Throughout the remainder of the day, Sonny analyzed Nathan through an investigator’s eyes. He had a lot of jealousy issues with Ben, but he wasn’t into surfing, and it was a stretch to think he’d planted trace evidence in an attempt to frame his hotshot older brother.
JT Carver was a surfer, but another unlikely suspect. He’d been out catching waves with Ben the morning Olivia was murdered, and was actually his alibi. JT had a few marks on his record, minor charges involving drugs and alcohol, but there was something about his Jeff Spicoli routine Sonny didn’t buy. Perhaps it was merely an indication that he knew he wasn’t living up to his full potential, because although she found him clever, at times his joviality seemed forced.
Unfortunately, he’d flaked out on the party, so she couldn’t study his handsome countenance for signs of deception.
By late afternoon, Grace and Judge left, and soon after, Nathan and Peter made their excuses. James showed up just in time to frolic with Carly in the heated pool. The two of them substituted a lot of playful wrestling for sex, just as Sonny and Ben had done on the beach that morning. When the pair got a little too frisky, they were relegated indoors to watch DVDs.
Sonny wasn’t sure which situation was more dangerous: Carly and James hanging all over each other, half- naked, underwater, or sitting together, clothed but unsupervised, on the living room couch.
Ben kept glancing toward the sliding glass door uneasily.
“Let’s go in the Jacuzzi,” Sonny said, stretching her arms over her head. After this morning’s workout, her muscles would love it.
His eyes wandered over her, then drifted back to the house, but he nodded.
It was easy to understand his reluctance. With Carly and James nearby, he couldn’t seduce her, and that put a damper on his plans for the evening.
Ben was already wearing blue-and-white boardshorts, so he removed his T-shirt and tossed it on the patio table. Sitting down on the coping at the edge of the Jacuzzi, he waited for her to undress with undisguised interest.
Following his lead, she took off her jeans and tank top right there, stripping down to her black string-bikini. She was glad James was indoors, because it was very brief, and she drew the line at revving up teenaged boys.
Ben gaped at her, devouring her body with his eyes.
Frowning, she checked her swimsuit, making sure everything important was covered. “What do you think?” she asked, because he was still ogling her.
“I think I need a cold shower.”
She laughed. “I was afraid I had a peekaboo nipple.”
He lowered himself into the water with a groan.
Sonny took a seat beside him, enjoying his discomfort immensely. Leaning back and closing her eyes, she let the hot water massage away her tension.
“So,” he began after a while, “how are we going to get over your, uh, phobia?”
“I suppose you have a few ideas,” she commented dryly.
“You could tie my hands behind my back with your bikini top.”
She smiled at the suggestion, which would leave her upper half conveniently bare. “No.”
“Okay, then. Your bikini bottoms.”
Laughing, she shook her head.
He was silent for a moment. “I would never hurt you.”
She looked over at him. “I know.”
“Then let me prove it to you.”
Getting into the Jacuzzi with him had been a mistake, she realized. Lengthening shadows stretched across the patio, cloaking the pool in darkness. No one could see them. “What about Carly?” she asked anyway, her eyes darting toward the house.
“I’m not suggesting anything…X-rated.”
Sonny worried at her lower lip, considering. It was so easy to pretend she really was Summer Moore, that Grant didn’t exist, that the situation was natural, unplanned, spontaneous.
It was so tempting to give in to what Ben wanted. What she wanted.
“Okay,” she said. “But you have to promise you won’t touch me.”
He nodded slowly and she knew he would keep his word. In effect, it was the same offer he’d made earlier, sans bikini top, but she didn’t want to have to tie him up to trust him.
“What do you want me to do?”
A thrill raced through her at his words. She did like a man who was eager to please. “Um…sit up there again.” She pointed at the coping around the edge of the pool. “And keep your arms at your sides.”
Resting his palms on the coping, he raised himself up, drawing her eye to his rock-hard triceps and strong forearms. Warm water ran in rivulets down his torso, into the low waistband of his shorts. The fabric clung to his thighs, covering him almost to the knee. Studying the way his body hair was plastered to his calves, she fantasized about rubbing her smooth legs against his rough ones, delighting in the differences between them.
Taking a deep breath, she brought her eyes back to his face.
“Now what?” he asked.
She moved closer, placing her hand on his knee and situating herself between his spread thighs. The position was provocative, considering that it brought her breasts level with his lap, but it was kind of awkward for kissing.
It was getting too hot in the Jacuzzi anyway, she decided, boosting herself up out of the water. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she perched her bottom on one well-muscled thigh, carefully avoiding the erection that was already tenting the front of his shorts.
His white-knuckled hands gripped the edge of the coping, but he didn’t move. Holding himself stock-still, he waited, his mouth as tense as his body.
At dusk, the temperature was no longer balmy, but she didn’t feel the chill. Her heart was racing, drumming a wild beat at the base of her throat. Her nipples peaked with arousal, pushing against the wet fabric of her bathing suit.
Lifting a trembling hand to his face, she traced his lips with her fingertip, as if to make sure they were real. They felt real, and warm, if not exactly pliant. Leaning in, she kissed the crescent-shaped scar above his mouth.
He inhaled a sharp breath.
Taking the plunge, she threaded her fingers through his hair and flattened her breasts against his chest, kissing him like she meant it. His mouth was hot and open, eager for her tongue, and she gave it to him, tasting him deeply.
It was incredibly, unbearably exciting. Pleasure spread through her, pulsing between her thighs. After a few more kisses, she was rubbing herself along the length of his erection, feeling him harden even more, hearing him groan.
Then he broke his promise not to touch her. Putting his hands on her hips, he pushed her back gently, ending the contact and the kiss.
Panting, she blinked up at him in confusion.
“This is going further than I thought.”
Remembering Carly, she experienced a sharp stab of disappointment. It wasn’t every day Sonny got this comfortable with a man. Never, in fact. Even with Grant she was careful to maintain a safe distance, and their relationship was platonic.
She laughed softly, moistening her throbbing lips. “Too X-rated for you?”
At her hips, his fingers clenched. “Let me get rid of James.”
Ducking her head, she pulled away from him, away from temptation. “Sorry. The window to my capitulation just closed for the evening.”
He muttered several inventive curses, all directed at his daughter’s boyfriend. As it turned out, Ben’s animosity was justified, and after he helped her climb out of the Jacuzzi, he was awarded an immediate outlet for his frustration.
Inside the house, on the living room couch, James and Carly were engaging in some inappropriate behavior of
