Colt’s head jerked back, his eyes wide and jaw slack. The water bubbled around me but did nothing to dull the heat still throbbing in my core. The sun had set, but dusk was still in full swing. A warm-orange glow enveloped his silhouette, casting shadows across his striking, rugged features. I arched an eyebrow in challenge and crooked a finger to beckon him over.
“Hailey, I don’t know if this is—”
“Oh, we’re back to Hailey? What happened to princess?”
Surprise flickered across his face, then he finally seemed to have made a decision. With a quick, almost abrupt movement, he got rid of his boxers. They were left piled on the patio as he took long strides toward me, my gaze fixed on his face.
Colt was a master at hiding his emotions. I’d learned that after watching him from afar all these years. Once his mask was on, it wasimpenetrable.
At this moment though, it had slipped a fraction. Try as he might, I got the tiniest glimpse into the well-guarded castle that was Colt’s mind, one I had wanted to invade for so long. And what I saw — genuine desire,affection and warmth — gave me hope. Maybe this insane, unhinged plan would actually deliver.
A splash announced his arrival, and I watched as his long, powerful legs, followed by his cock still at half-mast, then his thick middle lowered into the water in front me.
“Took you long enough,” I teased.
He let out a breathless laugh but still avoided my gaze. To snap him out of his thoughts, which were probably still revolving around the supposedslip-up, I blurted out a random thought. “It’ll be nice to see you play from the sidelines again this season. The stands aren’t bad, but there were times I wished I was as close as I used to be.”
My miserable distraction seemed to do the trick because he frowned.
“Last year?”
“Yeah. I’ve been to every game I could.” Now it was my turn to blush, but I’d gladly embarrass myself if it meant he wasn’t overthinking what had just happened.
“Really?” He froze momentarily, his brows lifted.
When I nodded, he scanned my face and finally returned his gaze to mine.
“Why?”
I had two options here: feed him a meaningless excuse that didn’t make me seem allthatdesperate, or be honest and make myself vulnerable to level the playing field.Fuck it.
“To watch you play. To see you.”
He jerked back, his deep-blue eyes wide. Guess that was enough to get him out of his head.
“Wish I’d known that. Would have been nice to know that someone was there for me, aside from my parents.” He paused briefly. “Actually for me, I mean.”
“Well, we have a whole season ahead of us. Almost like old times.”
He snorts. “Not atalllike old times. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here … especially not like this.”
If only he knewhowwrong he was. This train of thought, however, seemed to draw his attention back to my lack of clothing. Hungry eyes, dark and greedy with lust, traced every inch of my bare skin not submerged in the water.
They left a fiery trail as they explored, causing me to inhale sharply and my hard nipples to pop out of the water.
Colt’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, and I swear his arms twitched as if wanting to touch me.
“Hey, Princess?”
“Mm …” I hummed, distracted by the delicious gravelly tone of his voice.
“I really think I should return the favor.”
“What?”
“I’m not taking this lying down. Get your hot little ass over here so I can return the favor.”
Well, that definitelywasn’ton my bingo card, but I wouldn’t complain.
