One Week of Summer (8 page)

“Grab a suit from the pool house and come in.”

“I don’t swim.”

“Don’t? Can’t? Or won’t?” he teased.

“Can’t. Therefore don’t. And definitely won’t.”

He looked me up and down with a gleam in his eyes. “I’d toss you in anyway, but I’d hate to have to wait for that dress to dry all over again.”

“If you tossed me in, I’d probably die,” I burst out. “I mean, actually die.”

Teekay laughed. “Has anyone ever told you you’re funny?”

“Never,” I admitted. “And I’m not joking.”

He eyed me speculatively. “Does this have something to do with what happened at the beach yesterday? And the fountain last night?”

“Yes.”

“You’re afraid of drowning.” It wasn’t a question.

“Terrified.”

It was easy to talk to him when he was so far away, easy to admit things I didn’t normally admit anywhere but in my head.

“And what would happen if I did it anyway?”

“Threw me into the pool?” Even saying it made my throat want to close up. “I don’t know. I’d panic. Freeze up. Maybe not even be able to stand. And I would drown.”

“Maggie,” Teekay said slowly. “I would never, ever let you drown.”

“Okay,” I replied, sounding just as uncertain as I felt.

He smiled. “You’re not supposed to just agree.”

“I’m not?”

“No.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Bat your eyelashes and say, ‘You wouldn’t, Teekay?’”

“And what’s your reply to that?” I wondered out loud.

“I say…Of course not, darlin’.”

“And then I jump into your arms and into that pool of death?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well. I’m glad I don’t have bat-able eyelashes then.”

Teekay threw back his head and laughed, then climbed out of the pool.  He ignored the water dripping from his body as he stretched, but I couldn’t do the same. 

His wet shorts hugged him flatteringly, leaving little to the imagination.  I suddenly wished I’d taken a closer look when he’d stripped in the parking lot yesterday.  Now, I watched him breathlessly as he tossed his goggles aside, shook his hair, and moved toward me.

“You
sure
you don’t wanna jump into my arms?” he teased.

My face got warm and I tried to look away, but in just seconds, he was on his knees at my side, and he had my face cupped gently in his hands.  When he spoke again, though, his was anything but gentle.

“What the
fuck
happened to your mouth, Maggie?”

“Oh.”

I’d all but forgotten about the injury. 

Teekay’s thumb grazed the little split.  His touch, though soft, stung a little.  But the pain was secondary to the way heat fanned from my lips to my face and down my throat.

“Maggie?” he prodded.

“It’s nothing,” I managed to breathe.

“It doesn’t look like nothing.”

“It was silly,” I elaborated. “I was in your ensuite bathroom and I slipped.”

Teekay’s thumb stopped moving immediately. “You were in my bathroom?”

“You left my dress in there.”

“I left it
outside
the bathroom,” he corrected.

“I got changed inside though.”

“Did you look around?”

“No.”

Why does it matter?
I wondered as I remembered Donnie’s reaction my presence in his room, too, and my mind took a dark turn that I had to shove aside.
What’s he hiding?

Teekay’s grip on my face was growing a little more intense with each second.  It didn’t
quite
hurt.  But it was no longer pleasant, either.

“Are you lying to me, Maggie?” Teekay demanded.

I jerked my head away. “I’m not a liar.”

“You don’t swear and you don’t lie,” he said. “So…What
is
your vice?”

His body had relaxed, but mine was still tense.  His sudden changes in mood were starting to get to me.  And the ache of my jaw made it that much worse.

It wasn’t as though I hadn’t been hurt physically before, but Teekay had made a point of asking me about trust – something I didn’t give out, not just freely, but at all.  And he had saved me.  Swept me off my feet.  Literally.

So I want him to be different.

The realization hit me hard, and before I could stop myself, I voiced my thoughts aloud.

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I want to know what makes your bad side tick,” Teekay replied with a lopsided smile.

I refused to take the bait. “I’m not talking about my vice, Teekay.”

His smile slipped slightly before he forced it back in place. “I know.”

“I should go home.”

“Running away is your vice? Because I think I can persuade you to stay.”

I took a breath. “Why does it matter if I looked around inside your bathroom?”

He leaned back, his face serious once more. “Why are you afraid of drowning?”

My mouth opened.  Then closed.  I couldn’t form the words that would answer that particular question.  Even if I wanted to.

Point taken,
I thought.

But what I said was, “I always root for the bad guy.”

His mouth tipped up. “You do?”

I nodded. “Every time.”

“Why?”

I wasn’t sure I could explain it properly.  I was the victim of years of torment.  I should be rooting for the underdog.  But I never did.

I forced a smile. “Because. There has to be a reason.”

“For the bad guy to act the way he does?”

“Mm hmm.”

I stiffened as I waited for him to ask for a more complete explanation, but Teekay just grinned.

“Do you want to see something?”

“Like what?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Well. Let’s just say it’s impressively huge.”

My face reddened. “I’m already impressed enough.”

Teekay laughed. “I’m talking about my yard.”

“Your yard?”

“Yep. I’m offering to take you for a walk.”

“A walk?” I repeated, feeling like a parrot.

“You know. One foot in front of the other,” he teased. “Why? What did you think I meant?”

“Nothing,” I said, my face hot. “A walk sounds fine.”

“Good.”

Teekay laughed again, then stood up and put out his hand to pull me up.  I let him help me to my feet, and he guided me past the pool and out behind it to the treed area at the back of the yard.  His feet were bare, so I didn’t bother pointing out that that mine were too. 

When we hit the edge of the trees, we stepped onto a glossy brick path that led through the foliage.  We followed that until we couldn’t see the house anymore, and if it hadn’t been for the walkway itself, it might’ve seemed like we were actually in the woods.

Finally, Teekay paused.              

“You know what I think? This could work in my favor,” he said.

“What could?”

He made a swift, unexpected move, and he was no longer standing beside me.  He was pressed into me, and my back was against a wide tree trunk.  He held my hands at my sides and pushed one of his legs between mine.

“Your little vice,” he murmured. “Rooting for the bad guys. Because every single time I fuck up, you’ll be looking for an excuse on my behalf.”

I tried to wiggle away, but he held me in place firmly.  And the more I moved, the more apparent it became that he liked it.  A lot.

I stopped moving and he chuckled. “And you know what’s good about
you
looking for excuses?”

“What?” I whispered.

“It means I don’t have to look for them myself.” As he spoke, his fingers released my wrists and moved between me and the tree, up my back, playing across my shoulder blades, then down to my waist, and back up once again. “Which means…I can do any
bad
thing I want, and you’ll still be rooting for me to come out on top.”

His hands dipped to the hem of my dress and then under it to clasp my thighs.  He gripped me tightly and he ground against me, his erection sliding across my underwear.  At the same time, his teeth sought my throat.  He didn’t kiss me – I hadn’t asked him to – but he did help himself to a little nibble.  In response, my breathing quickened and my hips came up.

“For example, Maggie…Why do you think I took you for this
walk
?”

It was impossibly hard for me to focus on what he was saying.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“It was so I could get you completely alone, completely defenseless, and do
this
.”

And he drew one of my knees to his hip, then the other, and lifted me straight up off the ground.   His hands were fully under my dress now, holding my rear end possessively and he moved in a slow, circular motion against me.

My back scraped the tree, my dress caught on the bark, and I didn’t care.

I wanted him.  Really wanted him.

Affirmation of that fact rolled over me like a wave, sending my desire to a dizzying height.

And for some reason I couldn’t quite understand, he wanted me too. 

It was evident in the frantic way he tore at my dress and the way his hardness thrust between my legs.

I gripped him with my thighs and twined my arms around his neck.

His mouth found my collarbone, licking and tasting.  It travelled down further and his lips found my breast through my dress.  First one nipple, then the other.

“Oh, God,” I moaned.

My cry made him growl and he pushed into me even harder.  His hands tightened on me again and they yanked on the edge of my dress so arduously that a loud rip echoed through the otherwise tranquil woods.  The sound of it seemed to calm Teekay’s ferocious need.  His onslaught slowed.

He nipped my neck once more, then whispered into the flesh there, “Do you know what I’m going to do to you, Maggie?”

“No.”

“Do you
want
to know?”

“Yes.” It felt so good, so right, to say the word to Teekay, that I had to say it again. “Yes.”

His chest vibrated with amusement. “I’m going to take you shopping.”

My eyes flew open. “Shopping?”

He trailed a finger down my cheek. “Mm hmm.”

“Why?”

He eased me to the ground and gave my dirty, torn dress a pointed look.

“That particular outfit has outworn its welcome. So to speak.” He grinned. “So unless you want to walk around in your panties all day…”

Teekay slid his hand under my ruined dress once more and traced a finger along the trim of my underwear, between my legs, over my wet crotch, then back down to my knee.

My face flamed at the casual familiarity with my body.  And at the fact that I just stood there and let him do it.

That you
want
him to do it,
I corrected silently.

“Well?” Teekay teased. “What’ll it be? Shopping? Or nudity?”

“I don’t even have my purse,” I protested.

“Nudity it is then. Strip.”

“I’m not going to strip.”

“I could
make
you strip.”

I didn’t doubt it.  But I wasn’t going to admit it.

“Someone could be watching,” I pointed out.

His smile didn’t slip. “Like who?”

“Anyone.”

He winked slyly. “You didn’t care who was watching a minute ago.”

I blushed. “I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“We’re alone.”

“But someone could walk out here any second. Maybe Donnie.”

“Donnie?”

“Your security guard.”

“I know who you mean. I just didn’t realize you and Jeeves were on a first name basis.” Teekay grimaced. “That asshole would probably
enjoy
the show. Which is the only reason I’m not going to make you do it.”

Relief washed over me.  And most of it wasn’t because I wouldn’t have to strip.  It was because I wouldn’t have to admit that I was probably powerless to disobey anyway.

“I can just get clothes from home,” I offered.

Teekay shook his head. “I have exactly three days to play house before I have to start taking care of some family business. I’m not going to spend that time driving back and forth between here and Shackside.”

“Shackside?” I repeated.

I’d heard the derogatory nickname as a kid and it hadn’t bothered me.  It was just something the rich kids called the row of seaside houses to make themselves feel superior.  But somehow, hearing it from Teekay made it sting.