Eventually, he drew back and smiled down at her. “All right?” he asked, but as the haze of desire faded, the specific position of his hands on her triggered an automatic muscle memory, embedded deep in her mind after years of self-defense training. Without thinking, she gripped his upper arm with one hand and slid the other into a choke position against his throat, preparatory to shoving him away. “Whoa! Maybe you do need to be on top…” He leaned away from the pressure of her hand on his throat and loosened his arms so that she could put space between them if she so chose. “I thought you wanted a kiss, babe.” He sounded puzzled, and a bit concerned. “Did I do something to freak you out?”
A wave of embarrassment washed over Nell. “I — no. It’s habit. I don’t like being in a position where I can be pinned down or controlled. Anyone having a grip of my head and hip like that… it’s too much like what we train to avoid in self-defense. I just…” She stepped away from him, shaking her head. “I feel like kind of a fool now.”
As she turned to go, not sure where but away from him and the ruin of what had promised to be an enjoyable evening, he put a gentle hand on her arm and said, “Hey, it’s okay.”
She gave him a deadly look over her shoulder, designed to make him back off. I don’t need your tolerance and sympathy for my weirdness. “Right.”
“Come on.” He picked up her margarita and held it out to her, waiting, until she turned back to him and accepted it. Then he watched her with one eyebrow cocked until she took a drink. “Let’s go try out that hot tub, all right? You go on out to the porch with the drinks and I’ll get us some towels.”
The covered and screened porch kept the rain out and was somewhat protected from the wind, but the air felt damp. Although the temperature wasn’t exactly cold, getting undressed in it didn’t have much appeal. Still, the view was beautiful, even in poor weather; the porch overlooked the river, churning away toward the cascades.
To one side of the door, a pair of deck chairs were positioned on either side of a small coffee table. On the other side, a tubular metal handrail and a beige vinyl cover were all that showed of the hot tub sunken into the deck; a slatted wooden bench set against the wall was probably intended to hold towels and discarded clothes. Several thick pillar candles in glass chimneys were lined up against the wall.
Nell set the drinks on the bench, then crouched down and pulled up one corner of the hot tub cover — heat and steam wafted out with a clean and inviting whiff of properly sanitized water. Good maintenance, the professional part of her mind noted. She dipped her fingers into the water and sighed with pleasure at the warmth. Maybe testing out the hot tub was a good idea after all.
She knew better than to trust the water’s look and smell, though. Looking around, she spotted the wall-mounted box that she knew had to be present, containing the maintenance record for the hot tub and a bottle of test strips. She knelt down and lifted the corner of the hot tub cover again so she could dip the little strip into the water.
Behind her, she heard the sliding door open and close, and Eamonn said, “Let’s get that cover off and hop in. It’s chilly out here.”
“Ten seconds. I just want to make sure the chlorine and bromate levels are where they should be…” She turned. He stood there, his arms full of towels, wearing the skimpiest pair of black swim trunks printed with nebulas and galaxies. Well, damn, he has a fine body. He was all lean muscle with a golden dusting of hair, and the ink on his arms was matched by more art on his abs and thighs. “You’re wearing a bathing suit.” As she spoke, she could hear the accusatory tone in her voice.
“Well, yeah.” He shrugged. “I’ve stayed in far too many hotels — with the band, you know? I learned a long time ago never to go anywhere without swim shorts.”
“And I learned from this job never to get into a hot tub ’til I’ve tested the water.” She looked at the strip in her hand, compared it to the chart on the bottle. “It’s good.”
He dropped the towels onto the bench, then reached down and flipped the cover open without waiting for her help. Before she could even sort out the words to say slow down or I’m not ready for this, he was in the water, sliding over to the jet controls to send them purring into life. “Come on in.”
“I should light the candles,” Nell said. “It’s getting dark.”
Eamonn touched a button, and the hot tub’s underwater mood lighting came on in a shifting display of LED colors. “There we go. That should be enough light.”
With one tense look at him in the water, she began to place the big pillar candles around the hot tub, one at a time. Found the waterproof box of matches and lit every candle, methodically lowering the glass chimneys back into place.
He watched her. Oh, how he watched her. She could feel his gaze on her like a caress. “Don’t be shy,” he murmured at last, his voice thick with desire. “Get your gear off and come play.”
“I don’t do shy,” Nell snapped. And it wasn’t a lie. She’d been sparring and grappling with mostly men since she’d been a preteen, she thought nothing of getting changed in mixed company when the need arose, and she refused to harbor any notion of body modesty or bashfulness. But Eamonn had her on edge, discombobulated.
“Then prove it, gorgeous. Strip for me.”
“You wish.” But she heard
