Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
While Raleigh changed, Dylan went into her old room and did the same. He pulled on some navy board shorts and threw on a light blue collared shirt.
His old crew had been at breakfast, and although they had chatted with him a bit, no one had brought up the incident or his suspension other than to ask if he was doing okay.
Was that a good thing or a bad thing? He didn’t have a clue.
He wanted to get the whole thing off his chest. Admit he screwed up.
It had been his fault the boy had gotten hurt.
He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
Seeing disappointment in their eyes when he admitted his culpability would hurt like hell.
It was one thing for him to know he screwed up.
It was another to have all his friends, the people he respected the most, know it too.
In a way, being reassigned was the break he needed.
He had known the disappointment was coming and now he could deal with it.
He heard Raleigh come down the hall to the living area. He took a long swig of water and tried to get his brain back on track. He walked into the living room and asked, “Ready?”
“Yes,” Raleigh said as she gathered her computer and pool bag.
When she turned to face him, he damn near tripped over his own feet.
Her cover-up had fallen open. She was wearing an emerald-green bikini that fit like a glove.
Her slightly tanned skin was on full display and was absolutely flawless.
His libido begged him to touch. His fingers twitched in response.
He wanted desperately to run his hands over her, followed by his mouth.
“What?” she asked when she saw his face. Then she glanced down. “Oh, whoops.” She put her stuff down and retied her matching green cotton coverup.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, trying to get his body back in check. Holy shit! Her body was hot. Hotter than he’d imagined, and he’d imagined quite a bit while lying next to her last night. He’d barely caught a wink of sleep.
“Did you hear back from Cosgrove?” she asked as she grabbed her bags again.
“Uh, what?” His mouth was a barren desert.
“Cosgrove, right. Yeah, she’s looking into it but once again, the cameras in that area don’t really give a great view of the trees.
They show the tennis courts and the track area.
The ones on the path by trees didn’t pick up anything but she says there’s curve in the path so a section of it is blocked.
When she looked at the other footage, there are too many people walking that path to pick out anyone specifically. ”
He shrugged. “I asked her to compare the footage from the path in proximity to the cabin and the path by the trees and see if anyone was in both and she agreed but, it’s likely that there will be multiple people in both locations.”
“Okay,” she said, biting her full bottom lip—a move that shot a jolt of desire straight to his groin. “But at least it’s a place to start.”
“Agreed.”
He gestured with his arm. “After you.”
“Thanks.” She smiled up at him.
Together, they exited the cabin. She went ahead of him down the pathway to the pool.
The sway of her hips was enticing, and between that and the image of her in that bikini, he was having a hard time concentrating on anything else.
There was no way he was leaving her by herself.
It wasn’t just her stalker he was worried about.
Once she took off that cover-up, every male in the place was going to be paying attention to her.
A fact that would make figuring out which one was her stalker that much harder.
They wound their way through the chairs and loungers until she found two right beside the pool. She dropped her things on one, and he paused by the other. After taking off his shirt, he dropped it on his chair.
“Are you going to sit there the entire time?”
It sounded like there was some alarm in her voice, but her sunglasses were hiding her expressive green eyes. Those eyes always gave her away. Did she know that?
“I am,” he said quietly. “Take a quick look around. Most of the wedding guests are here. I think everyone had the same idea about being by the pool and after this morning, I don’t want to be more than a few steps away.”
She glanced around and nodded slightly. “Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,” she mumbled as she took a bottle of sunscreen out of her bag.
“Do you need me to help you with that?” He pointed to the bottle. Did he want her to say yes? Absolutely, but he wasn’t sure he could hide his appreciation for her if he had to rub his hands all over her skin.
She looked up at him as she took off her cover-up. “If you could get my back that would be great.” She flipped over onto her stomach.
He swung his legs over the side of his chair and reached for the container. He poured a generous amount of the lotion into his palm and started smoothing it over Raleigh’s back.
She jumped. “It’s cold.”
“Sorry,” he chuckled as he spread sunscreen across her shoulder blades.
Her skin was smooth and soft. His blood thrummed as his hands ran over her back.
Lifting the ties of her bikini, he fought the urge to pull the delicate string.
Down boy. They were by the pool and even thought they’d positioned him as her boyfriend, his job was to protect her not have sex with her.
He hurried to finish. Then he cleared his throat. “All done. “I’m going to get a drink. Would you like anything?” He needed a cold shower, but a glass of ice water would have to do.
She rolled back over. “An iced tea would be great, but no rush.”
He wanted to let his gaze roam over her body but he somehow managed to keep his eyes on her face. “Okay, I’ll be back in a bit with your iced tea.”
“Great. Thanks.” She smiled up at him as she got comfortable on the lounger.
He walked to the bar, cursing under his breath. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask for two ice waters. One to drink and one to pour over his head, or another body part, to help him snap out of it.
The bar was at the far end of the pool area, giving him an ideal vantage point.
But he didn’t have much time to peruse the other guests before a small group of people approached him—whether they were interested in him, or the bar, he wasn’t sure.
Calvin Clark and his assistant, Josh, along with Bill Harris and Daniel Jenkins.
“Dylan,” Bill said, “how are you today?”
“Bill, doing fine.”
“I heard you chatted a bit with Andrew at breakfast. He appreciated the gesture.”
“Andrew is a good guy. We were just catching up. I thought he said you were all going off to play golf.”
Harris smiled. “Yes, well, I was told I’m on call today. You just never know what my wife and daughter might need. I want to be able to help out any way I can. Golf will have to wait for another day.”
In all the time he’d known Jenn, Bill Harris never put her or her mother first. Not once. He played golf no matter what, so either he’d changed dramatically in the last six months, or something was up. Dylan’s money was on the latter.
Interesting.
“What about you Calvin, Mr. Jenkins? Not up for a round of golf?”
“Not today,” Clark responded. “Have a bit of work to do.” He adjusted the collar of his white polo shirt. “I haven’t been getting out much lately.” His deep tan said otherwise but Dylan let it go.
“I am not a huge golf fan.” Jenkins sniffed. “It seems like such a waste of time.” He watched two young girls in bikinis walk by. “There are so many better pursuits to occupy my time.”
Which means you suck at golf and you’re a sleazeball. Dylan kept that thought to himself and took a sip of his ice water.
“I see Raleigh over there.” Jenkins gestured toward the pool.
“She looks amazing in that swimsuit.” He winked at Dylan.
“You’re one lucky man.” Then he took the last sip of whatever he was drinking and set the empty glass on the bar.
“I think I’ll go check out the spa. I’m feeling tense.
A massage is in order.” The way he said it, he had a different sort of massage in mind, one he could do himself with his hand and a little lotion.
Jenkins winked once more at Dylan and strode off in the direction of the spa.
Unease flowed through Dylan’s guy. The way Jenkins kept leering at Raleigh made him queasy. Could he be the stalker? He was certainly enough of a dickhead to do it. He was going to have to keep an eye on Jenkins.
Clark snorted derisively. “Unlike Jenkins, no time for rest. Josh, I need to go back to the room and review the contracts. Give me a half hour and then meet me there, and we can go over them.”
Josh bobbed his head in agreement, and Clark walked off toward the dining area.
Dylan watched him go. Clark stopped to say hi to a few people on the way across the pool area. He was a toucher. He managed to lay his hand on every single female within arm’s reach. Clark was just as sleazy as Jenkins; he just did it more covertly. Definitely needed to look into him as well.
Josh leaned forward and caught the bartender’s attention. “A bottle of water, please.” The bartender grabbed a bottle out of the fridge behind him and placed it in front of Josh. Josh nodded his thanks and left a few dollars on the bar.
“Have to stay hydrated in this heat,” he mumbled as he took a sip.
He was wearing Dockers with a razor-sharp crease and a crisp white button-down shirt.
The only concession to the heat was his rolled-up sleeves.
Dylan got the impression that Josh wanted to exude an air of confidence but all that came across was that maybe Josh was a touch insecure about himself.
Who wears pants and a long sleeve shirt in this heat?
Bill glanced at Josh and frowned. He’d never been a man to waste time talking to ‘the help’. It was one of the many things Dylan hated about the Harris family.