Chapter Twenty-One. Buoyant #2
“I wasn’t really.” She sat on the bottom stair and faced him, looping her arms around the rail. “When Morgan left, I didn’t go out much, and since I hate dating apps, there weren’t many opportunities to meet someone.” She shrugged. “It seemed like more work than it was worth.”
“Yeah. I get it. Dating is a lot of work. But … it gets lonely being alone.”
She laughed. “You’re a poet.”
“I know. I try.” He motioned to the other end of the pool. In the darkness, she could just make out the fancy waterfall rock feature—a definite miss given her hair. “Come on. I didn’t sneak you in here to sit on the stairs like a babysitting grandparent.”
Cam pouted, clutching the stair rail. “I’m comfortable.”
“Comfortable isn’t fun or stupid. Comfortable is boring.” He disappeared underwater, reappearing moments later in the deep end. “Camille!” he cried. “You’re breaking my heart.”
His disappointment made her laugh, but it also encouraged her to get up.
She padded across the pool, walking more than swimming.
Because of how slowly she moved, Danny made a display of climbing out of the pool and sitting on the edge.
His legs dangled into the water, and he tapped the nonexistent watch on his wrist.
She flipped him off, continuing her slow tread, nervous of wetting her hair. But with him in her direct line of sight, it was impossible to look away. His skin glowed in the moonlight, and wearing nothing but water and swim trunks he looked …
Cam swallowed, slowing her movements even further. To give herself more time to study how his belly shook from laughing at her caution. How his wet hair had slicked back except the unruly strands kissing his temples. How firm and strong his thighs looked, peeking beneath his swim trunks.
What was going on? She’d never paid attention to a man’s thighs before.
His elbows pressed into his knees as he leaned forward, watching her approach.
When she reached him, she stood beside his swinging legs.
The water hit her midriff, but she still felt exposed.
Maybe it was the silence, or the glittering stars, or the way his dark stare coated her skin in goose bumps …
“Are you lonely?” she asked quietly.
“Aren’t we all a little lonely?” He ran a hand through his hair, further disheveling the wet strands. “But since you’ve been here … no. I could never be lonely around you.”
Her body seemed to move on its own, slotting between his hanging legs, so his knees brushed her sides. For a moment, she didn’t speak, only watching him. Watching his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, watching his tongue poke out to wet his lips, watching the water droplets paint his naked chest.
But as her gaze explored his backlit body, she noticed a peculiar stain on his left thigh. Wondering if he had the world’s darkest leg hair, she pushed his swim trunks up another inch. The shifting fabric exposed the black ink to the humid, summer night.
“You have a tattoo.” She traced the lines with her fingertips. It was hard to make out in the darkness, but it was clearly letters, about midway up his thigh. “You never told me that.”
He let out a breathless laugh. “Why are you so surprised? I’m about to get another one.”
“I know! You just … never said anything.” As she traced the shape, Danny wrapped his legs loosely around her, drawing her closer. She steadied herself with her free hand on his knee, her nails gently digging into the wet skin. “It’s a name.”
“My last name. I got it on my trip after Beau died. It’s … his handwriting.”
Now that he mentioned it, she could make out the boxy letters spelling brENNAN. Letter by letter, she traced with her index finger, transfixed by his warm skin, and the breathy sigh he let escape his lips.
“Milly…”
She flattened her hand over the tattoo, holding onto his thigh. She wasn’t ready to let go of this secret. More people must’ve known, and yet it felt like hers.
“Where should I get mine?” she asked, looking up at him.
“You’ve got lots of options.” Danny leaned forward and touched her jaw.
Lightly calloused fingertips traced up the curve of her face, stopping at her ear.
He pressed his thumb into the skin behind it.
“This is popular.” His movements resumed, his fingers trailing down her neck.
“As is this,” he added, his hand cupping her nape.
She was a misbehaving puppy being handled by its scruff. What other explanation was there for her feral thoughts? “Those might be a little intense for me. Where else?”
His hold on her neck loosened and his fingertips continued their travels, tracing a line up and down her spine.
Between her shoulder blades, he flattened his hand.
“Here,” he murmured. “Or…” Fingers outstretched, his hand rounded her front, teasing her side and the edge of her swimsuit top.
He palmed her ribs, his hand hot. “Here.”
Despite the cool water, she was overheating, burning in every place he touched. His fingertips seared into her skin, a tattoo without the ink. And she should’ve worried about the lingering sensation of his touch, but she was far more distracted, more concerned, with the warmth pooling in her belly.
With the warmth directing between her thighs.
“Anywhere else?” she asked, not recognizing her voice.
Those familiar dark eyes were heavy, half-lidded, as his hand dipped underwater. Lubricated by the pool, his touch traveled to her lower back. Palming the sensitive skin, he mumbled, “I’m sure you’ve heard of this one.”
His smirk was relaxed, mischievous even, like he was picturing her with a butterfly tramp stamp. “But maybe you’d prefer…” Slowly, his fingertips circled her side until they reached her belly. His thumb brushed the lower left, right above her suit bottoms. “Here.”
She was frozen. By his dreamy gaze, by his legs around her, by his hand on her stomach.
By his thumb, rubbing gentle circles into her lower belly, his nail skimming the waistband with every spiral.
By her hand, still covering his thigh tattoo, like it now belonged to her.
“Milly.” His voice was rough, jagged, the nickname slipping off his tongue and across her collarbone and cheeks. Blackened eyes watched her, lips parting. “You…”
“Yeah?” she asked, gazing up at him, breathless with anticipation.
But his response never came. Not when they heard a male voice, and the unlocking of the gate. They jerked apart, and he hauled her out of the pool, hiding them behind one of the cabanas.
“Just keep quiet,” he whispered in her ear, peeking around the structure to study the pool. She hid behind him, letting him hold her hands behind his back. After a few minutes of standing there, she rested her cheek on his skin, relaxing as she waited for his guidance.
And she might’ve said a little prayer that they wouldn’t spend the night in jail.
But the ringing sound of girlish laughter and male hollering had Danny moving from their hiding space, her in tow. They both spotted the young couple embracing in the pool. The girl was maybe eighteen or nineteen, with striking cheekbones and copper-colored hair. The guy was—
“JP!” Danny hissed, approaching the pool. “What are you doing here?”
JP gave one of his usual heartthrob smiles, brushing sun-bleached waves away from his face. “Hey, boss man.” He swam over, unfazed by the interruption. “What does it look like we’re doing? Ali and I were going for a night swim.”
Danny threw his head back, muttering to himself as he rubbed his face. Cam loved watching him interact with his teen staff. His frustration—and sometimes confusion—always sent her thoughts to what he’d be like as a parent.
“How did you two get in here?” Danny asked.
“Ali has keys for everything. We’re checking out the bar next.”
“You and Ali are underage,” he replied, hands on his hips. “So maybe change your plans.”
JP scoffed, lifting himself onto the pool edge. “Yeah, well, maybe you should change your plans. You’re not supposed to be here.”
“You’re not supposed to be here either,” Danny reminded.
When JP sensed Danny was serious, he shrank. Like a child properly chastised, he said, “Look, don’t tell my dad. Please.”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Well, for one, I’m an adult, and”—JP waved to Cam—“I won’t tell anyone at work you and Cam were…” He wrapped his arms around himself, kissing the air, sound effects included.
With one flick of the wrist, Danny pushed JP back into the pool. “Cam and I were hanging here as friends.”
JP swam over to Ali and threw his arm around her. “Hey, man, Ali and I are great friends too.”
Cam tugged at Danny’s wrist. “We should go.” She nodded to their clothes. “I had fun, but let’s call it a night.”
“Fine.” To JP, he said, “Don’t drink anything. I’ll know since you’re a terrible fucking liar.” After slipping into his shirt, he added, “And if you do, I’ll tell your parents.”
JP groaned. “Uncool, man! I thought we were friends!”
“I’m your boss.”
“You’re Cam’s boss, too.” JP waved at her, wiggling his eyebrows. “Hi, Camille.”
She waved back, laughing.
“Look, you didn’t see us,” Danny said, “and we didn’t see you. Got it?”
“Anything you say, boss man!”
With one final warning to the teenagers, Danny led her back to the car. Once they were inside, he dropped his head to the steering wheel and groaned.
“You good?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He turned his head, cheek still pressed into the leather. “I just feel really fucking old right now.”
“We had to grow up at some point.”
What she didn’t say was how sexy she found the entire interaction.
“But you wanted to be stupid. They were being stupid. I sounded like my father.”
She shrugged. “Fine. Next time we’ll be old people stupid and join a poker game.”
He laughed. “Alright. Sounds like a deal.” When he drove off, he added, “Talk about town gossip. That was Alice van Bergen. Margaret’s youngest daughter.”
Cam gave a theatrical gasp. “Mean Margaret has kids?”
“Two daughters. The worst ones always have a bloodline.” He turned onto the main road and asked, “Where to next?”
“You’re not tired, old man?”
“I’m always good for round two.”
“Then how about another slushy?”
“I’m game.”
“And…” She bit her lip. “Do you still have gummies?”
“What kind of gummies?” She mimed smoking a joint and he laughed. “Yeah, I’ve got some.”
She relaxed into the passenger seat, watching him drive. “Then it sounds like a stupid fun night to me.”
“I agree.” When he turned into a gas station and parked, he smiled her way. “But I think any night with you is stupid fun.”
Stupid fun …
Reckless.
Reckless was wondering what they’d be doing if their pool time hadn’t been interrupted by college kids.