Had he been right all along? In any case, nothing could happen between them. She only wished her body would listen.
Ask to be taken home.
Never see him again alone.
She should, at the very least, inure herself against his luscious dark hair, his toned muscles, his cute butt. She looked at her clothes, neatly folded on the counter. Put them on, Hayley. Escape the situation.
The lawyer warred with the woman.
The woman won.
She tugged back her hair in a ponytail and climbed the stairs to the top deck. He was still in the water.
Shouting from there. “Hey, come on in.”
The sun felt good on even more bare skin. She walked to the swim deck and stepped onto it. Dived in.
The water was refreshing in mid-July. She took her time coming to the surface and found herself right in front of him.
His blue eyes picked up the color of the sky. “Do you swim?”
“Are you kidding?”
“Let’s go, then.”
They swam. Far. By tacit agreement they stopped. He called over, “Beat you back.”
“Like hell.”
Hayley was an excellent swimmer. She put her face in the water, kicked and was on her way. She didn’t look for him when she came up for air, but kept the boat in her sight. She got to the swim deck even with him.
“Geez,” he said. “Nobody else I know can keep up with me.”
Hayley held onto the fiberglass. “Always the competitor.”
“Again, pot and kettle, woman.” He pointed to the boat. “Ladies first.”
She levered herself up, and climbed back into the cabin cruiser. He stayed in the water, so she turned to him. “What are you doing?”
“Um, I’ll be right up.” He dunked his head under, and finally emerged. Then he followed her onto the platform and into the boat.
She said, “Towels?”
He pointed to the left. “Right there.”
She bent over to open the storage space. She thought she heard him groan. Tense again, she fished out two towels and threw him one. He turned his back to her.
Muscles rippled across his torso as he bent over to dry his legs. He had a trim waist, and powerful legs, if he could swim like that.
She felt like groaning, too.
Turning away, she sat on the bench and dried herself off and stood. He kept his back to her. Another boat sped by, its motor roaring, causing a wake so she had to grab onto the seat. When it passed, she faced him. “Is something wrong, Paul?”
He said, “I don’t know.” His voice was gravelly. He turned. “Are you okay?”
She took a long time to answer. Then she said, “No, I’m not.”
“Should we go back?”
“If you want that.” Longing seized her. As if she was sleep-walking, she crossed to him and laid her cheek on his chest. “But I don’t.”
He seemed to relax. Then he said, “Thank God.”
* * *
The bathing suit stuck to her. Of course, he was fumbling badly, like a kid in the back seat of his car. “Hell, whose idea was it to swim?”
“If you’ll let me…”
“No way.”
He had to kneel to pull the spandex over her hips, down her legs. She helped him by kicking it off. And she was naked, gorgeously naked. Small but full breasts, a narrowed waist, beautiful limbs. Since he was still on his knees, he kissed her belly, her abdomen, her middle. She tasted like salt water and woman. She was taut and supple at the same time. He felt a yank on his hair. “Up,” she said.
“It’s up all right.” He stood then pressed his groin into her. “It has been since you stepped onto the boat.”
She undid the tie of his trunks and started to push his suit down. Meanwhile, he kissed her neck, untied her ponytail, and though her hair was wet, he ran his fingers through it. He felt his trunks fall, and he too kicked them off as she had.
Then he picked her up. The sensation aroused her. They made it to the lower cabin. She held on tight, her face buried in his neck. He stumbled when she sucked at his skin, but when he reached the main bedroom, and said, “Fuck.”
“Uh-huh,” she laughed. “Let’s.”
“No, the beds aren’t together. It forms a queen.”
“All we need is some flat surface, Paul.”
He found one. And their world exploded.
* * *
Afterward, recrimination descended on them. He was flat on his back and she lay face-up, too.
Then she rose and braced her arms on his chest. “What did we do?”
After a bit, he answered. “Lay down again, so I can hold you.” She fell back on the mattress, then settled against him, with his arm clamped around her.
He turned on a light, as it had gotten dark.
“Hmm,” she said. “This is nice.”
He kissed her head. “Oh, yeah. Let’s stay like this for a bit. I want to treasure the sensation.”
They were quiet a long time.
He rubbed her arm, up and down, his fingertips grazing her. Finally, he spoke. “I think the question is, ‘What are we going to do now?’”
She nuzzled into his chest. “I think the question is, ‘Why did we do this?’”
“We certainly weren’t thinking straight.”
“It was the champagne.” She mumbled the words, not believing them for a second.
“It was the sun.”
“It was how you looked out of a suit and tie.”
She felt his chest rumble. “You, too. For the suit.”
Again, they quieted.
Then Hayley rose again on her elbow, stared into eyes that were satisfied. “There are so many reasons to regret this.”
“We were chided by our bosses, forbidden to work together. How can we end up a couple?”
“Think of the conflict of interest,” she added. “If we continued this and former clients, especially those who lost, found out about us, they could suggest we tanked the verdict for each other. Even though we didn’t, the suspicion, the scandal could ruin our careers.”
“We do have equal numbers of wins. That would support the theory.”
She played with his chest hair. “Should I say, ‘This was great while it lasted?’”
“Should I say, ‘This
