Finding Her Rhythm (Backstage Pass Series) (4 page)

Chapter Four

She should have let his lazy ass stay in bed.

Although considering the state of it, he worked out pretty often. But that wasn’t the point. It wouldn’t have helped her anyway. She was going to have to get in the pool in front of him at some point. But
maybe she could already be in the water before he graced them with his presence. Less exposure time.

S
he could still beat him there if she hurried. Pulling on her modest black one-piece, she shimmied out of her clothes in the dressing room. Across the narrow corridor, she could hear McKayla changing too, and Jane next door. Matthew was down the hall in the men’s locker rooms with his friend. Not only did the Korvello’s have an indoor/outdoor pool, they also had locker rooms for changing and showering off. Pretty sweet. And it meant she didn’t have to traipse through the house in her swimsuit—thank goodness.

What
normal woman wanted to parade half-naked in front of a rock star? Especially one as built as Michael Korvello?

Breathing deeply, she tried to banish the vision from her mind and calm her racing heart. But it didn’t seem to be helping any. Her skin broke out in a sweat that made it even harder to pull the
stretchy material up over her stomach.

“
We’re going out,” McKayla called as she hurried by.

“
I’ll be there in a minute.”
And please let it be a minute before Michael.

Her total lack of professionalism this morning just might make her expire from humiliation. She thought she’d kept a pretty tight lid on her reactions to him since he’d been home. Her reawakened sexuality was disconcerting enough. Having him realize how much she craved even a little taste of him would burn her alive with embarrassment.

Just as she got the swimsuit straps secure, her cell phone rang. Normally she wouldn’t take it with her to the pool, but she needed to be available in case something happened to Granny. Glancing at the display, she kissed her chances of slipping beneath the concealing water good-bye.

“
Hey, Stephen. What’s up?”

“
How’s it going, my friend?” he asked. “Still enjoying yourself?”

I was.
“Sure. The kids are great.”

“
I hear Michael is home now. Pretty intense character, isn’t he?”

“
He’s interesting, all right.”

Something in her tone must have been off.
“Any problems?” he asked, his voice deepening with that genuine concern she knew so well.

None that I can admit to anyone else.
“No, I’m fine. What’s up?”

“
Let me just start by saying, Granny is fine.”

“
What’s wrong with her?”

“
Nothing. Didn’t I just say that?”

“
Well, yes…”

“
Look. I got a call from her old nursing home this morning. Looks like Bradley has been nosing around over there, trying to figure out where she’s been transferred to.”

Taylor’s throat tightened.
“Is she going to be safe?”

“
She is, Taylor. Trust me. I’ve hidden her as well as I would my own grandmother under the circumstances, okay?”

She tried to breath
e deep and still her racing heart.
Stephen knows what he’s doing.
And he loved Granny almost as much as she did. “Okay.” She wrapped her towel around herself as best she could and shoved her feet into flip-flops before making her way to the door.

“
I just want you to be aware of what’s going on—not to scare you, but so you don’t feel left in the dark,” he said.

“
You better.”

“
Oh, I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the death stare.”

She smiled.
“I reserve that for kids.”

“
Not always. I can still feel the burn.”

Taylor rang off
, laughing, which was probably Stephen’s intention all along. For the moment Granny was safe. That’s what she had to focus on. No worries for today—well, except for wearing a bathing suit in front of a man who had probably seen more naked females than a gynecologist.

Maybe she was exaggerating, but not by much if you believed the gossip. Adjusting her straps, she let the nerves rush over her, then pulled open the door.

A quick peek into the common hallway showed no signs of life, so she stepped out into the open, only to lose her grip on her towel. She caught the edge quick enough to keep it from hitting the floor, but thank goodness no one saw her ungraceful juggle and exposed thighs.

A groan echoed through the hallway.

Too late. With a quick shimmy she righted it, securing the fluffy length high around her not-so-tiny waist. How much skin did he see?

Then Michael’s
husky, slightly sarcastic voice snuck up from behind her. “Oh, come on. Fair’s only fair, right?”

The reminder of seeing him naked kept her frozen a moment too long.
Glancing over her shoulder, she found him much closer than she had anticipated, just feet from her. His shadowed gaze traveled up and down her length, as if to take in every exposed curve…and judge her for it. So much for hoping he’d stubbed his toe.

His hooded eyes and shuttered expression weren’t telling her anything. He checked her out like she was an inept prostitute trying to practice her wiles on him—unsuccessfully. Full of suspicion and something she could swear was anger, but it didn’t match his
snarky statement.

Maybe she could make amends by apologizing for her pushiness in his bedroom?

“Look, Michael, I’m really sorry about this morning-”

“
Don’t be. I know I can be a selfish ass on occasion.” His gaze seemed to have paused somewhere in the vicinity of her upper back. Right at the towel line. His eyes narrowed, hiding his thoughts. “It isn’t often that someone calls me on it.”

Okaaay. Was that good or bad?

She tried again. “I just want you and the kids to make the most of what you have.”
While you still have it, unlike me.

He didn’t respond, which made her even more uncomfortable.
She paused for a moment longer than necessary, praying he’d say something, but no such luck. With an old-fashioned gesture, he allowed her to precede him to the door.

Great.
Give him even more of a jiggly show.
Her legs refused to work for a minute.
Just move, damn it.
She acquiesced with ill grace but quickly tried to cover it up.

Somehow she knew she didn’t succeed.

Her body had never been skinny, not even as a teenager. She’d had curves galore, and added some weight after her parents died that she’d only been able to shed in the last year. After the kick-ass glimpse she’d had of Michael this morning—well, needless to say having him eyeing her ass as she walked to poolside and dropped her towel wasn’t an appealing thought.

Not that she
had any business wondering what he thought of her body. But that never stopped a woman from judging herself, did it?

Walking into the glass-enclosed
atrium still made Taylor want to pause in awe, even after weeks of swimming here. The rain that had moved in forced them indoors, but they weren’t missing anything. This side of the pool was surrounded by decorative concrete and lush tropical plants that thrived in the humid environment. The far side of the pool was sculpted with a combination of smoothed-down rocks that formed a waterfall in one corner.

Now this was her idea of paradise.

“Taylor, look at this!”

She paused to watch as Matthew did a swan dive off the elevated diving board, only to tuck into a cannonball at the last minute.

“Wow, dude,” Michael said as his son surfaced. “You’ve gotten really good at that.”

“
Oh, wait until you see what else I can do.”

McKayla groaned from her poolside perch with Jane.
“Now you’ve done it. He’ll be yelling ‘watch me’ for an hour.”

Michael just laughed and dropped his towel on one of the
lounging chairs. Taylor had been so busy worrying about her own body she hadn’t paid much attention to his. Big mistake. The next thing to go was the T-shirt, leaving lots of bare skin around a pair of board shorts. Not as naked as this morning, but just as droolworthy. Especially since this view showed off the gorgeous phoenix tattoo that graced the back of his left shoulder.

Taylor
made herself to look away before her tongue snuck out. As it was, she found it hard to breathe. Forcing air into her lungs, she shut down her brain so she could drop her own towel without panicking.

Yeah, nothing like
feeling judged to make you
not
want to drop trou. The all-in-one standard maillot covered most everything except her upper back and a smaller circle at her lower back. Nothing titillating to see there.

His attitude, coupled with her earlier reminder of how much Bradley had controlled her—and was still trying to control her—sent a blaze of rebelliousness whipping through her. Her jaw clenched tight until it ached, but still she slung the towel off and gathered steel into her spine. Looking neither right nor left, she walked with deliberate consciousness to the steps into the pool.

Loving to swim, for Taylor this pool area was like walking into a dream. The cavernous glassed-in room was filled with plants and light, even with the gray skies outside. Still the water was a little cool as it mixed with the rainwater from outside via the connecting tunnel where the pool met the wall. All they had to do was swim through and they were outdoors. McKayla had told her the outer pool was closed off during the wintertime and some kind of barrier installed so the inner pool could be heated during the cold months.

Amazing.

Keeping her head high, she descended into the chilly water step by step until the blessed protection reached her waist. The steel wilted a little, her bravado fading as her imperfections were covered by the water. Not that her chest was any smaller, but at least most men found that interesting.

Michael still stood halfway up the pool when she finally dared look, his focus on encouraging his son and his friend to even further antics. From this angle, his long legs, dusted with dark hair, were tight and strong. Their inherent power brought to mind the si
ght of his bare muscular thighs and made her wonder just how much force they could put into a thrust of his hips. Her inappropriate thoughts made her glance away the moment Michael’s face turned, and she ducked under the water to cool off.

She surfaced just as Matthew did after a dive, and Michael cannonballed right near his son, sparking a tidal wave of water right into Matthew’s face. He sputtered an
d shook his head; then the fight was on.

McKayla watched their mock battle from her new per
ch on a float, shaking her head. “Men.” She glanced over at Taylor. “Want to swim some laps?”

Taylor
nodded and the girls started off with ten, the number that had become their almost daily goal. Stretching out to glide through the water felt great, but the sensual slide of its coolness against her skin only reminded Taylor of things she’d rather forget with a half-naked Michael not far away. She pushed herself even harder, racking up time and a half above McKayla and Jane in an effort to exhaust her body into not feeling. Not wanting.

It didn’t work as well as she
’d hoped. Not with pictures of full-naked Michael running through her brain.

Finally too tuckered
to go any farther, she lounged against the side of the shallow end where a tile bench was formed and watched the girls laze in their floats. The guys seemed to have given up the fight, moving on to a diving competition. Michael had disappeared since her last sighting of him.

All the better for her peace of mind.

Her eyes slid closed as she let the nearby waterfall drown out the boys’ antics. A few minutes later water splashed near her shoulder and she braced herself for one of Matthew’s sneaky assaults, but instead that deep, signature voice spoke from above her.

“
The kids really enjoyed family night.”

Her eyes flew open to find Michael seated on the lip of the pool nearby, his legs dangling in the water with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. Thank goodness he’d covered up that delectable torso. Except now she was eye level with heavily built thighs and naked knees—how could
even this man’s knees be sexy?

Looking up into his face, she found
an almost accessible expression she’d seen on him. The muscles around his eyes had relaxed and he met her gaze without the hooded expression that normally obscured the mysterious blue of his eyes. Her heart pumped a couple of extra beats.

Take it easy. No employee should double for a sex-starved groupie. In any situation.

“Just the kids?” she asked, aiming for a light tone. “I mean, somebody sure seemed to enjoy trouncing us at Risk.”