Out of Turn (11 page)

At least losing my day job had left me time to lay out some this summer, so my tanned skin contrasted nicely against the white bikini. The top was a demi-cup bra that pushed my rather ample assets up and together for the best possible display. Two ties kept it in place around my neck and back. The string bikini bottom was tiny and I was glad now for the Japanese lady’s insistence on waxing. I carried
a beach bag that held the matching white lace cover-up, a sleeveless dress that came to mid-thigh. I’d had the salon girl smear makeup over my bruises, so they were invisible against my skin.

I spotted Kade from some distance away—it was a big pool—and stiffened. He was sitting on a daybed under an umbrella, which was fine.

It was the topless woman sitting next to him that set my teeth on edge.

Kade didn’t appear to be paying her much attention, which mollified me somewhat as I made my way toward him, my heels
click-clack
ing on the concrete. He lazily sipped the drink in his hand as the woman talked to him, her hand moving to rest on his thigh. My grip tightened on my beach bag.

I moved closer and could tell when Kade spotted me. His body went still for a moment. He slid his glasses down his nose to peer over the tops. Even from a distance, it seemed I could feel the touch of his gaze as it raked me from head to toe. His lips moved as he said something to the woman and he didn’t even glance her way as she abruptly got to her feet and whirled, marching away in an obvious huff.

She spied me and made right for me. I stopped when she blocked my path.

“I guess you are zee something better,” she sneered. Her accent was thick.

“Pardon me?”

“Ee say to ‘beat it,’ ” she huffed. “Zat something better had come along.”

My smile was thin lipped, the green monster digging its claws in deep. “He’s right.”

She cursed fast and fluently in another language. I assumed it was cursing, anyway. I’d heard plenty of cursing in English and thought I could tell when it was being done in another language, especially when I was the target.

I’d had enough by now and interrupted her tirade. “Move along,” I said. “We’re done here.” The steel in my voice shut her up and I stepped around her, dismissing her entirely as I approached Kade.

“This spot taken?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“It is now.”

I hid a satisfied smile as I arranged myself on the daybed. Kade watched me unabashedly as I reclined with a sigh. A beat passed.

“You’re staring,” I said. “Am I not helping to enhance your image?”

“Well, you’ve certainly drawn attention,” he said dryly.

I tipped my head so I could see him. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, but how the fuck am I supposed to concentrate with you wearing that?”

His obvious irritation made me laugh outright. “Just trying to do my job, boss,” I teased. I was rewarded with a half smile, the corner of his lips tipping upward. I took the chance now that my eyes were hidden behind sunglasses to take him in. He’d obviously been in the pool, as his hair was still damp. Kade wore dark blue swim trunks and had thrown on a thin, white linen shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned, with the cuffs rolled up.

Kade raised a hand and signaled a waiter, who hurried over. “What do you want to drink, princess?” he asked.

“Just water,” I said.

The waiter turned to go, but Kade halted him with a word before turning back to me.

“Water? Are you kidding me?”

I hesitated. “I’ve been… trying to watch my carbs.”

Kade made a disgusted noise. “Bring the lady a mai tai,” he said. After the waiter had departed, Kade said, “Spill it. What’s going on?”

I resolutely refused to look at him when I replied. “I’ve just been drinking a lot lately, that’s all. Trying to cut back.” Blane’s condemnations rang in my ears.

A moment passed. “Well, one mai tai isn’t going to knock you on your ass, so I think you’re safe. Now on to more important things.” He grabbed a brown plastic bottle from the nearby table and handed it to me. “I need sunscreen.” His grin was wicked and I couldn’t help the small smile tugging at my lips.

“Fine,” I said, rearranging so I sat back on my knees. “Turn around and take your shirt off.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Kade’s teasing bothered me. After last night, I didn’t really want to be reminded of the attraction between us, especially when it seemed nothing was going to come of it. I’d been fighting the draw I felt for Kade for months now and the one moment I’d tentatively made a move, he’d shut me down.

My mood worsened as I spread the sunscreen on his back. His nicely muscled, broad-shouldered, naked back. Even the scars from the abuse he’d endured as a child appealed to me. It had been months since I’d had sex and my libido was throwing a cranky fit.

I finished my task and snapped the lid back on the bottle. “Done,” I said curtly, flinging myself back on my side and taking a long gulp of the mai tai the waiter had left for me.

“Your turn,” Kade said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I smiled sweetly. “I can do it myself, thanks anyway.” My tone was pure bitch, but I didn’t care.

Kade’s eyebrow lifted, but he made no comment, simply lying back in the bed and folding his arms behind his head. I couldn’t tell whether his eyes were open or closed behind the sunglasses.

I took my sweet time applying the sunscreen, some not-so-nice part of me wanting to get back at Kade for his unrelenting sexual teasing. And perhaps I achieved my goal because after a good five minutes or so, Kade snapped, “Are you done yet?”

“Don’t want to get burned,” I said breezily, swinging my hair to the side so I could apply the lotion to one shoulder. “The sun here is more potent than back home, you know.”

Kade muttered a curse and abruptly got up, tossed aside his sunglasses, walked to the pool, and dove in.

I smiled.

The sun was hot, even in the shade of the umbrella, and I was glad for my cold drink. I sighed, perfectly content and relaxed, and feeling better than I had in weeks. I didn’t think about Blane. I didn’t think about the bills waiting for me. I didn’t think about Gage wanting to kill me. I didn’t think about anything, and it was wonderful.

“Hi there. May I sit down?”

I opened my eyes to see a very nice-looking man standing next to me. He was holding another mai tai and he offered it to me.

“I thought I might buy you a drink,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling back as I took the drink from him. He sat down next to me.

“I’m Trace,” he said. “And you are?”

“Kathleen.”

Trace was tall, with a nice build, sandy-brown hair, and deep-chocolate eyes. And he was looking at me as though he’d like to eat me up with a spoon, which I decided wasn’t a bad thing. He was also easy to talk to and I found out he was in town on business, that he was from LA but currently lived in Seattle. He was just getting around to asking me to dinner when Kade reappeared.

Trace and I both glanced up at Kade and I sucked in a breath. His face was cold and hard, which I knew signaled dangerous territory on Kade.

“That’s my seat,” Kade said to Trace in a voice that managed to be calm and yet still reek with menace. “And that’s my girl.”

I opened my mouth to object to that last part, but Trace had already jumped to his feet.

“Sorry about that, man, she didn’t say.” Trace shot me an accusing glare before turning and walking away. Kade took his spot and sat back, sliding his sunglasses on again. Water droplets covered his chest and thighs while rivulets ran from his hair, trailing wet paths down his neck.

My jaw was still slack in astonishment at how quickly my potential date had been routed by Kade. Then I went from shocked to supremely pissed off in three seconds flat.

“What the hell, Kade?” I burst out. “He was asking me to dinner and you just scared him off! And for the record, I am
not
your girl. You made that pretty damn clear last night.” My fists were clenched tightly in anger and my fingernails dug into my palms. “Besides,” I finished snottily, “if you’re not going to be my revenge lay, then stop scaring off other candidates.”

I knew that last one was a low blow, but that didn’t stop me from saying it. A part of me that I used to know was shocked and dismayed at my behavior, how horrible I was being to Kade. But I couldn’t stop. It was as if I was daring him to do what Blane had done, reject me and leave me. Maybe him seeing the very worst of me would speed the process along so I wouldn’t be so devastated when it finally happened.

Kade stared at me, his face serious, though his eyes were still hidden from view. The tension between us grew during our stare-down until I couldn’t take it anymore. I swallowed hard and leaned back in the bed, my eyes stinging behind my sunglasses.

“I think it’s fuckin’ hot out here,” Kade mused.

I jerked my head around. “What?” Where had that come from and what, if anything, did it have to do with what I’d just said? He was talking about the
weather
?

“You need to cool off.”

Before I could say anything to that, Kade was up and had lifted me in his arms. I realized what he was going to do a split second before he did it.

“Kade, no—!”

He dropped me unceremoniously into the pool. I came up spluttering and spewing obscenities at him. He just laughed and slid into the water.

“You ruined my hair, asshole!” I cupped my hand and sent a spray of water his way. “And my shoes!” I splashed him again, but he just laughed and turned aside, which infuriated me more. I sprang at him, wanting to dunk him and maybe hold him underwater. Not for long, just maybe a minute… or three.

Kade caught me easily, holding my wrists behind my back with one hand and snagging me around the waist with the other.

“Those are four hundred–dollar shoes you just ruined,” I snapped, trying to jerk away from him.

“Worth every penny,” he retorted.

I managed to get free, then abruptly sank. I flailed my arms, realizing he’d moved us into deeper water where I couldn’t touch the bottom. My new sandals made it impossible for me to swim. Kade pulled me up and I clung to his shoulders, coughing.

“Damn you, Kade,” I gasped at last, blinking water out of my eyes. His shoulders were slippery from the sunscreen and I tightened my hold.

He took my sunglasses and perched them on top of my head. I was briefly glad the salon had used waterproof mascara on my lashes. Raccoon eyes was not the look I was going for.

“If you think I’m going to let you throw yourself at any man who buys you a drink, you’re sadly mistaken,” he said.

“What does it matter to you?” I retorted.

“If you want to go all self-destructive, be my guest,” Kade said. “You’re talking to someone who takes self-destruction to an art form. But I didn’t bring you here to watch you implode. You’re here on business, so destroy your life on your own time.”

“So suddenly sleeping with a guy is self-destructive?” I fumed. “Isn’t that a little judgmental, coming from you?”

“Absolutely.”

I stared at him, no quick comeback springing to mind, which was always frustrating around quick-witted Kade. No doubt I’d think of something in about ten minutes, but by then it would be too late.

Kade’s black hair shone like a raven’s wing in the sunlight, the water and my own face reflecting back at me from his sunglasses. I was suddenly acutely aware of our bodies pressed together, my legs drifting next to his. My anger drained away as my pulse quickened. He was hard everywhere. Literally. And I felt an answering ache between my thighs.

Kade turned, moving us to shallower water before lifting me to sit on the side of the pool. I wondered for a moment what he was doing, though it became clear as he lifted an ankle and began undoing the strap that held the sandal in place.

Hormones screaming in frustration, I popped my sunglasses back on and leaned back on my elbows, not bothering to keep my knees together. Two could play this game.

Kade deposited the sandal next to me and went to work on the other.

“How’s the ribs?” he asked.

I glanced down. The water had washed off a lot of the makeup, so the lovely black-and-blue marks were back in all their glory. I sighed.

“Looks like the makeup came off,” I said. “Now more people are probably going to think you beat me.”

“What?” Kade frowned and his hands had stilled on my ankle.

I shrugged. “The massage lady thought my boyfriend hits me. I tried to tell her the truth, but I don’t think she bought it. So I made sure they put makeup on the bruises. I didn’t really want to look like the battered girlfriend.” My tone was wry. I was the battered ex-girlfriend all right, but my wounds weren’t visible.

He resumed work on removing my shoe, placing it next to the first. When he was done, he stood between my spread knees, the water lapping at his waist.

“You realize that swimsuit is slightly see-through now,” Kade said, his hands resting on the backs of my calves. They slid slowly up to the back of my knees, then back down to my ankles, then repeated their journey. The touch was as maddening as it was intoxicating.

“Is it?” I asked. “I hadn’t noticed.” Compared to the scraps of fabric some of the barely clad women around me were wearing, even a see-through white swimsuit was tame. I’d seen enough naked boobs today to last me a lifetime.

“I like this.” Kade touched the thin gold chain the wardrobe lady had added at the last minute. It circled my neck like a loose collar, with a lone strand extending from the circle down between my breasts to stop at my navel, where it formed another loop that hung low around my hips.

His fingers lightly traced the chain as it lay against my skin, stopping just below my breasts. He tugged the chain and the gold strand pressed lightly into my skin. I obeyed the unspoken command and sat up, the collar suddenly having a different feeling to it than merely being pretty. And judging by the sudden rush of blood in my ears, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

I couldn’t look away from Kade, and the rest of the people around us seemed to fade away. His hands closed over my hips and he pulled me closer to him. With me perched on the edge of the pool, our height was about the same and for once I could look him directly in the eyes. My legs automatically circled his ribs.