecting off his eyes and they looked luminous. “Changed
my mind,” he said, and put a hand on the edge of the pool beside me, penning me
in on one side. Despite the cool water, I felt myself warming, wanting him to
touch me. “I never know how long I have with you. I don’t want to waste any of
it.”

“Even
if it’s
hard
to be around me?” I batted my eyelashes.

His
smile was slow and probably reluctant. “You feel quite safe teasing me, don’t
you?”

I
nodded.

“But
what if I don’t stick to business?” He moved closer, and a second later, I felt
his hand on my waist. An insistent
throb, throb, throb,
started low in
my body, and suddenly the water wasn’t cooling me anymore. My hands were
restless at my sides, wanting to glide over that tanned, salty-wet skin of his,
but knowing they mustn’t.

I
backed up against the side of the pool, feeling breathless anticipation. He
might kiss me here, but nothing else could happen. We were in a public place.

“Jill,”
he breathed, his lips inches from mine.

He
was asking permission, and my brain wasn’t cooperating with any reminders of
why I shouldn’t.

I
shook my head, but for some reason I said, “Yes?”

Luckily,
the next thing I heard was a gruff voice behind me. “
Keep it PG rated, you two
.”

Finn
immediately lifted his hand off the side of the pool and stepped away from me.
“Sure, mate,” he said.

“
There
are kids here, you know
.”

I
swiveled around to see a bulky lifeguard in the distinctive yellow and red
bathers giving me the evil eye.

I
pointed at Finn. “It was his fault.”

The
lifeguard rolled his eyes and walked off.

So
I turned back to Finn and said loudly, “Let that be a lesson to you, Mister.”
But my pulse was still racing and I was
so
disappointed that he hadn’t
kissed me.

He
waited until the lifeguard was out of earshot and said, “What I was thinking,
getting you wet and slippery and mostly naked? That it would make abstinence
easier?” He was too far away to touch me, but his gaze was doing a good job of
licking around my breasts. “All I can think about is taking you back to my
room, sliding that bikini off you and...”

I
raised an eyebrow, trying to slow my breathing and completely failing.

“...finally
doing some prac on all the theory of cunnilingus I’ve been studying.”

Oh
my giddy aunt
. I
swallowed thickly and willed my voice to sound normal. “I must admit, I’m
curious to test you on that skill.”

His
eyes widened. “Are you?”

“Curiosity
isn’t permission,” I hurried to clarify. Think about Missy Lou. Don’t get lured
by a pair of dewy green eyes.

“True,”
he said, tilting his chin up. “But if you don’t beg me to have sex with you,
you’ll never find out what I can do. It could be the best you’ve ever had.”

“Sounding
confident all of a sudden.”

He
shrugged with what looked like practiced nonchalance. “I think I’ve got the
moves now.”

I
almost
laughed out loud, but his cockiness was actually sexy as hell.
“Well, I don’t want to miss out on the best sex of my life,” I said
straight-faced.

“No
you don’t.”

I
nodded.

We
stared at each other for as long as it took him to work out that I wasn’t going
to beg. Then he said, “So I’m swimming now. I need to express some pent-up
sexual energy.”

I
nodded again, as if I was quite prepared to agree to anything, and he set off
down the pool, those delicious long back muscles working with each stroke. I
had to admit I had some major pent-up sexual energy happening myself, so I was
glad of the opportunity to regroup.

I
might have bamboozled him with all the bare flesh my bikini didn’t cover, but
seeing him in board shorts had woken up all my girls bits as well. His new
muscles and golden tan were a spectacularly bonkable combo.

I’d
already been addicted to that lanky body and those cowboy hips, but seeing him
buffed up was another level of
Ouch, I want me some of that!
How the
hell was I going to resist him now that I knew what was under his clothes. He’d
already had an extra-cute butt. What if he’d been working those buns? Might
they be even firmer?

The
thought was so obscenely delicious I couldn’t help lingering over it as I
watched him swim tirelessly, lap after lap. I was happy to just stand in the
water, enjoying its salty caress, thinking about what sort of caresses I’d find
in Finn’s arms, wondering how aroused he could make me when a simple hand on my
waist had gotten me breathless with excitement.

Then
there was the idea of cunnilingus.

He
knew teasing me with that would turn me on. He probably also knew that I had a
vested interest in him feeling good about that particular activity, after
Katinka’s rejections—not that he’d work that angle. He had better self-esteem
than to lay down the pity card. But still, it led me inevitably to wonder how
he’d ended up with her in the first place, and perhaps more importantly, why
he’d stayed with her.

Now
that I knew him better, he just didn’t seem the type to be that needy. He ran a
business, was clearly intelligent, had staff, and certainly did his fair share
of bossing me around! It just didn’t fit with the picture. But if I asked him
about it, that would open the Ex Files and he might start asking me about Doug.
I certainly didn’t want to go there, so while Finn wasn’t standing right in
front of me, steaming up my brain, I should be remembering that I was supposed
to be all about business, cooling the engine and working out what my next move
was.

I
still had fifty grand to pay the hospital in Bangkok, so I needed to ditch Finn
after breakfast and do a couple of hours of job scouting to find my next
husband sit. I was mentally tracking back over the enquiries I remembered when
he surfaced in front of me, all dripping water, glistening muscles, slicked
back hair and compelling eyes. It distracted me completely.

I
swallowed down a wolf whistle and tried to sound casual. “Cool down any?”

He
shook his head. “And neither am I hungry, but I think we should have
breakfast.”

“Sure.”
The quicker we got through that, the quicker I could retreat to my room. I swam
to the side of the pool and pulled myself up on the pool ladder, no doubt
giving Finn a good view of my ass on the way. Then I headed to the towels for a
pat down, but the concrete beneath my feet was scorching so I hurriedly slipped
my sandals on and wrapped myself in the fluffy white cotton as fast as I could.
“I’m heading for shade,” I said over my shoulder as I set off for the hotel.

Finn
caught me up at the road and I dutifully took his hand so he could walk me
across. I should have felt five years old, but instead I appreciated his
attention to my safety and the sexiness of our slippery, wet hands rubbing
together. That set the throbbing off again. What I didn’t appreciate was the
hipster bombshell waiting for us outside the hotel wearing black jeans, a black
tee-shirt and oversize glasses. Her silky, long black hair was tucked behind
her ears, and she raised a hand to acknowledge Finn as we drew closer.

I
heard him say something under his breath, but he pasted on a smile. “Sieu. Is
there a problem?”

“You
were having a meeting with the client this morning, and I couldn’t raise you on
the phone to see if you’d received my workup.” She glanced from me to Finn,
taking in our post-swim attire. “You told me it was a priority job so I drove
up. Is this the client?”

“Yes
it is.” Finn took the black leather satchel off her. “Sieu, this is Jill
Wilson.”

The
twenty-something hipster held out a hand. “Sieu Lee. I’m Finn’s operations
manager.”

I
mustered as much poise as I could in an aqua bikini and towel. “Jill Wilson.”
I
fuck husbands for a living, and I’m nowhere near as smart as you.
I shook
her hand and turned to Finn, hoping like hell that I could disguise my anger at
being put at such a disadvantage. “And what do you mean, I’m the client?”

“The
tea shop you were looking to invest in,” he replied smoothly, as if he had
pre-breakfast swims with all his clients. “I asked Sieu to do some background
research on its profitability.”

“Oh,
did you?” We stared at each other for a long five seconds during which I hoped
my eyes conveyed the
Fuck you Jack
sentiment I was feeling. How dare he
go blabbing about the idea to other people? I struggled to control myself and
speak evenly. “I’d imagined our discussions were private. How awkward.” I
turned to Sieu and gave her a glacial smile. “I’m sorry you wasted your time.”

I
was furious at Finn in that moment, but also railing at my own stupidity. The
tea shop idea had been private between Fritha and me. She’d never even told
that dream to Ange or Missy Lou.
I
should never have told Finn. If this
Sieu had been nosing around, the idea could be out in the open for anyone to
jump on. And Fritha would kill me if someone else set up the shop in Belandera
before she could.

I
gave Finn a last
how dare you
glance before I excused myself and headed
for reception. Luckily, the male receptionist served me. Melody was obviously
busy elsewhere, so I retrieved my door key and stalked off to the elevator,
angry at everyone. Unfortunately, by the time I reached my door I was imagining
Fritha finding out, and how crushed she’d be, and that made me want to cry. I
was such a bad friend.

I
couldn’t seem to get the key to swipe open the door, and the more I fumbled,
the more my throat ached. When Finn took the key out of my hand and swiped it
for me, then reached past me to open the door, I was seriously blinking back
tears.

I
marched straight in, not expecting him to follow me. But a second after the
door closed he said, “I’m sorry, Jill. I didn’t expect that to happen. I asked
Sieu—”

“You
had no right.”

Shit.
My voice was trembling.

“Jill?”
He came around in front of me.

I
swallowed it down and lifted my chin. “You presumptuous bastard.” Anger was
so
much easier. “You told me that
you
were going to look into it. Not
that you were going to blab Fritha’s secret idea to other people.”

“It’s
only Sieu, and she’s very discreet.”

“If
Fritha finds out—”

“I
know.” He took my hands and I wanted to pull them back but he wouldn’t let me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t explain the process. But this is how it happens. When
you’re looking to start up a new business, you get someone to do background
research on viability. They come up with ways of generating income—without
anyone realizing what the research is for,” he hurried to add. “They get back
to you with that information, and if you like what you hear you can choose to
go forward.”

“Nobody
knows?”

He
shook his head. “Only you and I and Sieu. I promise.”

“Why
didn’t you tell me you’d involved her?”

He
frowned. “I planned to, this morning, but first I thought you were dead, then I
couldn’t stop thinking about sex. And...I’m not particularly clear-headed
around you. In case you hadn’t noticed.”

That
probably also explained why she hadn’t been able to reach him on his phone.