“Would I?” She bats her lashes, trying, and frankly failing, to look innocent.
“Yes, you would, and you do. Often.” I kiss her. “It’s one of the many things I love about you.” I nibble at her lower lip.
“I was hoping you’d rub me down with more sunscreen.”
Deep joy.
“It’s a dirty job, but that’s an offer I can’t refuse. Sit up.”
I love this. Touching her. Out here. In public.
She presents her front to me, and I squirt some sunscreen on my fingers, then slowly and thoroughly, so as not to miss a spot, massage it into her skin. Her shoulders, her neck, her arms, the tops of her breasts, her belly. “You really are very lovely. I’m a lucky man.”
“Yes, you are, Mr. Grey.” Her coy demeanor stirs my blood.
“Modesty becomes you, Mrs. Grey. Turn over. I want to do your back.”
She lies down and I undo the strap of her bikini.
“How would you feel if I went topless, like the other women on the beach?” she asks, her voice soft and languid, like the day.
I squirt more sunscreen on my hand and rub it into her skin.
“Displeased. I’m not very happy about you wearing so little right now.” I don’t want some sleazy fucking pap ogling my wife through a lens while she’s relaxing on the beach. They’re everywhere. Like vermin.
Ana looks defiant.
I lean down and whisper in her ear. “Don’t push your luck.”
“Is that a challenge, Mr. Grey?”
“No. It’s a statement of fact, Mrs. Grey.”
This isn’t a game, Ana.
Her back and legs are done. I slap her backside. “You’ll do, wench.”
My phone buzzes. I glance at the screen. It’s Ros with her morning report.
It’s early in Seattle. I hope she’s okay.
“My eyes only,” I warn Ana half-jokingly, and slap her ass once more before I take the call. Ana wriggles her backside provocatively, and closes her eyes while I talk to Ros.
“Hi, Ros, why so early?” I ask.
“I can’t sleep, and I can get work done when the house is quiet.”
“Anything wrong?”
“No. It’s all good. Yesterday after we spoke, I got a call from Bill. We’re being pressured by the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. You need to make a decision.”
My heart sinks.
Detroit. Damn. “Okay. Okay. Of the three sites that Bill sent through, the second was the best.”
“The Schaefer Road site?” she asks.
“That’s the one.”
“Okay. I’ll push on that. There’s one more thing. Woods.”
Hell. He’s still on our list of suspects. “What’s that asshole doing now?”
Ros ignores my epithet. “He’s rattling his ex-employees.”
“Poisoning the well?”
“Yes. I think they need a visit,” she says.
“You should go.”
“Not from me. You.”
“Hmm…something to consider when I get back.”
“I think so.”
“I fancy a trip to New York. Take the wife.”
I hear her smile. “How’s the Côte d’Azur?”
My gaze lingers on my dozing wife…and her pert backside. “It’s beautiful. Especially the view here.”
“Great. Enjoy it. I’ll get on with this.”
“You do that, Ros.”
“You know, I think with you gone, I’m all fired up.”
I laugh. “Don’t get too used to it. I’ll be back.”
“Believe it or not, I’m missing you.”
I open my mouth to respond, but I’m stumped and don’t know what to say.
“Afternoon, Christian.” She hangs up, and I stare at my phone, wondering if she’s okay.
Grey, she’s fine. She’s one of the most competent people you know.
I go back to my book.
By mid-afternoon the temperature is scorching. I order some drinks from the hotel waitress, as I’m parched. Ana wakens and turns her attention to me. “Thirsty?”
“Yes,” she replies, sleepily.
She’s lovely. “I could watch you all day. Tired?”
In the shade of the parasol, her face flushes. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Me neither.”
I recall a vision from last night: Ana riding me hard.
My body stirs. Shit.
I need to cool down. Now. Standing, I make quick work of slipping out of my denim shorts. “Come for a swim with me.” I hold out my hand, and Ana blinks, a little dazed. “Swim?” I ask again. When she doesn’t answer, I scoop her into my arms. “I think you need a wake-up call.”
She squeals and giggles at once. “Christian! Put me down!”
“Only in the sea, baby.” Laughing, I carry her across the hellish hot sand, grateful to reach the cooler, damper shoreline. Ana wraps her arms around my neck, her eyes alight with amusement as I wade into the Mediterranean.
This has woken her up. She’s clinging to me like a limpet. “You wouldn’t,” she says, a little breathless.
I can’t help my grin. “Oh, Ana, baby, have you learned nothing in the short time we’ve known each other?” Leaning down, I kiss her and she grasps my head, her fingers running through my hair. Greedily, she kisses me back with a passion that catches me unawares and takes my breath away.
Ana.
I’m grateful I’m waist-deep in the water.
“I know your game,” I murmur against her lips, and slowly sink into the sea, kissing her once more. The cool water, her hot, wet mouth against mine, it’s arousing. She’s wrapped around me, warm and wet, cloaking me in her long, lovely limbs.