by Malone, Nana
She started kicking, keeping her arms straight out in front of her. As she kicked and hit Henry’s hands, he absorbed the blows. “Harder.”
Becca held her face above the water. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
She hesitated. Liam leaned down and murmured in her ear, “Go ahead. Do what he says.”
She kicked, and Henry grabbed hold of her ankles, pushing down on her legs, then pulling them up in the correct form. It took a few seconds, but Becca caught on fast. Soon, he released her ankles, and she continued kicking, her heels hitting his palms.
Once Henry was satisfied that she had the correct form and rhythm, he told her to windmill her arms the way he’d taught her.
Liam explained to her how to turn her head and breathe on every up stroke of her right arm.
“Don’t turn loose of me,” she said as she began to flail.
Henry moved in front of them. “Have her push off the wall.”
Liam did as instructed, scooting her backward until her feet touched the wall.
“Now,” Henry said. He was really enjoying being the coach tonight. “Pull back and push off the wall hard. Kick first, then windmill your arms.”
“Without Liam?” Becca asked.
“I’m right here,” he told her, enjoying the way she said his name. Like he was her lifesaver. “I’ll catch you if you start to sink.”
They were still in the shallow end. She could simply put her feet down, but he didn’t mention that. More fun to rescue her if she needed it.
She drew a deep breath, scrunched back, and pushed off the wall, shooting through his hands. Her feet kicked twice, but she didn’t put her head in the water, and before she truly got anywhere, she started to sink.
Liam was there, reaching for her. His hand skimmed the bottom of one breast on accident, but he caught her and kept her from doing her usual panic. They came up together, chest to chest. His favorite position with her these days. There was a sexy glow to her eyes when she looked up at him.
“Henry?” Liam said, still holding onto Becca. “Why don’t you take off?”
“But we—”
“I’ve already kept you overtime. Your mom will be waiting for you.”
A heavy, disgusted sigh echoed over the water. “Fine. See you next week.”
From the corner of Liam’s eye, he saw Henry heave himself out of the pool. “Nice to meet you, Becca. Don’t forget about our deal, Coach.”
“I won’t,” Liam called, smiling down at the warm woman still in his arms.
Once Henry had left, Becca arched a brow. “Deal?”
“I got the kid into a private training camp in L.A. Now I have to get school and some other stuff worked out with his mother so he can go.”
“Is your dad going to train him?”
“Nah, another coach. One as good as my old man.”
She wasn’t moving back, and that flirty face she was giving him told him she liked being right where she was. “Do you do that for all the kids here?”
“Only the ones with real talent.”
“But you teach all these kids to swim, right? Like you’re doing with me.”
“You made good progress tonight. Should we celebrate with another coffee shop meeting? I was thinking about what you said the other day...the campaign you’re working on. I have an idea for you.”
“Really? I’d love to hear it.”
Still she didn’t move.
His gaze dropped to her lips. Damn, she was begging him to kiss her, and he was only so strong.
Her lips parted ever so slightly. He lowered his head, and let his lips gently skim over hers. Soft, warm, willing. She tasted like mint with a hint of pool water.
His mind shut out thoughts about impropriety. The feel of her curves pressing into him, the warmth of her lips, sent his body into the stratosphere.
When she didn’t move backward, he kissed her again. Deeper. Harder. He drew her body even closer, twining his tongue with hers. Her full, round breasts strained at the spandex they were confined in as they rubbed against his chest.
She took the kiss to the next level, parting her lips fully and returning his passion with her own. Her tongue slipped between his lips and toyed with his. He gently bit her bottom lip, and she moaned into his mouth.
They were in the city pool. In a minute or two, the next class would start arriving. But she felt so good pressed against him. Her lips, her taste, was familiar, and yet not. She was Becca. Never had he kissed anyone like her.
One of her hands skimmed over his back. She broke the kiss long enough to murmur, “God, you feel good.”
He would have returned the compliment, because damned if he didn’t think the same about her, but he couldn’t find his voice. Instead, he ran a hand up and down her spine, pulled her hips closer to his. His rigid erection pulsed in his trunks. If only they had more time…
He needed to touch her everywhere. His hands itched to caress her full breasts. He wanted to taste her. Absently, he wondered if all of her tasted like the butterscotch color of her skin.
She wrapped her legs around him, and he nearly lost his mind. The action created space between their upper bodies, even as she locked her pelvis around his, bringing his straining erection against the heat of her core. He took the opportunity to skim one thumb over her breast and then repeat the motion with the other one. She arched into his hand, so he went farther, palming one and giving it a squeeze, while never taking his mouth off of hers.
All of a sudden, she jerked back. “Oh, my God, what am I doing?”
“Becca…”
A squeak sounded. The door from the locker room. Someone was coming.
Over her shoulder, he saw his worst nightmare. Two girls in the shark group of advanced swimmers were staring at him making out in the pool. Behind them was Coach Montague, frowning and trying to turn them around so they didn’t see what he was doing.
Shit. He disengaged Becca’s arms from his neck. “We need to get out of here.”
She stood, eyes half-lidded and looking slightly off-balance. Her cheeks colored. “Shit. What was I thinking?”
Not exactly the response he’d been looking for, but there was no time to worry about that. He helped her to the stairs and ignored the girls heading down to the diving board as they giggled behind their hands. Coach Montague didn’t say a word, only shook her head in disgust.
At the bench where Becca had left her clothes, he touched her arm. “Meet you at the coffee shop as soon you can make it, okay?”
Her dark eyes met his, looked away. “Um, okay. Yeah, I’ll see you there.”
She regretted the kiss. He could see it in her eyes, in her body language.
Ten to one odds, she didn’t show.
* * *
That man could kiss. Becca’s whole body still tingled. As she sat behind the wheel of her car, she debated getting out. She couldn’t do this. She wasn’t this person. She was engaged to Holden. Whom she loved.
No you don’t.
She shoved the thought aside. She did love him. She wanted to marry him.
No. You don’t.
Ugh. Stupid brain.
But the truth of it was, she’d kissed Liam back for a reason. She liked him. He had this way of making her feel calm. Making her relax. She felt less frenetic around him. Like she could be herself. She felt free…
But maybe, she felt that way because he was a good teacher. Wasn’t there a syndrome for this? Falling for your teacher. There had to be. Except, it felt real. More real than when Holden kissed her. Holden was pretty and driven, but she wasn’t herself with him. Half the time it seemed like he wanted to turn her into a Tribot. Except with tits.
Becca shook her head. What was she going to do? There was no way she could go inside and face Liam after what she’d done. The way he’d touched her. A pull of need in her lower belly had her shifting in her seat. She still felt the heat of his palm on her breast. She dropped her head into her hands. Shi
t. She’d really fucked this up.
Her innate need to put things in order had her running mental pro-con lists on both Liam and Holden.
Pro for Holden—he was driven.
Pro for Liam—he listened to her.
Pro for Holden—he’d proposed.
Pro for Liam—he helped her tackle her fears head on.
Pro for Holden—
She chewed her bottom lip, there had to be another pro. She’d think of one.
Con for Liam—she didn’t know that much about him.
Con for Holden—he never listened to her, he treated her like an accessory, they barely had sex anymore—it had been over a month—he thought of work before he thought of her…
She paused her mental list. She could go on forever about the things that drove her nuts about Holden. And not just drove her nuts, but fundamentally gave her pause. The little voice that had been poking at her since the engagement started to shout. She couldn’t marry him. Of all the pros on her list about Holden, most noticeably missing was that he loved her. He didn’t love her in the meaningful way that people did when they took vows. And she cared about him, but not enough to give up her dreams to make him happy. And that was fundamentally what it would take to make him happy. He wanted someone who would let him be the star and be happy enough to stand in the background and let him make the decisions.
Liam’s car pulled into the parking lot. She only had one more minute to decide before the decision was made for her. Drawing in a deep breath, she watched as his long, lean form stepped out. Her body went into full melt as she watched him stride toward the entrance. She wanted to be here with him. That was the truth, and she was going with it.
She opened the door and stepped into the cooling night air. “Liam, wait up.” She jogged to meet him and immediately wished she wasn’t wearing her Kenneth Cole boots. They were a bitch to run in.
He blinked in surprise. “Becca?”
She frowned. Why the hell did he look surprised? He’d asked her to come. Had she gotten that wrong? “We were supposed to meet, right?”
“Yeah, I—uh—yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I figured you’d be inside by now.”
She relaxed a little. “The place is empty. We’ll have our choice of seating arrangements.”
He opened the exterior door for her, and as she slid in front of him to walk through, their bodies brushed. His sharp intake of breath made her pause, and he bumped into her, bringing their bodies into full contact. Oh boy.
Instead of opening the interior door, she turned to face him. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
He studied her closely. “Getting coffee?”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Becca waited for him to step back and put some distance between them, but he didn’t. He continued to study her closely.
“Then what do you mean, Becca?”
“I—” She took a breath. “Look, this is totally unexpected for me. I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, and I’m confused, and I can’t put you into a box. I mean, I barely know anything about you. But when you touch me, none of that matters, and it scares the hell out of me, and this isn’t part of the plan, and I never meant for this to get so out of control.” Perfect, she was losing control. Hyperventilating could start at any moment.
“Becca.”
“I like being in control. I like knowing what I’m doing, and with you I don’t. With you, I’m helpless. I promise you, I know I seem flighty and stuff, but I’m not. I’m really good at my job. People depend on me. And I have a plan for my life, and I see you, and I get all flustered because I can’t think straight, and—”
Liam slid his hands into the hair at her nape. “Becca.”
She shut her mouth and blinked up at him. “Yeah?”
“Stop talking.”
His kiss was soft and warm and undemanding. As if choreographed, she stood on tiptoe and wound her arms around his neck, giving herself over to the sensations. His tongue coaxed hers into his mouth, and he gently sucked on it, making her shiver.
Liam groaned into her mouth, then took a deliberate step backward. “Shit. It’s easy to get carried away kissing you.”
Through a hazy fog, she could tell he was talking. But she couldn’t hear anything with the blood rushing between her ears. Finally, it registered that he’d asked her a question. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
He smirked. “I do love that I can do that to you, but for now, how about we start with coffee?”
Coffee. Right. Yes. She could do coffee. She cleared her throat. “I’m buying this time. You find us a seat.” For a moment, he looked like he was going to argue, but eventually shrugged.
Once she had both their orders and they were ensconced into a corner booth, she smiled at him. “So tell me about this idea you have for my project.”
“You mentioned you were trying to get an endorsement from Addison Torres. She happens to be a friend of mine.”
“You’re pulling my leg.”
“I could call her, put in a good word for you.”
Her pulse skipped. If she could land Addison, she would finally validate that she was the right person to lead the Southland project. “That would be…”
Amazing. Generous. And if he did snag Addison, it would totally undermine her self-esteem. Holden had gotten her the job with Dive, and he’d pulled strings to make her lead on Southland. She couldn’t rely on someone else, not even Liam, to coerce Torres into working with her. “I’m sorry, Liam. I appreciate the offer, I really do. But no, I need to land Addison on my own. I hope you understand.”
He looked a little disappointed but nodded. “Okay, but if you change your mind…”
“I won’t. I have to do this on my own. It’s important to me.”
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Whatever you want.”
She’d put him on the spot. Time to change the subject. “You have a unique way of calming me down.”
“What do you mean?”
“That kiss in the entryway? Took the nerves right out of me.”
He grinned. “I’m willing to take one for the team. Besides, I really wanted to kiss you again.”
She flushed. He had a way of directing his full attention on her that made her absolutely calm and self-assured. “I really wanted you to kiss me.”
He nodded with a half-smile. “I got the impression you weren’t so happy about the kiss in the pool.”
Another heated blush snaked up her neck. What she wanted to do was hide, but he held her gaze. “I was happy about it. Just confused. But I’m going with it. I like being around you. And not only because you’re turning me into a mermaid.”
Liam grinned. “In that case, how about we go out on a real date?”
She only had a moment’s hesitation. She knew what she wanted to do but she had to address her Holden situation. “Can I let you know tomorrow? There’s something I need to confirm first.”
He smiled. “As long as the answer is yes, then I’m good.”
Chapter Nine
The next morning, Becca tapped her foot impatiently and watched the clock. Van was supposed to be out of her meeting by now. Where the hell was she? Becca was in serious need of a best friend discussion, and she’d had an early meeting that morning with design and account management so they hadn’t been able to talk yet. She’d called Holden three times last night and left messages, but he hadn’t called her back. No doubt he was avoiding her after their last argument.
When Van breezed in with her usual cheer and sass, Becca practically pounced on her. “Grab your card; we need to take a walk.”
Van’s smile vanished. She knew the code words for ‘shit’s going down.’ Dutifully, she grabbed her building pass and a handful of Snickers without question. They took the back stairs four flights down and didn’t utter a word until they were outside on the far side of the parking lot overlooking the canyon.
Once there, though, Van couldn’t contain herself. “Did you final
ly slap a bitch? Is building security coming for us? Are we on the lam?”
Becca laughed. She loved that Van automatically used the words us and we as if they were in all of this together. “Not that drastic, though I did fantasize about slapping Anna with my Jimmy Choo this morning.”
“When you do, please video it so I can put it on YouTube and laugh my ass off.” She handed Becca a Snickers then popped one into her own mouth. “Is it the project? I thought you finally had things under control.”
“Weirdly, it’s fine. Is it bad that I’m shocked by that? Charity finally got the brand image package to me, and we have a comp for the website that Brett Jennings loves. And despite the Tribots trying to block me, I’m freaking on schedule. The only problem is Marketing and PR still haven’t gotten the endorsement worked out with Addison Torres. I’m getting a bit nervous because this whole campaign hinges on that.”
“Maybe it’s worth contacting Addison’s office yourself. Especially if you think the Tribots in Marketing and PR are purposely sabotaging you.”
Becca mulled the idea over. “That might not be a bad idea.”
Van shrugged. “What can I say, I’m a freaking oracle. So what gives? You invoked the ‘this office might be bugged’ protocol. I know this has to be big.”
Becca took a deep breath. “I can’t marry Holden.”
Van kept looking at her like she was waiting for the big reveal.
Becca frowned. “Did you hear me?”
“Yeah, honey. I heard you, but I’m still waiting for why this is news.”
“I’m going to break off the engagement.”
Van shrugged. “Okay.”
“Seriously, Van. I tell you I’m going to dump my fiancé and all you have to say is, ‘Okay’?”
Van calmly popped another Snickers. “Babes, you were never going to marry his over-tanned ass anyway. Even if you had lost your ever-loving mind and followed that fool to Kona, I would have stopped the wedding. This way, you saved me flight money. Though, I think we should totally book a girls’ vacation.”
Becca had spent all night tossing and turning about her decisions, and Van had already known? “But why didn’t you say anything?”