“Yes,” she nodded her head. “I’d love to. But I didn’t bring my swimsuit.”
“Who said we need to wear a swimsuit?”
A spear of something electric jolted through her. Swim in the nude?
“What about your neighbours? Can’t they see the pool?”
Josh gestured outside. “There’s no one who overlooks us here. It’s one of the things that drew me to this place. We have complete privacy.”
Josh led her through a covered walkway from the side of the house to the poolhouse set off to one side. There, they undressed and ventured out into the rain.
Callie squealed as the cool raindrops hit her, sending her into a half jog toward the pool. At her side, Josh dived cleanly into the water, surfacing about halfway along and encouraging her to join him.
She took a deep breath and dived in. Not as clean as Josh’s entry to the water but competent enough, she decided as she cut through the water. The deliciously erotic sensation against her body was like gliding through silk. The pool was warmer than the rain and the contrast against her skin when she surfaced was invigorating. Laughter bubbled from deep inside.
How long had it been since she’d indulged in something purely for fun. Aside from her shoe habit, which she acknowledged had deeper-seated issues, she tended not to let her hair down like this. And it was way past time she did.
“What do you think?” Josh asked as he swam toward her.
“Bliss,” she smiled in return.
Callie floated onto her back, her eyes closed, relishing the sensation of the rain dancing on the surface of her skin. Josh stood beside her and supported her with his arms before lowering his head to lick raindrops off her breasts. Callie felt the feather-light touch all the way to her core and she moaned with pleasure as he suckled gently at her nipples.
“Now we’re talking bliss,” he murmured.
He seemed to magically know exactly where and how to touch her. Exactly what would make her slow burn and what would strike an inferno. She delighted in the gentle teasing he did now, allowing him to support her weight in the water.
When he suggested that they leave the pool, she was more than ready, and when he dried her slowly in the cabana, before lowering her to the daybed, she thought she couldn’t feel more alive or happier than she felt at that moment.
Later, after they’d dressed and made their way back to the main house, they worked together in the kitchen to prepare lunch. They ate in the informal lounge off the kitchen, joking with one another about water sports.
“You don’t have fun often, do you?”
His question was blunt and came out of left field, catching Callie by surprise.
“Of course I have fun.”
“Then why have you never skinny-dipped before, or even swum in the rain.”
“Not everyone gets the opportunity, you know.”
“In New Zealand? It doesn’t take money to be able to do those things. Most of us live within shouting distance of some body of water.”
“My parents were never into swimming.”
No, she remembered, they indulged in other, darker, things. Things that didn’t include their only daughter and for which she was always in the way.
“Callie, what were they into?”
“Stuff. None of it good. Let’s just say they weren’t involved in the usual family pursuits and leave it at that.”
Josh lifted a hand and gently stroked one finger over her cheek. “I’m sorry about that.”
Callie shrugged. “I survived.”
“Yeah, but every child deserves more than survival.”
There was a thread of bitterness to his voice that surprised her. That same hint of anger she’d observed in him last weekend when he’d talked about his mother.
“You didn’t exactly have it easy yourself, did you.”
She made it more of a statement than a question.
“No, I didn’t.”
Josh tugged Callie across the two-seater they shared, and into his lap. She snuggled against him, loving the way her body curved to fit his.
“Tell me about it,” she coaxed.
As much as she felt like she was intruding on what was obviously intensely private, she hoped he could give her a clue as to why he was so intent on knowing everything there was to know about the Palmers, and why he seemed determined to destabilise their business. As much as it sickened her to have to pry, she knew that if she could get the information that Irene wanted, then, and only then, could she hope to allow her relationship with Josh to become something real. And it shocked her to admit just how real she wanted it to be.
Today had made her realise that she’d had enough of being someone else’s pawn, and she was sick of false pretences. Instead of allowing herself to simply enjoy being with Josh and letting her feelings for him take their natural course, she had to second-guess herself all the way. It was time the deceitfulness ended. But even as she reached her decision, she knew she could do nothing until she’d delivered on her promise to Irene. There was something about Josh that probably wasn’t the truth, either, and she had to find that something out.