The wives and girlfriends are all nice, too. At first, I fear feeling out of the loop, but I can see that Kate is also fairly new to this group, while Layla and Nadia seem close, as do Lilly and Sara.
Nadia is the self-declared “director of fun.” She’s the one who gets us involved in the volleyball game in the pool, and after that, floating beer pong. She’s got us booked for a trip to the nearby water park the day after tomorrow and a sunset catamaran excursion the day after that.
As the sun gets lower, we all head over to the hot tub and lounge there with our cocktails until Nadia and Igor get out to return to their room. “We get ready for dinner,” Nadia says, and arranges a time and place for us all to meet.
“Do you like swimming in the pool or the beach better?” Owen asks as we walk back to our room.
“I like both. Can we go to the beach tomorrow?”
“Ask Nadia,” he says dryly.
“Eeep.”
“I’m kidding. We can do our own thing. We all agreed we don’t have to stick together every minute of every day. So if you want to go to the beach, we can do that.”
“You don’t have to join me,” I say, sliding him a glance. “If you want to do something else.”
He shrugs. “We’ll figure it out.”
“I do want to go to the water park. That sounds fun.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Owen lets me jump in the shower first, but I can’t help but think of showering with him. Sharing a room is personal and I’m conscious of his big presence near me as we move around the bed. One. Big. Bed.
We’re going to have to sleep together tonight. Those flutters I keep getting low inside me are making me worry that I’ll molest him in his sleep. Like, I either need sex or to masturbate. Soon. And having sex with Owen would not be a hardship.
Would he…want that?
In the luxurious shower, I shampoo chlorine and sunscreen out of my hair and let the water run all over me to rinse, my eyes closed. My inner muscles squeeze again, thinking about Owen’s body down by the pool—hard-packed abs, firm pecs, chiseled calves. I think about his hands on me with the sunscreen and how my insides had twisted with excitement. Which they are again now.
I cup my breasts, wet and soapy, my nipples hard. Maybe I should take care of things right here… I lean against the wall and spread my legs, sliding my hand down between them. The shower’s not perfect for this, because it washes everything away, but I move out of the spray and stroke myself until everything is tightening, pulling up in a hard spiral that fractures, pleasure sliding down my legs. I pant. I think I made some noise…I hope the sound of the shower drowned that out. Jeez.
I swallow and step out, reaching for a couple of towels, one for my hair and one for my body. In the steamy mirror, my cheeks are pink. Sunburn? Or an orgasmic flush? Yikes.
I have a robe, so I pull it on and tie the belt at my waist before leaving the bathroom. Owen is out on the balcony reading a book. “I’m done!” I call.
He rises and walks in, taking in my robe and turban. As he passes me, he touches my nose. “Looks like you got some sun today.”
My cheeks heat even more. “Uh, yeah.”
While he’s in the bathroom I quickly pull on a black sundress and rub moisturizer into my skin. I’m picturing him in the shower, water running over that amazing body. I had my hands on him earlier—well, on his back—and it was glorious. My palms itched to cup his ass cheeks and squeeze to see if they’re as firm as they look. And I’m dying thinking about what’s beneath his board shorts. Oh my God. I could paddle the pink canoe again already.
I take a few deep breaths. Settle down, girl.
Owen comes out of the shower in a cloud of spicy-scented steam, a towel wrapped low around his hips. I almost whimper.
He moves to the dresser and, his back to me, pulls out underwear. Then my dreams come true when he drops the towel, giving me a front-row seat to that top-notch ass. Admiring the divots at the base of his spine and the bulge of his thighs, I bite my knuckle.
He walks to the closet and pulls out a pair of gray pants that he steps into, thighs and glutes flexing beneath the snug black boxer briefs. He turns to me as he zips and unselfconsciously adjusts himself. And sees me watching him.
I guess I look a little lust-struck, because he stops. Heat blasts through the room like an inferno as we eye each other. I swallow. “I should dry my hair.” I jump up and scamper into the bathroom again. With the door closed, I brace myself on the marble counter. Hoo boy. Okay. Wow.
It’s okay. I can do this. I have to stop staring at him, though.
He was staring at me, today, too. At the pool. At the swim up bar. In my robe. Gah.
I quickly blow dry my hair. I usually use a curling wand to get the beachy waves I like, but today that seems like too much trouble, so I just scrunch a little product in with my hands. I pat some bronze shimmer onto my cheekbones and eyelids, add mascara and a swipe of lip gloss, and I’m ready for dinner.
Owen has covered his amazing physique with a short-sleeved shirt, blue with dark blue palm trees on it.
“Nice shirt, O,” I say, staying casual.
He glances down. “Thanks. I bought it for this trip.” He looks up. “I like your dress.”
“Thank you.” I grab a wristlet that will hold my room key, phone, and lip gloss. The resort is all-inclusive, so I don’t need to carry much around with me. “And just in time to meet up with the others.”
“Yeah. Let’s make like an atom and split.”
I splutter out a laugh. “Oh my God.”
He grins and holds the door for me.
This time Nadia and Igor are there before us, along with Brandon. They’ve found a couple of big tables together in the buffet-style restaurant and are sitting there with glasses of wine, waiting for everyone. We pull out chairs and sit opposite them. The smell of food makes my stomach growl. All those rum drinks and no food…maybe I’m drunk. That’s why I’m thinking about sex so much.
“Would you like some wine?” Owen asks me.
“Um, no, I’m good right now. I’ll have some with dinner.”
“Okay. Think I’ll have a beer.”
All afternoon he’d been drinking bottled water. I lift my eyebrows. “Wow. Really breaking bad tonight, huh?”
He laughs and strides away to fill a glass with draft from self-serve taps.
“He’s dedicated,” Brandon says. “He doesn’t drink much when we’re playing.”
“I know. But I understand why. You play at a really high level. He needs to take care of that—” I clear my throat. “His body.”
Brandon gives me a knowing wink. “True that.”
He probably thinks we’re already banging. I sigh.
“But it is nearly three weeks until we play again,” Igor says. “So this won’t affect his play.”
I nod as Owen sits again. We’re joined right away by Lilly and Easton, and Kate and Hunter. Everyone’s a little tanned and relaxed and happy.
“I’m starving,” Easton announces. “I’m not waiting for the rest of them.”
We all shrug.
“Sure, let’s eat,” Owen says.
“I will wait here for the others,” Nadia says. “Go! Eat!” She waves her hands in a “shoo” motion.