Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set (83 page)

“Oh, dear. I hope I don’t drop them in the water.”

“
Now, this is the Cheris I remember from Friday night.”

“
Oh, really? Did I nearly lose your glasses then too?”

“
No, but you flirted…a lot. Can I have my glasses please?”

“
Not…” Cheris began when Geoff lunged. “Ah!” He caught her and pulled her toward him so that they wouldn’t end up in the water.

His glasses weren
’t as fortunate.

He heard the simultaneous gasp of Cheris and the plop as they broke the surface of the water.

Still.

He now was shoulder to knee with Cheris, his hands spanning her back and waist. Was temporary blindness worth the price of having her in his arms?

Oh, yeah.

“
Geoff, I’m sorry.” This close he could tell she was, too. Gone was the vixen who had shoved his glasses in her blouse. Had they gone into her bra, too? He hated to lose the scent of her skin to the chlorine.

“
Are you now?”

“
Oh, no. What are we going to do?” She attempted to pull away, but he held her for a few more seconds before releasing her.

“
I suppose I’ll retrieve them.”

“
No. I’ll go.”

“
You’ll go?”

“
Yeah. In the water.”

Geoff shook his head wishing he could read her expression. As appealing as the offer was, he thought it ought to be a last resort.
“I’m sure there’s a skimmer here somewhere. Let’s look for it.” Not as if he’d be much good at looking for anything right now.

They began their search. After he stumbled twice, Cheris had grabbed Geoff
’s hand and guided him throughout the house. They found nothing, but a closet in the enclosed greenhouse off the kitchen and a storage house in the backyard—both locked.

Back in the pool room, Geoff squinted at the water.

It was a lost cause.

Of course he couldn
’t see where his glasses were even with the underwater lights illuminating the bottom of the pool.

“
Can you see them?”

“
Well, sure. They’re at the deep end.”

Of course, they were.

Fishing his keys out of his pocket, he held them out to Cheris. “Would you go out to my car? There’s a blanket in the very back. If you’ll bring it in, I’d appreciate it.”

If she wondered why he needed a blanket, she didn
’t ask, only took the keys and left. As soon as she walked to the front door, he shed his clothes. No use in humiliating himself further by stripping in front of her. With any hope he’d be in the water by the time she got back—maybe even with glasses in hand. He’d grab the blanket and cover up before she decided he had any plans for molesting her. He’d excuse himself and get dressed in one of the seven bathrooms.

Problem solved.

When he’d taken everything off but his skivvies, he dove straight to the bottom of the ten foot pool and felt around with his hands. When his lungs burned, he surfaced and took a deep breath.

“
What are you doing?” Cheris astonished voice greeted him.

“
Getting my glasses.”

“
Well, you’re nowhere close. They’re in the middle right there.”

Geoff wiped the water off his face and peered up at her.
“In the middle?”

“
Yeah. How are you going to find them? You’re blind as a bat.”

He kicked to the side of the pool and held to its edge.
“I can probably see almost as well as you underwater.”

Big lie.

He couldn’t see jack. The pattern on the lining made it impossible for him to make out anything down there. However, as close as Cheris stood to him, he could make out her legs pretty well, and the fuzzy short length of her skirt.

“
You shouldn’t be in there. I was the one who threw them in like a stupid idiot.”

“
I believe I knocked them out of your hand when I grabbed you. Okay. I’m going down again.” Without waiting for her reply, he submerged.

No luck. He came up for a quick breath and dove again.

Where were they?

Dammit. This was frustrating.

During the fourth time down, Cheris joined him. She swam to a spot about three feet away, then pulled on his arm tugging him upward. They both surfaced sucking in air before swimming to the side of the pool.

Crooking her arm on its edge, she held his glasses in her hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Geoff.”

Sky blue.

The same bra she’d had on the night of the gala. The lace edging wasn’t visible to him now, but the straps on her shoulders were. Obviously, she’d followed his lead—shed her clothes, but kept on the underwear.

He reached for his glasses and plucked them from her fingers.

“Please,” Cheris appealed.

“
What?”

“
Please don’t put them on. I’m…I don’t have my clothes on, and it’s embarrassing.”

“
I’m only wearing my skivvies here, and your eyesight doesn’t handicap you.”

She didn
’t respond.

“
Will you trust me enough to let me see?” He waited for her answer, and the only sound was the lapping of the water.

“
Okay.”

He shook them, wiped his face and slipped them on. Cheris came into focus, her expression unsure.

“Thanks. Let’s swim for a while.” He pushed off and sliced through the warm water across the width. She hadn’t moved when he reached the other side. “You like to swim?”

“
Love it. I swim laps at the Y twice a week.”

“
Really?”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Think you can beat me from one end to the other?”

“
Don’t know. How good are you?”

He was terrible. He hadn
’t been swimming in years. “Oh, I think I could beat you easily. Me being a guy and all.”

She laughed and swam to the end. He met her there.

“One length. Winner gets to dry off with the blanket first,” Cheris proposed.

Oh, yes.
He liked those stakes. If he won, he got the blanket first. If he lost, he got to watch her exit the pool to get the blanket.

“
Ready? On my mark. Get set. Go.”

They shoved off, and mid length Geoff realized even if he wanted to win, it was hopeless. Her strokes were clean and confident. By the time he reached the steps, she was crouched in the shallow water waiting for him, a smug look on her face.

“Two out of three,” he said.

Cheris shook her head.
“How humiliated do you want to be? Have you ever been swimming in your life?”

“
I’ll have you know I swam every summer at computer camp until I graduated high school.”

“
They have a pool at computer camp?”

“
It was mandatory. We had to swim before they’d let us play on the computers.”

“
I’ll bet it was mandatory.” She snickered. “So you haven’t swum since you were fifteen.”

Geoff thought about it.
“Yeah. That sounds about right. The water feels good, doesn’t it?”

“
Yes. Seems if the house is empty, they’d not want to pay to heat the pool.”

“
Larry came by earlier with me and switched on the pool lights. Maybe he turned the heater on as well.”

“
It’d take longer than a few hours to heat it.”

Geoff nodded in agreement.
“Who knows why? Maybe Larry likes to swim.”

“
I think I’ll swim a few more laps.”

Geoff watched her slice through the water, flip against the wall, and return. Before she reached him, she went under and swam away, resurfacing in the deep end. Resting his arms against the tiled rim, he leaned his head back and studied the reflection of the rippled light on the ceiling.

How he hated to go back to Georgia tomorrow.

Hated it.

But he had to. He’d done nothing to get ready for his Monday classes. Nothing.

A glimmer from the back window caught his eye, but in an instant the glass was dark again. What had it been? Headlights from a car? No. There was no street or driveway back there, only a large backyard with a bricked patio.

Cheris now crisscrossed the width of the pool with graceful strokes moving closer to him with each lap.

Man, she really liked the water.

No matter what happened between them, he’d make sure she knew she’d be welcome to swim at Mom and Dad’s any time she wanted.

Movement from the front of the room captured his attention.

Two policemen strode toward the pool, their hands on their holstered guns.

Oh, boy.

“Hello,” he called. “Is there a problem?”

“
Is this your house?” One of the officers asked.

Geoff straightened and faced them. Uneasy because of having nothing on but his underwear, he nevertheless spoke matter-of-factly.
“No, but we have permission to be here.”

“
According to the neighbor, no one is supposed to be here. Why don’t you two come out of the pool so we can sort this out?”

Geoff glanced at his wife. Crouched a few feet from him, she held the tiled lip with her fingers as she peeked over its edge at the men uniform.

“We’re not exactly dressed for an interrogation.”

One man shrugged unconcerned for their predicament. The other motioned for them to move. Sighing, Geoff ascended the stairs, and stalking over to the blanket he picked it up before walking back to the end of the pool.

He unfolded it and held it in invitation. “Come on, Sweetheart.”

Cheris shook her head, her eyes wide in fear.

“It’s okay. Just a misunderstanding.”

Geoff crooked his head studying her.

That wasn’t pool water running down her cheeks. Those were tears.

“
I need to help my wife out of the water.”

Laying the blanket aside, he waded toward her as, out of the corner of his eye, he noted one officer moved closer.

What was going on here? Sure it was awkward, but nothing a call to Larry wouldn’t fix.

He hoped.

Cheris trembled beside him.

“
It’s okay,” he murmured as he attempted to pull her to a standing position. “Cheris, it’s okay. I promise.”

She resisted.
“You said we could be here,” she whimpered.

He bent his knees to meet her eye to eye.
“We can.”

“
Then why are they here?”

“
The neighbor didn’t know we’d be here and did what a good neighbor should do. I’ll call Larry, and he’ll vouch for us.” Placing his hand around her waist, he moved them through the water toward the edge of the pool.

She refused to go further, the water to her shoulders.
“I can’t get out. I’m practically naked.”

Geoff met the watchful gazes of the policemen as he stood at the top step and grasped the blanket.
“Gentlemen? Do you mind standing aside for a moment? My wife is reluctant to exit the pool while you watch.”

They exchanged glances before pivoting and facing each other.

“Thanks.” Geoff stretched out the blanket in front of his body. “All right, Sweetheart. Come on out.”

For a few seconds she didn
’t move. Geoff nodded to her in encouragement. She squared her shoulders.

Shutting her eyes tightly, she stood, Venus rising from the sea.
“All right, Mr. De Mille,” she whispered as her lids lifted and she pierced him with her intense gaze, “I’m ready for the close up now.”

Oh, man.

The bra and panties plastered to her flesh providing no barrier from his gaze.

Not a good thing since there
’d be no way of hiding getting turned on in his own wet briefs.

He sucked in a breath, focused on the far wall, and thought of his freshman physics teacher whose nickname was
Killer
.

When that didn
’t work, he began reciting the elements of the periodic table by group. She stepped into the blanket at Strantium, a metal that is highly reactive chemically.

Very appropriate.

Adjusting the cloth around her, he pressed it on her shoulders covering her. He walked them over to their clothes in two piles next to each other. He handed her garments to her and pushed her to the door of the closest bathroom.