“What are you doing in there?”
My eyes flared open to see Kai standing at the other end of the pool wearing only swim shorts.
Holy God…
Kai’s long, lean body was like a monument erected to masculine perfection, like a contrast to the fat little Buddha. His torso was cut and ridged and rippling, and any other assorted words my tipsy brain could come up with.
Perfect, it decided on. His body is perfect.
“Too bad his face has to go and ruin it.”
Kai’s eyebrows went up. “Excuse me?”
I burst out laughing and covered my mouth with my hand. “Did I say that out loud? I must be more buzzed than I thought.”
“And what is my face ruining?” he demanded, though I saw a glint of humor in his dark eyes.
“Your loud voice has ruined the perfect stillness of the night, and your scowling expression is ruining how handsome you are.”
His lips curled in a smile. “So you think I’m handsome?”
I scoffed. “You don’t?”
“Let’s just say I’ve heard that once or twice.”
I rolled my eyes while he dove into the deep end like an arrow and stayed beneath the water until finally breaking the surface in front of me. He whipped his dark hair out of his eyes in a spray.
God, he looks like a model in a cologne commercial.
“But you haven’t answered my question,” Kai said while I watched the rivulets of water stream over the brown skin of his chest. “What are you doing here? In my pool?”
I arched a brow and reached for my wine glass. The alcohol was making me brassy. “It’s my pool too, pal,” I said. “For at least another week.”
His eyes widened, and a laugh burst out of him. “Says who?”
“Says your agent. My boss.”
“I’m your boss.”
“Wrong. Jason is my boss. You’re a pain in my ass.”
A conflicted, broken, beautiful pain in my ass.
Kai’s eyes were wicked and black in the falling night and my pulse quickened as he moved nearer.
“I like you like this,” he said, his Australian accented voice going low.
“Like what?”
“Biting back.”
He was close enough now to bite me. To kiss. His eyes were on my mouth, wanting to do it. His own lips parted, his tongue touching a drop of water at the corner, and I nearly moaned. I felt the heat of his body emanating through the cool water of the pool and it would be nothing to move into that space and have those muscular arms of his hold me while his mouth took mine...
I put the flat of my hand on his chest and gave him one firm push back.
“I am not going to be a fling.”
I set my wine glass on the edge of the pool. I needed to not be drunk or drunk on him. I needed to not let him intoxicate me with his beautiful face and sharp tongue that probably had been more than one woman’s undoing.
“That’s too bad,” Kai said, moving beside me and putting his arms behind him on the ledge so that we both faced the deep end. “I think we’d make a great fling.”
“I’m sure you do,” I said. “But I’m not built that way. And it’s not appropriate in our situation.”
“You mean the old employee thing?” He shot me a grin. “Why do you think I fired you?”
“Don’t make jokes,” I said. “You were rude as hell to me earlier. Hurtful.”
His smile vanished and the care I’d seen in his eyes the other night came back. “I know.”
“And?”
He said nothing but stared out over the water as the outdoor lights came on, bathing the backyard in amber light. The pool was lit from beneath the surface, pale blue topaz and gold.
“I have a confession,” Kai said after a moment.
“Okay.”
“It works.”
“What works?”
“The Reiki or whatever it is you do to me. It works. Helps. It does…something.”
I turned toward him, happiness flaring in my chest. “Really? I’m so—” Suspicion swooped in and cut off my words. I narrowed my eyes. “Wait. Is this some sort of line? To butter me up so I’ll sleep with you?”
He shot me a wink. “No, but is it working?”
I gave him a little splash. “Be serious.”
“I am serious. I mean it,” he said, skimming his palms over the water. “It’s forcing me to deal with shit I don’t want to deal with. And fuck it, why not? I need to man-up and handle it, right?”
“Dealing with pain isn’t about being masculine or strong enough,” I said quietly. “It’s about being scared shitless and facing it anyway. For your own sake, not anyone else’s.”
He nodded. “I guess. But it sucks. It’s scary, actually.”
“What is?”
“The grief,” he said, turning to look at me. “There’s so much. Like a shadow of the deepest black, and to touch even a part of it… That’s bad enough. To go all the way in?” He shook his head. “Bloody terrifying.”
“You don’t have to go all in,” I said. “Not all at once. But I think blocking it out...blocking him out, entirely?” I shook my head. “All that pain has to go somewhere. If it gets dammed up, it’ll burst through in other ways.”
“On the court.” He snorted. “I’m such a cliché.”
“You’re not,” I said. “Hell, I’m afraid of the dark. There is no greater cliché.”
“You have reason to be afraid,” he said, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it. His brown eyes warmer than I’d ever seen them. “I’m sorry for what I said before.”
“It’s okay. You were right. But we have to be kind to ourselves and handle things in our own way. Our own time.”
“I think my time is up,” Kai said with a sigh. “I have to deal with my shit, otherwise, I’m going to get the boot from tennis and then what the fuck will I do?”
“Teach. You’re great with kids. I’ve seen the highlight reel. You’re so good with them.”
“I’m not a complete arsehole,” he said.
“I don’t think you’re an asshole,” I said and shot him a smile. “You just play one on TV.”
He didn’t smile back but moved in closer. His voice was a low rumble I felt in my chest.
“I have another confession, Daisy.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to be an arsehole at all. You make me want to be a better man. I don’t know if it’s the Reiki or just you. No…” His hand came up to touch my face. “I know it. It’s you.”
“Kai, I—”
“I’ve felt happy for the first time in a long time. In fact, these last few days have been all kinds of firsts.”
“First Reiki,” I said.
“First goat yoga,” he said. “And last goat yoga.”
I laughed, and his brows came together. Somehow his hands were up, holding my face gently. “God, don’t laugh, Daisy. Don’t smile. You’re stunning, and I can’t stop looking at you when you smile. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“You think about me?” I asked, my voice a whisper. My eyes kept going to his mouth, so close to mine I could feel the warm breath over my lips that were wet with pool water.
“I think about you constantly,” Kai said. “Like right now. I’m thinking that I’d give it all up to kiss you.”
I swallowed hard. “Is that a line?”
“Aye, maybe. But it’s still true. Another first. Our first kiss…”
I shouldn’t have let it happen, but in that moment, on that perfect night, I wanted nothing else than to kiss Kai Solomon. And though I didn’t want to shut my eyes to the beauty of his face so close to mine, I sank into the darkness of the kiss that wasn’t smothering or frightening but warm and languid. His arms held me around my back, one hand in my hair. Mine slipped around his broad shoulders and the warmth grew hotter. The softness of his mouth on mine turned harder. The kiss grew deeper.
I fell back against the side of the pool, a little moan escapi
ng me. Kai ate it up, his mouth working over mine now with delicious intensity. His hard body was pressed to my softness, and I found my thighs moving apart to let him in closer. To hold him tighter.
His lips tore from mine and we were both breathing hard as he put them to my neck, my throat, kissing the well of my collarbones and then nipping the skin.
“God, Daisy…” He whispered hotly against my flesh. “Just doing this…it’s better. Better than anything I’ve had…”
Better than his legions of women?
I brushed the thought aside. He was mine now. At least in these moments there existed no one but him and me.
His kisses became deeper, harder, and I loved the taste of him. The scent of his warm skin mixed with the salt water of the pool. I relished the heat of his lean, hard body pressed to mine and how he couldn’t conceal his deliberate care of me in his kisses. I felt his need pulsing through him like an electric current but when he paused for breath, his eyes held mine with a deeper intensity than pure want.
He brushed a stray curl off my forehead. “Daisy, I…”
“Yes,” I breathed back, my heart pounding.
His brows came together, and I felt unspoken words on his lips when he kissed me again. Harder. With greater urgency, as if I were an elixir that he needed to drink down in order to live…
My arms wanted to wrap around his neck, but he slipped through them to submerge himself. Under the water, he put his mouth to the nipple of one breast, through the material of my bathing suit. I let out a little cry and glanced around the empty yard. Only Keanu was there, watching me sleepily. Alert to danger, but there was none. Only this intense pleasure that Kai was creating in me when I’d gone for so long without.
He came up for air, kissing me wetly. “This isn’t as easy as it looks,” he said. “Be right back.”
I laughed and the laugh turned into another cry as Kai went back under, and put his mouth on my other nipple, biting softly through the bathing suit before moving lower. The heat of his mouth and the cool of the water on my stomach twined to create sensations that skimmed over me and settled deep in my core as a heavy ache of want.
He came up for air again, kissed me again, and held my face in his hands. His eyes were dilated with lust but that same intense care for me was there too, floating on the surface.
“Daisy…can I?”
My head nodded mutely before my brain could sound the alarm that this was a bad idea.
Jordan was right, I thought deliriously as Kai went back under, his mouth going at once between my legs. Bad ideas are so much better…
The heat of Kai’s tongue found me through my bikini bottoms and a slow roll of pure want swelled in me like a wave. My hand, seemingly of its own accord, found its way down and moved my bathing suit aside to let Kai in.
A rush of cool water and the heat of his tongue moving expertly and with intense hunger sent more electricity dancing through my nerves. A sharp cry tore out of me and Keanu’s head came up, ears forward.
“I’m okay,” I groaned. “Oh God, more than okay…”
I gripped the side of the pool over my shoulders, holding on for dear life as Kai held on to my hips to keep himself under, using that tongue of his to bring me to the brink and then abandoning me suddenly.
He resurfaced, blinking water out of his eyes. “This need-to-breathe shit is getting on my nerves.”
“No, wait,” I said, holding him to me before this went any further. “Kai, wait… We can’t. We shouldn’t. You need to focus and like I said, I can’t be a fling. And I…”
“I know,” he said. “And you don’t trust me. I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t trust me either.”
I moved out of the circle of his embrace. “I’m just not built that way. To be casual. I need…more.”
“Okay.”
I tilted my head up. “Okay…?”
“Tell me what to do. I’m not exactly a pro in the not-casual department.”
I laughed. “Well, for starters, no more kissing.”
He pretended to stare as if I were crazy. “God, not-casual is brutal.”
“I mean it. I work here. In theory. No more kissing, no more…”
“Going down under?” he said with a wink.
I groaned and splashed his face while he laughed. “Oh my God. Yes, no more of that.”
“If you say so.”
“I do. And I want to keep working here. I want you to do the Reiki and let me help you.” I moved closer to him. “I want to help you.”
He took my hand and pressed it to his lips. “Okay.”
“Really?”
He nodded and held my face again, gently. “I want to prove myself to you. For the first time in a long time, I’m going to do the right thing. As much as it kills me, I’m going to get out of this pool. Not kiss you again…” He shook his head. “Holy shit, it’s going to suck. But I can do it. For you.”
I laughed. “Such a martyr.”
But his expression was earnest. “I’ll keep doing the Reiki so you’ll keep being here. Keep talking to me and calling me on my shit. I want that. And I want you to be my date to the media thing in Wailea. Another first. Our first date. You’ll be done working Jason’s contract. No more employer/employee. Just us.”
“Us.”
He looked at me skeptically. Hopefully. “Does that sound okay? Or am I thoroughly, unredeemable-y repulsive?”
I laughed again. “Not thoroughly repulsive. Marginally, maybe.”
“So you’ll stay on for the rest of the week? And be my date to the thing?”
He’s not capable of being serious. Or feeling…feelings. You’ll only get hurt…
“I’d love to be your date to the thing,” I heard myself saying.
“Great.” Kai offered his hand, businesslike. “Daisy Watson, I hereby officially rehire you to work your mystical voodoo on me. Even if it means no more kissing or sexy interludes in the pool.” He shook his head. “Fuck, I must be crazy.”
Or I am, I thought and put my hand in his strong one.
We shook on it and then held on. Because neither one of us wanted to let go.
Chapter Ten
Kai
The “media thing” was a lot bigger than Jason and my publicity team had made it out to be. The country club in Wailea, a forty-five-minute drive down the east coast of Maui, was decked out in lights and swarmed with people in formal-wear while waiters circulated with trays of champagne flutes and hors d’oeuvres. Members of the press wandered among the crowds trailed by cameramen who grabbed impromptu interviews with ATP officials.
Just the kind of shit I hated.
Jason Lemieux, who had flown in to attend—mostly to babysit me—sat across from Daisy and me in the limo, smiling like a proud parent.
I wanted to scowl at him, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Daisy. She wore a satiny dress that fell over her lithe body like melted copper. It highlighted every curve, dipped low to reveal her perfect breasts, and generally made it hard for me to think.
I caught her staring at me a few times too; her eyes had widened at the house when she first saw me in a tux. I’d never given a shit how I made a woman feel before unless it was to hear her scream my name in bed. But Daisy’s stare and the blush that colored her cheeks was better than any compliment.
This is bad, I thought. I fantasized about tearing that dress off of her later—nothing unusual there. But I also had fantasies of the morning after, of making her laugh, of holding her and making her feel safe.
Christ, this is really bad.
I felt like I was about to face off against Rafa Nadal. Naked. In front of thousands with a ping-pong paddle instead of a racket. I hated not being in control of my emotions. The ‘meltdowns’ they accused me of weren’t me losing my shit; they were me directing it—pain, anger, grief—outward so it wouldn’t burn me up from the inside.
No anger or pain with Daisy, but I felt just as exposed. Weak. I hated feeling weak.
Daisy’s hand was on
my arm. “You okay?”
“Sure,” I said. The limo pulled up to the curb and I offered Daisy my arm. “Be prepared. The camera flashes are blinding and they’re all going to want your picture.”
Daisy made a face as we neared the line of paparazzi. “Kai Solomon’s new girl?”
“You’re so damn beautiful, they’re not going to register I’m even there.”
Her blush was visible even under the lamps that held the night at bay, and I felt myself surrendering to her. To whatever I felt for her. Being with Daisy was like slipping into cool waters on a scorching day, and I decided to stop fighting it. To stop trying to control how I felt and just be with her.
“I know this is only the start of our first date, but I don’t think I can handle the sheer volume of arse-kissing and bullshit we’re about to face unless I have a kiss first.”
She pretended to think about it. “I suppose. If it’ll get you through the night without cursing someone out or throwing a drink.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said with a laugh and put my lips to hers in a soft kiss.
Jason cleared his throat. “Excuse me? Young people? They’re waiting.”
We headed up the walk, enduring a million flashes and calls from reporters asking me how I felt about my chances at the Open, and—more importantly—who was on my arm. I said nothing but kept moving until we made it into the elegant main ballroom of the country club.
My smile could not have been wider, my heart lighter…until I saw Brad Finn in a tux, talking to a group of reporters.
I jerked to a stop. “What the fuck, Jason…?”
My agent’s face twisted in a scowl. “I don’t know. No one told me he’d be here and he sure as hell wasn’t invited. I’ll go find out who’s not going to have a job tomorrow.”
He slipped into the crowd, and I felt Daisy’s hand on my arm.
“What’s that all about?”
“You see that douchebag over there?”
Team Player 2: A Sports Anthology Page 65
