It was nasty hot inside the unfinished space, and I moved with purpose to get the netted leaf rake. It’d been windy the past few days, and my pool at home was full of cottonwood seeds, so Ms. Graham’s was sure to be the same.
The sun was so bright I didn’t see her at first when I stepped out of the pool house and started toward the deep end. When my vision adjusted, I saw her lying out on the lounge chair, but my brain was much slower to recognize she was wearing a bikini. A peach one that showed off her flat stomach and—
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
She wasn’t wearing a top.
I couldn’t stop my gaze from tracing every mouthwatering inch of her. The sight of her pale skin and dark pink nipples soaking up the sun wasn’t something I was prepared for, and my hands clenched in response.
Except doing that made the long pole of the rake pop free from my grip. It fell, almost as if in slow motion, and clanged loudly against the ground.
Ms. Graham’s head lifted at the same moment she pulled one of the earbuds out of her ear, and her focus snapped in my direction.
My goal had been to get her to notice me, so . . .
Mission fucking accomplished.
Erika
Troy Osbourne came once a week to service both my pool and the freestanding spa. I’d hired him last year to handle closing and covering the pool for the winter, then reopening it for me last month, and his weekly visits that followed had kept the water crystal clear and the pH perfectly balanced.
My pool had never looked so good.
But Troy always came when I was at work and let himself in through the gate at the side of my fence, so I had completely forgotten his schedule. He must have gone behind the pool house and inside to fetch his supplies, and when he’d rounded the corner and discovered me topless, he’d dropped everything in his arms.
Including the long pole with the net on the end.
It was as if someone had put their foot down on the sustain pedal of a piano, only this piano played the music of time, and the moment suspended with my long, drawn out gasp.
I was topless, and he was frozen, and holy shit, he was my best friend’s twenty-four-year-old son.
It burst from my lips in horror. “Oh, fuck!”
In my panic, I grasped at my towel to cover myself, only to struggle hopelessly since it was pinned beneath my body. I leapt to my feet and yanked the terrycloth up, pressing it over my naked chest.
Troy still hadn’t moved. His lips were open, as if he’d planned to say something, but now he was frozen and unable to do anything. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his mirrored Aviator sunglasses, but he didn’t seem to be breathing.
So, I did what any reasonable woman would when a gorgeous, almost-stranger caught her naked.
I ran.
I abandoned my phone and my top and fled as fast as possible toward the main house, crushing the towel over my boobs. There was no thought in my mind, only the basic need to seek shelter. My face burned a million times hotter than the concrete on the soles of my bare feet, and it wasn’t until I was in the house that I could catch my breath.
“Oh my God,” I whispered in the darkness of my kitchen, only to realize it was because I was still wearing my sunglasses. I shoved them back on my head.
Nervous energy coursed through my body and propelled me through the living room and into the master suite. I dropped the towel as I sprinted into my closet and grabbed the first thing that made sense. The sun dress was a deep indigo, and I pulled it on, not bothering with a bra.
Having the dress on made me feel marginally better, and a voice inside my head patronizingly reminded me of my desire to one day visit a nude beach. Troy had gotten an eyeful, but only above the waist, and now I was hiding in my closet like a scared little girl. My confidence still had a long, long way to go.
Finally decent, I sucked in a breath and willed my heartrate to slow down.
It wasn’t like this was the first time Troy had ever seen a topless woman before. He was young and attractive and had plenty of girlfriends while he’d been in college. I knew because Jenna had whined about all of the ones he’d brought home. None of ‘those girls’ were good enough for her son, she’d said.
I didn’t envy whomever he eventually got serious with. I loved my friend dearly, but she was difficult to please, and in my opinion, had always been a little too strict when it came to Troy. I tried not to judge. I didn’t have children, so what the hell did I know?
Like a spy, I tiptoed cautiously back into the living room and inched up to the window, scanning the backyard for him. I was curious. What did he think about seeing me?
He stood at the edge of the pool and was currently gliding the net through the water, skimming out leaves and flower petals that the magnolia tree nearby had shed. His gaze was tipped down, watching the surface of the water, and that, plus his sunglasses, made it difficult to read his expression.
Difficult, but not impossible. He looked deep in thought and also—
Hot.
I frowned at myself. Sure, he looked good, wearing faded red shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. The toned muscles in his bare arms flexed as he grasped the pole and swished the net through the water. If I were twenty years younger, I might have lost my mind looking at him. But lusting after Troy was way, way inappropriate.
It didn’t stop me, though.
Fuck, he was cute. His light brown hair was short on the sides and messy on top, and his strong jawline was shadowed with a few days’ worth of stubble. Not enough to call it an actual beard. More like he couldn’t be bothered to shave, and that, paired with his dark tan, made him look like he was two months into a lazy summer and not two weeks.
Everything about him was enticing.
Maybe tonight when I was tucked in bed with one of my vibrating friends, I’d let myself indulge in a fantasy in the safety of my own mind. One where I seduced a younger man who happened to look a helluva lot like Troy Osbourne.
I sighed wistfully, then pressed my lips together and furrowed my brow. What was wrong with me?
I knew I should stop watching from my hiding spot in the window like a creeper, but I couldn’t help myself. There was something about the way his steady, sure hands gripped the pole that made me long to know what they’d feel like if they were holding me. How the sinewy muscles moved in his biceps and forearms as he lifted the dripping net from the water and swung it over to empty it in the rock landscaping beyond the edge of the patio.
What would he look like naked?
He’d probably look amazing. I felt feverish and uncomfortably tight all over as the image glanced through my mind.
Troy’s head lifted, as if he had somehow heard my wicked thought, and his focus abruptly veered toward me.
“Shit!”
I pivoted away from the window and crushed myself flat against the wall, desperate not to be caught. Once again, my cheeks burned hot with embarrassment. Why was I acting so stupid and immature about this? I wasn’t a teenager anymore.
He’d seen me topless, so what? This didn’t have to be a thing. What I needed to do was stroll out there with a casual, unashamed attitude. If I laughed it off and didn’t make it a big deal, it should put us both at ease.
I straightened from the wall and sucked in a deep, preparing breath.
Relax, Erika. He’s probably more uncomfortable than you are.
I needed to apologize. It got me to move toward the door, but didn’t help much with my wobbly legs.