"Hi." I wiggle my fingers in the air in his general direction, too embarrassed to look that way again.
"Hello, there." A gruff voice sounds above me and I yelp. My heart pounds in my chest as I glance up, straight at eye-level with his gorgeous crotch—now covered by his pants. He’d managed to pull those on before heading over, apparently. Not that it does anything to hide, but rather, reveals the gargantuan proportions of whatever it is that it encloses.
Jeez, get your mind out of the gutter, bitch.
I raise my gaze, and hell, if the view doesn’t get even more serious. Dense muscles, packed one on top of the other, moving, slipping, sliding as he draws in a breath. An intricate design inches over one shoulder, and damn, if I don’t want to jump up and peek around to find out how it continues across his back.
He folds his arms across his chest and his biceps bulge.
Heat sears my blood. My thighs clench.
I tilt my head back, and further back. The sun chooses that moment to shine on him again, shadowing his features. This guy is a sun trap; that’s for sure. The golden glow folds about him, caresses him, so sparks of amber flare in the air around him. I blink, and his face comes into view. Dark close-cropped hair slicked back from the water. His eyes are golden...amber with a hint of black in their depths. Like he has secrets which he holds close to his chest. Thick eyelashes that sweep down over high cheekbones you could cut yourself on. I curl my fingers into fists and my nails dig into my flesh.
A scar mars the expanse of his left cheek, and somehow that only heightens how perfect the rest of his face is.
"You okay?" He tilts his head.
"Of course." My voice cracks and I clear my throat. "Why wouldn’t I be?"
"You seem like you saw something...unexpected?"
"Uh, you’re not a vampire, are you?"
He blinks, then chuckles. A full-throated, deep reverberation that sucker-punches me in the gut. My thighs tremble. My toes curl. I watch as those full lips of his quirk.
"I’m Edward." He holds out his hand.
"Wha—" I gape, "you’re kidding me, right?"
He frowns. "Excuse me?"
"Your…your name," I choke out. "It can’t be Edward."
"I am not following..." His cultured tone carries a note of warning, which I ignore.
"I mean, you can’t be called Edward. Who put you up to this? Was it Isla?" Only she knows about my slightly stalkerish obsession with Edward, from Twilight, and surely, she wouldn’t tell the others, right?
"Ah." The wrinkles on his forehead dissipate. "You’re Isla’s friend?"
I hold out my hand, "Ava."
"Ava?" He frowns.
He touches my hand and the rest of the words dry in my throat. Goosebumps flare on my skin. His gaze widens and the planes of his chest twitch. Did he feel that shock of the impact as well? I try to pull back my hand but he holds onto it.
"Why are you hiding, Eve?"
"I’m not," I scowl. "and that’s not my name."
"It suits you better," he tilts his head, "and you haven’t answered my question yet."
"Which one?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I came here to write," I bite the inside of my cheek, "only... I heard the splashing in the pool and I turned around and spotted you swimming.
"And you watched?" His lips curl in a hint of a smirk.
