isn’t one of them.”
He met and held her gaze for an intense instant, then he unwound his finger from her hair and glanced back toward the ocean, trying to assimilate the feelings rioting through him that had begun to cross the boundary beyond sexual.
When he glanced back, she’d bent to pull a pair of delicate sandals off her feet and he caught an enticing view of cleavage inside the so-called modest bathing suit he’d chosen.
She tilted her head and met his gaze. “Hey, put those eyes back in your head. I’m here to swim only.” Rising, she tossed her shoes onto the sand beside the blanket.
“That’s too bad. And here I thought you were going to give skinny-dipping a try.” He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his shorts to prevent himself from reaching for her, stripping her of that bathing suit and living out the fantasy. Just the two of them with miles of ocean and no clothes in sight.
She laughed. “Very funny.”
He didn’t think so, and at this moment, neither did his groin, which was straining uncomfortably against his shorts.
She wiggled her toes. He watched as she dug those coral-painted toenails into the cool sand and stifled a groan. He had no doubt she was torturing him on purpose.
“Have you ever?” she asked.
“Ever what?”
“Ever gone skinny-dipping?”
He couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. Not while she stood inches away, breasts straining against the nearly sheer fabric, tempting him with hidden secrets she had yet to reveal.
“Tell you what. I’ll break the ice. I’ve gone skinny-dipping.” She clasped her hands behind her back, rocked on her heels and grinned.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Damn but she had a way of catching him off guard. He supposed a part of him still thought of her as prim and proper Mallory because she’d actually shocked him with the admission.
He shut his eyes against the carnal images she provoked deliberately. “Let me guess. Kiddie pool at day camp.”
She laughed, the sound breaking through the night air and the crashing waves behind them. “Not hardly. High school, senior year. Prom night. My last hurrah.”
Mallory recalled her one and only venture into the waters nude-like tonight it had also been on a dare. She’d grasped at that one last bit of spontaneity and freedom before buckling down for her ordinary, well-planned life.
“Did you like it?” A grin caught his lips in a devastating smile.
“Not as much as I’d thought I would.” As she listened to the sound of the water around them, she recalled the chillier waters on a cool May night at the New Jersey shore. A stark difference from the warmer summer waters here. “Let’s just say it was an experience.”
He shook his head, a combination of amusement and amazement lighting his expression. “If I hadn’t seen you in action last night, I’d never believe you had it in you.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” And she was surprised she’d divulged as much as she had.
Even Julia didn’t know she’d shed her good-girl inhibitions that one night. But Mallory was learning that Jack was a surprisingly easy man to open up to, and she enjoyed the intimacy created by revealing her secrets under the night sky.
His eyes focused on her, intent and serious. “Good thing I’m an eager student. I want to learn all about you.” He held out his hand. “Walk with me.”
She accepted the gesture. Warm and eager, his fingers closed around hers and he tugged her toward the rushing tide. Cool water lapped at her bare feet in erotic contrast to the heat inside her.
“You never answered the question. Skinny-dipping,” she reminded him. “I’ve done it. Have you?” She dared a glance from the corner of her eye.
“Would you respect me in the morning if I said no?” He bowed his head at the admission.
Jack Latham, embarrassed? Her heart skipped a beat at his surprising confession. The exchange of secrets had just become mutual. Her body hummed in keen anticipation of more closeness to come, so she didn’t make light of his honest statement.
“I respect the truth. So why wouldn’t I respect you?” She opted for sincerity since heckling him now would only drive him away and she wanted him as close as he could get. “How’d you miss out?”
He shrugged. “No opportunity. We grew up in the city. I’ve been sprayed by many a fire hydrant but I’ve never dipped.”
“You never left the city? Not on a vacation or anything?”
“We didn’t do family vacations.”
Her chest constricted at the unsaid but implied discontent in his childhood. “Neither did we,” she admitted softly.
She caught the flicker of recognition in his eyes, of a possible kindred spirit who understood.
“There’s always time.” She deliberately downplayed the subject. Only she needed to know he’d given her ammunition for a more opportune time. Another night, another invitation.
He paused and pulled her close beside him. “How about now?”
She shook her head. He was naughty tonight and she liked his playful side. “How about not? I like to wade before diving in. Test the waters, you know?”
Those intense eyes seemed to darken even more. “Why do I get the sense you’re testing me?”
“Because we’re obviously alike. Neither of us can resist a challenge.”
His hands grasped her hips as he drew her against his hard body. He held her in place, letting her feel the pressure of his erection, stiff and unyielding against her stomach. She steeled herself against the waves of longing inside her, but they came hard, stronger and more insistent than the crashing of swells lapping at her feet.
“Is a challenge the only reason you’re here?” he asked.
A snappy retort sprung to mind, but she squelched it. The challenge may have given her the excuse to accept the invitation but she was here for many more reasons than a dare.
She glanced up at him. “I’m here because you invited me.”
“That I did.” A teasing glint lit his gaze, but behind the dark depths Mallory saw deeper emotion, a yearning she couldn’t name, but one she understood because it existed inside her, too, in a place no one saw and especially not in daylight.
But it was nighttime now and she felt free to indulge her desires-and Jack’s as well. He smiled and deep grooves etched the corners of his mouth, dimples she hadn’t realized he possessed.
Mallory didn’t know what overcame her, but she leaned forward, inhaling the scent of salt water and pure man before she touched her lips to first one dimple, then the next, pausing only to dart her tongue into the intriguing crevice of the stubble-roughened skin of his cheek.
His reaction was a purely masculine groan, one that reverberated inside her and set off an explosive, toe- curling burst of arousal.
“Do you have any idea how hot you make me?” His grip on her waist tightened and his hips jerked forward in an instinctive motion.
He was hard and masculine and felt oh, so good. She sucked in an unsteady breath. “I can feel that I do.”
His hands came farther around her back until his palms rested firmly on her behind. She felt herself straining against him, seeking deeper contact than their bodies and positions allowed.
“Relax.” His warm breath blew into her ear. The erotic wisp of air tickled her neck and the excitement caused her nipples to tighten and pucker beneath the constraints of her bathing suit.
He held her in place, his hands gently stroking her behind until her lower body, strung tight, did as he asked. She relaxed and molded to him, fitting herself snugly into his erection.
“Much better.” His hips swayed seductively against hers. With each rocking motion, a wave of tormenting desire shook her. And with each surge came the ridiculous hope that like herself, he was here with her for more than just a dare.
It had to be the magical, mystical moonlight that allowed her to even consider such foolishness. They were lawyers in the same firm, both thriving on competition and one-upmanship. They had that much in common, yet
