She jerked away and couldn’t hold back her little squeal. The water may not be icy, but it was still chilly on her warm skin.
“Are you ready to swim?”
Katherine eyed the water dubiously. There was no shallow end, no steps for her to descend gradually into the water. Reading her look, Kong offered, “Here,” and reached back down into the water. He unlatched something she hadn’t noticed before and a tiled shelf separated from the wall. He pressed his hand on it, leaning his weight into it to show it was sturdy. “You’ll be able to sit if you want. Mako installed these when some of us started coming down here to swim.”
Nodding, she looked around. “Is there a place for me to change?”
Kong pointed her toward two doors and she brought her bag inside the one marked for women. It was a bathroom split down the middle with stalls, toilets, sinks, and mirrors on one side and showers on the other. Just inside the right of the door was a floor-to-ceiling rack full of rolled white towels. While a rack with suspended canvas hampers occupied the left side.
Heading to one of the sinks, she set her bag on the countertop and dug inside. She’d been a bit leery about the whole bathing suit issue, so before she’d left for work, she’d been sure to pack a pair of shorts and a dark T-shirt just in case, but Perrin hadcaught up to her at lunch. Once again, the other woman had come through for her with a modestly cut one-piece in dark blue trimmed with black that zipped up the front and still had the tags on it.
Katherine had offered to pay but the other woman had waved her off, then gave her that intimidation stare when she’d insisted, forcing her to back down. At least for the time being. Katherine would figure out a way to pay her back, she’d just have to be sneaky about it.
Perrin had also tried to pump her for information about the night before but Katherine didn’t go into specifics, only that she’d had a nice time. She didn’t want to confess her embarrassing blunder of how she’d not only fallen asleep on Kong but drooled on him too.
For a minute there, Perrin had tried to intimidate her again with that probing stare, but Katherine had stayed strong. The woman had finally shrugged, commenting, “It must have gone well if Kong invited you to go swimming.”
It must have. Katherine’s belly fluttered with a giddy feeling.
Not only had he invited her to swim, but Kong had also brought her breakfast. Katherine hadn’t told Perrin about that. It had been a sweet, thoughtful gesture, and if she hadn’t already been berating herself for the night before – and if she’d been wearing something a little more sophisticated than Hello Kitty pajamas – she probably would have appreciated it more at the time.
Only once she’d gotten to work had it hit her and then, she couldn’t stop smiling. ORION had even commented on her good mood.
Dressed in the bathing suit, her hair neatly contained in a bun, she grabbed a towel on the way out and nearly tripped over her own feet. Kong was shirtless, in just a pair of black board shorts. Tan, tattooed skin, slabs of muscle, a chest dusted with dark hair, and abs that went on for days. The effect on her was stunning. It was like her brain just stopped for a minute there as her eyes drank him in.
Heaven help her, he was perfect.
Katherine had to admit she had a type – big, muscular men did it for her – but admiring pictures of people like Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns, and Olivier Richters online hadn’t prepared her for seeing such a beautiful specimen in the flesh. She was about to start drooling again, and this time, she wouldn’t be able to blame it on sleep.
She needed to focus on something else. Jerking her gaze away from all that exposed skin, her eyes fell on the diving equipment and she blurted, “I once took an open water diving course.”
She and her friends had been planning a trip to the Caribbean so it had seemed like a good idea at the time. They’d all signed up, intending to do it together.
“Did you like it?”
Katherine waved a hand in front of her face. “The mask made me feel claustrophobic.” She’d felt like she couldn’t breathe even though she was getting plenty of air through the regulator.
“I’m not a fan of diving,” Kong confessed. “It’s fun to paddle around in here, but if I’m going to be underwater for any length of time, I prefer a submersible if possible.” He paused a beat before adding, “Ready to get your feet wet?”
She nodded and dared another look at Kong to see if her brain would short-circuit again. Still gorgeous, but she was pretty sure she had a handle on things.
She watched as Kong squatted down and levered himself into the pool, the muscles of his arm bulging and flexing as it took his weight. He disappeared under the water for a moment and then popped back up, his skin wet and gleaming. Smiling, he shook his head vigorously, sending droplets of water flying.
Had she thought she had a handle on things? Dry Kong was a stunner. Wet Kong was a fantasy come to life. She was staring again and couldn’t seem to stop.
He shot her a lopsided grin. “Are you coming in?”
The water would probably help cool her off. At this rate, she was getting so hot her skin would steam. Carefully, she sat down at the edge of the pool and dunked her feet and the lower half of her legs in the water. It was cool, but not too cold.
Kong held out a hand. “Need help?”
She didn’t, but she still took his hand because it gave her an excuse to touch him. And she wanted to touch him. Badly.
With her free hand, she pushed off and sunk into the water up to her chin, bobbing in front of Kong. He was so close that she could see the hint of dark beard grain on his jaw, the trails of water droplets glistening on his skin. Her eyes met his. He had little flecks of gold in his brown irises that she hadn’t noticed before.
Their legs skimmed against each other as they both treaded water and Katherine’s hand braced against his hard chest. The skin under her palm was warm and felt like it was stretched over solid rock.
His nostrils flared just a tiny bit, and he let out a low, rumbling sound.
