Читать книгу A Lone Star Love Affair / Falling for the Princess: A Lone Star Love Affair / Falling for the Princess - Sara Orwig - Страница 12

She was shocked to see him. She watched as he walked along the side of the pool. Her gaze drifted over him, his broad, muscled chest covered with a mat of thick dark curls. His biceps bulged with muscles and his narrow strip of black swimsuit left the rest of him bare, reminding her too clearly of their night of love and his magnificent body.

Feeling hot even though she was in cool water, she continued her perusal. His legs were long, lean and muscled. When he reached the deep end, he jumped in to swim toward her. Her excitement heightened the closer he came until he stopped only inches away.

He combed his hair back with his fingers to get the curls away from his face. While he treaded water to stay afloat in the deep end, she held the side of the pool. Drops glistened on his broad shoulders and she was aware of every inch of him.

Even the spacious hotel pool seemed dominated by Tony, his dark gaze holding hers as if she were magnetized.

“This is a surprise,” she said

“I intended it to be, although I didn’t expect to find you in the pool.”

“I love to swim, but get few chances. The pool is convenient, so I’ve been swimming both nights,” she said, feeling giddy. “You flew here from Chicago?” she asked, still wondering if he had come to look at his newest hotel or if he had a more personal reason.

“By way of Dallas first,” he said. “How was your day?”

“Successful. I think they’ll have a terrific opening and between our publicity and the media interest, we should get dream coverage. If you came to talk to any of the media, they’re scattered all over the hotel.”

Tony smiled at her, his eyes dancing. “Isabelle, I didn’t fly out here to talk to the media or the hotel people.”

She drew another deep breath, finding the air had grown rarefied and she was having difficulty breathing. “You’re not here for business?”

“No. That’s handled by you and others. I don’t have to.”

“You may have wasted a trip,” she said, seeing red flags of warning waving. He had circumvented her plan to avoid being with him again.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “We’ll swim and then let’s go have a drink. We can talk about it.”

“Are you trying to complicate my life?” she asked.

“Not at all. You had planned a swim, so we’ll swim. Want to race the length and back? You can call go.”

Momentarily caught between consternation and excitement, she stared at him in silence until she realized he was waiting for an answer.

“I’ll race you. Go,” she said, splashing away from him and swimming with long strokes, aware he was beside her.

She relished the physical action, for a few moments trying to avoid thinking about the rest of the evening, yet she kept recalling the vision of him standing at the end of the pool, almost naked except for the strip of black, appealing, sexy, breathtaking.

She pushed herself while he was even with her until the return. Near the end of the pool she gave an extra spurt and beat him, bobbing up as he did.

“You win.”

“You let me,” she accused, smiling. “Do it again and stop holding back.”

“I held back very little. You’re a good swimmer. Especially if you haven’t been swimming often this year.”

“I haven’t been in a pool since last July. Race again? For real?”

He smiled. “Sure. You call go.”

“Go!” she exclaimed, plunging away from him and stretching herself. He stayed alongside her until they turned in the shallow end of the pool and headed back. Then he pulled away to win handily and wait for her while she swam up to him.

“You won easily as I expected. I concede. I suspect that last race was one of the few times you’ve allowed someone to beat you at something.”

“You’re saying I like to win,” he said.

“Yes. You’re competitive, perhaps controlling.”

He hit the water with the palm of his hand, causing water to splash her. “Controlling—I don’t want to be that. I’ve fought that all my life in my dad.”

“All your life?” she asked, treading water. “Surely you exaggerate.”

“Hardly,” he remarked. “That’s one thing that drives me to make money when I already have a fortune. If I have more than he does—or he sees I will have, he’ll get off my back.”

“I can’t imagine,” she said truthfully.

“It’s getting to be less a problem,” he said dismissively and she guessed he didn’t care to discuss it further.

She broke away from him, swimming lazily, and he joined her as they swam leisurely together.

When she stopped, treading water, he faced her to slip his arm around her waist and pull her closer. Her heart thudded because he was warm, wet, touching in so many places, legs, arms. “Tony—”

“I missed you this week and I’ve wanted to see you,” he said. His brown eyes were dark as night with desire in their depths. Her breathing became difficult again and her pulse raced as she placed her hands on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. She wanted to stop fighting him, to wrap her arms around his neck to kiss him. The attraction between them was mutual and strong, but she saw that as a swift road to disaster. Resistance to Tony was her only hope for avoiding entanglement, which meant heartbreak. Yet right now, she was captivated once again, unable to break away, too aware of his hands on her.

“I wasn’t going to do this again,” she whispered.

“You want to. I can see it in your eyes,” he whispered. He leaned closer. Without thought, she turned her mouth up to him and then his lips were on hers, her mouth opening at the first hot touch of his tongue. Their bodies pressed more closely together and she could feel his hard muscles, his warmth, his masculinity.