She didn’t return my grin but seemed to consider me. “I won’t go into the lake without telling you again.”
I shoved off the bench and floated over next to her. She straightened, brows raised, her gaze sweeping my shoulders and chest. She wasn’t going to drop the subject of my reaction to her swimming alone. I’d expected her to be curious. The accident had happened before high school and no one remembered I even had a sister.
Settling next to her, I threw an arm across the back. She scooted a few inches away so she could face me without burying her face in my shoulder, which I wouldn’t have minded.
When had cuddling Tilly Johnson become an idea?
“When did it happen?”
She was asking about my sister’s accident of course, and she probably assumed Lynne had died. I’d rather let her. My feelings for that nightmarish day sixteen years ago hadn’t been resolved and nothing I’d done since then had helped. “Some summer before you changed your name.”
She frowned and narrowed her eyes. I could’ve stayed evasive, but she was just as averse to talking about herself as I was, and I wanted to prove a point.
She licked her bottom lip and looked away. “Before high school then?”
“Yes,” I whispered, gazing at her strong profile. The ends of her hair were wet from the water, baring her graceful neck, a neck I wanted to nibble.
But it bothered me. Why had she changed her name? And why wouldn’t she tell me? When we were sixteen, I could’ve snapped my fingers and she would’ve written a damn book to answer any question I had. Was I losing my appeal?
Anxiety churned in my stomach. After the deliberately atrocious sex, I should be happy. But what if it had worked? What if I had stomped out her crush on me?
Suddenly, knowing the reason behind her name change became the most important thing ever. No—her telling me the reason was what counted.
“Who all knows about why you changed your name?”
A moment of panic rippled over her face and she clasped her hands together under the water. “A few people, I guess.”
She was getting nervous. Afraid she’d bolt, I edged closer, kept my voice low, steady. “Like your friends now? Or friends from school?”
She cast me a droll look. “There were never any friends from school.” Her breath caught, and she tensed.
I turned enough to snake an arm around her and pull her to me. She tilted her head up and I dropped a kiss on her mouth.
“Mara?” I asked.
“What?” She exhaled, her body going molten against mine.
I dropped another kiss along her jawline. “Does Mara know?”
Tilly dropped her head back to give me more access. “No. I haven’t known her for very long.”
“So it’s deeply personal?” I nibbled down her neck, relishing her tiny shiver.
“It’s private, yes.”
“And you don’t talk about private things?” I feathered my hand along her torso, fighting the urge to rip away her swimsuit. But I liked it too much.
“I don’t like to talk about it.”
I clamped my mouth over a pulse point on her neck and swirled my tongue around it. She squirmed, her legs moving farther apart. I used the move to slide my fingers along the seam of her leg until I reached her sex.
“Flynn…”
I smiled against her skin. “Tell me, Tulip. Why’d you change your name?” Her body went rigid again until I licked a path back up to her mouth. She groaned when I caught her mouth at the same time I dipped under the fabric to spread her folds and circle her nub. I pulled back. “Tulip.”
“Don’t call me that!” Her flare of frustration rocked her against my hand and her eyelids fluttered. “It…it makes me remember how cruel my dad was.”
I jerked back. Not the answer I’d expected. I cursed myself for never having considered she might have such a serious answer.
She gripped my wrist and brought it back. “Can you help me forget?” Her other arm threaded through my hair and shoved my mouth back to hers.
Yes. I’d help her forget. Picking up where I left off, I massaged her clit. She rode my hand, sending gentle laps of water up to the edge of the hot tub. My erection throbbed, begging for more each time her hip nudged it.
Our tongues twined. I couldn’t break the kiss if I tried, she had a ferocious hold on me. She drew her knees up as I tightened my hold on her with my other arm.
Our bodies bumped and she bucked. She wanted more. I moved my hand lower, hitting her clit with my thumb and threading a finger inside.
A low moan escaped us both while we kissed. She was as soft as velvet and burning hot. Her hand was still clamped on my wrist. Thrusting was difficult, but I didn’t have to do much. She clutched me and her sex squeezed. How I wanted my cock inside, but I owed her this—for insisting on the story of her name and for leaving her unsatisfied the night before.
I stroked her in sync with my tongue and my hand. Past partners seemed to like that move, but Tilly more than liked it. She writhed like it was my superpower. I totally needed that after my reputation-destroying performance.
She broke our kiss with a gasp, her body arching back. I lined light nips along the cleavage bared by the water.
“Flynn— I— Yes!” Her body went tight with another cry, and my hand flooded with her heat as she shuddered through her orgasm.
I lifted my head to watch my handiwork. Her eyes were squeezed closed, her mouth dropped open, her legs spread wide. Damn, what a fine sight.
She released me and sat up. I mourned the loss of her body heat, even in the steaming water.
“Whoa…that was…that was nice.” She laid the back of her hand against her forehead. “Wow, it’s really hot in here.” Blinking at me like she’d forgotten I was there, her red, kiss-swollen lips formed a timid smile.
