And damn Walker. Damn him for putting her through this agony of bewilderment and loss. She may not want to marry Tony, but he was her friend.
She forced herself to look away from Tony and squinted at the sunlit view.
“It’s perfect,” she murmured as she inspected the secluded inlet where he’d moored the yacht. Her entire vision was filled with towering pines and sparkling blue-green water.
“I thought you’d like it for a swim. That sun is intense today,” Tony said with a smile before he took a strong pull on his drink.
“Where’s Walker?” Madeline asked throatily. She’d been hyperaware of his presence all morning, although she’d hardly muttered more than a half dozen words to him. She’d just become used to seeing him as her lover again and now she was back to regarding him as an enemy.
“He’s checking out the equipment on the helm,” Tony said, nodding toward the sliding glass doors. “He’s like a kid in a candy store.”
Madeline narrowed her eyes behind her glasses and peered toward the windows. The glare on the glass prevented her from seeing Walker, but she knew he could see her as he looked out onto the bridge seating.
She felt confused. On edge. Anguished over what Tony was about to endure for his foolishness. His impulsivity. Over and over, she’d considered what she might do to somehow save Tony. But as Walker had said, the evidence had been sent. It was just a matter of time before he was arrested.
She stood abruptly from the deck chair where she’d been reclining. Tony did a double take when she casually whipped off her bikini top and tossed it on the white cushions. His smile widened.
“To what do I owe this lovely gift?” he asked.
Madeline ignored his query. “I’m going swimming.”
She stepped toward the ladder that led to the upper deck and the diving board. Tony surprised her by sitting up and placing a hand on her oil-covered hip. He rubbed at her skin sensually while he spoke.
“Take off the panties, too,” he suggested in a low, rough voice. “A body as beautiful as yours should never be hidden.”
Madeline glanced at the glass doors leading to the helm, sensing Walker’s attention on her. On them. She drew her bikini panties down to her ankles and stepped out of them. She paused long enough to allow Tony to rub the oil from her back down onto her buttocks before she headed toward the diving board.
The alpine water cut like ice through her volatile mood.
* * *
Walker considered going after her when he heard the splash from her dive, but he couldn’t abandon the boat and Tony. He watched from a window on the helm as she swam in the cove, the clear, luminescent waters revealing every detail of her naked body. Fury at her stubbornness mixed with a potent arousal. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do most, spank her bottom pink for letting Tony touch her like that in front of him or fuck her until she begged.
Both options felt equally desirable at the moment.
She swam a considerable distance. Walker was considering going out onto the bridge in order to break the news to Tony since they were alone when Tony opened the sliding glass doors.
“I’m off to the galley. How about a drink, Walk?”
“What are you having?”
“Vodka and cranberry.”
“I’ll have the same, minus the vodka.”
Tony laughed and disappeared down the corridor. When he returned carrying two glasses, he nodded toward the sunlit bridge. “Come out here. I want to talk to you about something.”
“I was going to mention the same to you,” Walker said, dread settling in his chest.
The brilliant sun immediately chased away the chill on his skin from the air-conditioning. He whipped off his shirt and took a seat at the far right of the surround couch. Tony stood portside, his back to the rail.
“It’s about the work you and your team have been doing at the lodge. I know what you’ve been up to, Walker,” Tony began. Walker paused in the action of lifting his drink to his lips. He studied Tony’s expression. His dark eyes looked glassy from moderate intoxication, but otherwise he looked sober as a judge.
He opened his mouth to make a cautious statement when Madeline walked onto the bridge, dripping wet, naked and jawdroppingly beautiful. She paused when she saw both men stare at her. Walker took an uneasy inhale when she looked straight at him and her chin went up in defiance.
“Here’s Venus now,” Tony murmured appreciatively as his dark eyes roamed over Madeline’s body. He put out his arm and she walked toward him, her gaze still on Walker. Despite his rising anger at her, he also experienced a rush of compassion for the hurt and bewilderment he saw in her large eyes. “I was just about to talk to Walker about you, darling, but here you are, beauty incarnate.”
Walker watched, his body coiled like a spring, as Tony’s hand opened on Madeline’s waist and stroked downward, toward her naked hip, smoothing the water droplets that beaded on her taut curves. Despite his fury at seeing another man touch Madeline, his cock thickened in his swim trunks.