RHINO: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (With FREE Bonus Novel OFFSIDE!) (10 page)

“
You don’t stay with them long enough.”

“
That hurts.”

Again, I hold up my hands. I’m being a hard-ass but only because I know in doing so I’ll get to see the real AVH. “Sorry, I forgot you were a perfect boyfriend.”

“
Bad boy, yes, love rat, no. I don’t go in for that and I can’t understand people who do.”

To be fair, he’s right. Alex doesn’t cheat. He breaks hearts and he ends relationships, but he doesn’t cheat.

“
You know what I think?” I say.

“
What do you think?”

“
I think you’re scared of commitment.”

Alex shakes his head and then he shakes the index finger of an extended hand. “Impossible.”

“
You had anyone propose to you?”

“
I wasn’t in love with her.”

“
Anyone ask you to move in?”

“
It didn’t make sense at the time.”

“
I rest my case.”

“
I told you already, they weren’t the right women.”

“
And I am?”

“
Maybe.”

“
Or do you just want to fuck me?”

“
I want to fuck you anyway, I always have. I still do. In fact, I do even more now that you are here, and I can see you’ve matured into the woman that sits across from me. You’re sexy and confident and independent, and those things turn me on, but you’re fragile too, which I find almost the most beautiful thing about you. There is a peacefulness and restlessness that fight each other inside you, and I think at the moment you are at a point in your life where you can’t work out why.”

“
A simple yes would have done.”

“
A simple yes isn’t enough in your case.”

There is a moment that thickens the sexual tension in the air until I can’t cope with it anymore. I’m horny, he’s making me horny, he’s telling me he likes me and I know I still like him, it’s just, what if this is part of his game to win me over? What if this is all bullshit? I need more time to think it through. It has to be right and it feels almost too early to admit to it. Is this really why I’m here? Is it my fate to end up here with him?

“
Thank you for being honest”, I say.

“
It took me a while to find the courage.”

“
How did you know you still liked me?”

“
I didn’t. I just needed to know if I did. When I saw you tumbling out of the helicopter yesterday, I knew.”

“
So what do we do now?”

“
Have you finished asking your questions?”

“
For now, yes.”

“
Then we swim.”

“
That’s it?”

“
That’s up to you. Work out what you need to work out and maybe you’ll change your mind about that bet.”

I laugh.

“
What?”

“
I think I’m getting used to your arrogance.”

“
Confidence.”

“
Don’t push it.”

Alex stands up, peers over the boat into the water and decides on which side suits him best.

“
Close your eyes.”

“
You’re not going to-.”

Too late. Alex’s board shorts are nothing but a bunched up ball of fabric on the deck and out of squinted together eyes, behind a theatrically placed hand I’m watching perfection itself jump from the boat and into the water.

I race across to the side he’s leaped from to watch him break the water again on his return up to the surface. The water is clear, but far too blue to see all the way through.

Alex smiles up at me and I can’t help return the gesture.

“
Are you trying to seduce me? Is that what this is? Is this the patented Alex Vann Haden way?”

“
I’m going for a swim, and just so you know, if you see what you’re trying so desperately to pretend you’re not looking at, it’s cold in here so it’s not a fair reflection.”

“
You’re an idiot.”

“
I guess I must be growing on you then.”

Alex splashes water towards me and the shock makes me stumble backwards and rock the boat. When I get back to the edge, Alex pretends to send another handful of water my way, pulling out of it at the last minute.

“
That’s not fair.”

“
Are you coming in?”

“
No bathers.” I repeat emphatically towards him.

“
Shame. It’s beautiful here, and we won’t be able to do this again.”

“
I’ll have to live with the regret.”

“
Come on, it’s not like I haven’t seen a naked body before.”

“
Not mine.”

“
I’ll keep my eyes closed.”

“
I don’t believe that for a minute.”

“
Then just take that dress off and come in in your panties and bra. You know how to swim right?”

“
I know how to swim.”

“
So?”

The water does look inviting. To be honest, everything about this looks inviting, I’m just having trouble processing what’s going on. Even a couple of days ago my life was completely different, and now, it’s like I’m in a dream. Alex Vann Haden, no wait, let me get this right, a naked Alex Vann Haden, who has just told me he wants to fuck me, is swimming in deserted blue waters off the Caribbean coast and what am I doing but staring at him from the boat like some kind of plum, because I’m scared he’s either joking me or just not serious about long term commitment. Damn this is getting harder and harder to resist.

Alright, if he’s serious about it, we can always do it again another time. He owns this island and we can always come back, storms or not. One more day won’t hurt us both. One more day and I’ll find out more about his intentions and long enough will have passed for me to not consider myself a
sleep with anyone at the drop of a hat
kind of slut.

“
I’m waiting.”

“
Just a swim?”

“
Just a swim.”

“
Are you going to try and kiss me again?”

“
I wasn’t the one leaning in first.”

“
That did not happen and you know it.”

Alex shrugs his shoulders while I go a little red.

“
Panties and bra?”

“
As long as you still don’t mind I’m naked.”

“
That I don’t mind at all.”

“
You might find me impossible to resist.”

“
Then I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“
Close your eyes.”

“
I thought you said panties and bra.”

“
I know, I just don’t want to get you too excited. Rhinos aren’t natural swimmers after all.”

The water feels cold as I break it, refreshing as I sink a couple of meters underwater and absolutely incredible as I break the surface again. Alex waits until I’ve reorientated himself and then dives underneath me to sneak up just behind me.

“
It’s better without clothes”, he says.

“
Everything is better without clothes.”

“
I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“
If I can wait, so can you.”

“
What for?”

“
The moment it’s right.”

“
That moment passed an hour ago.”

“
Then that wasn’t the right moment.”

“
Kiss me.”

My mouth hangs open at the request.

“
Uhuh”, I say and shake my head.

“
You like playing hard to get.”

“
I like making sure.”

I swim away to gain distance.

“
You want to kiss me, I can see it.”

“
I want to not kiss you even more.”

“
How long do you think you can hold out?”

“
As long as I need to.”

“
You know, the ball’s in your court now.”

“
Don’t tell me the world famous lothario is giving up so easily.”

Alex splashes me and I splash him back.

“
Not giving up, just waiting for the right moment”, he says.

“
Then that’s both of us.”

“
You look sexy when you’re trying to avoid admitting you like me.”

That makes me laugh. I splash water on Alex and he turns to swim away, his cute little ass breaking the surface for a moment.

“
Just so you know, I’m not the
fuck them and leave them
kind of guy. I know that’s what you’re scared of.”

“
I’m not scared of fucking you and leaving you”, I say.

“
You’re an idiot.”

I can’t believe I’m even thinking this. Maybe the sun’s got to my brain and addled it.

“
If we fuck, which is definitely not on the cards by any means, but if we do end up fucking, you and I, I want to know it means something to you”, I say.

“
I guess you won’t really know until we do it.”

“
And I’m not the kind of girl who lets a guy in easily.”

“
I can see.”

“
You don’t deserve it.”

“
You’re way too serious about making sure of that.”

“
Sometimes not getting what you want is a good life lesson.”

“
I’ve already had five years to think that over.”

“
Then a little while longer won’t make much difference.”

“
I knew you’d be hard work.”

“
But worth it.”

Alex is getting closer and I have to push water towards him to make sure he keeps his distance.

“
Kiss me”, he says.

I shake my head again and gain distance. Refusing him is almost as fun as giving in would be. It’s certainly having the desired effect. I’m going to push him right to the limit and then just when he’s on the edge and about to fall, that’s when I’m going to give in. I know myself well enough to know I already will.

We swim around each other, the atmosphere thick with sexual tension, neither one quite sure what to say. I watch those eyes, those biceps, that blurred thickness below the water and I know he watches me watch and watches my body too, his smile too difficult to hide.

He’s genuinely happy I’m here and for a guy that has essentially made a career out of making sure he doesn’t smile to keep his bad boy rep, this is completely unexpected. I’m happy too, I can’t deny that. I’m still in shock that this is all happening, especially with Alex Vann Haden, but that doesn’t mean I’m not able to appreciate it.

Not even two days in and he’s winning me over, which is bad because I’m the kind of girl that when she falls, falls hard. That’s part of the reason I’m holding myself back. The other part because this is AVH.

This is the boy of my dreams turned into a man I can’t fault, no matter how hard I’m trying to find them. He’s right so far. Cocky, arrogant, full of himself womanizer, that’s all for show. With me, so far at least, I haven’t seen his flaws. Which means that this man is dangerous, and this situation is very precarious indeed. Fuck. Very much, oh fuck. I can see it happening and I don’t know whether they’ll be much I can do to avoid it. Prolong it maybe, but avoid it, no chance.

“
Close your eyes.”

Alex closes his eyes.

“
Close them properly.”

Alex closes them properly.

“
Now make a wish.”

Giggling, I swim up to Alex, get my lips as close to his as I can without them actually touching, close enough to feel the heat from his thicken mine, close enough to feel his heartbeat and blood run through his veins and thicken other parts of his body, close enough to feel my whole body tingle and almost too close to stop, before I drop into the water, get a stolen eye full of his swollen manhood and make it quickly back to the boat.

What the body can’t have, the heart desires even more, and believe me, even though that was as tricky as hell, I am almost a hundred percent sure it will be worth it.