by Autumn Skye
“I’m going out to the pool,” I told her around eight-thirty. A night swim would calm my nerves some.
“I’ll be out in a little while. Let me get my suit on, but first I want to show you something. You’re gonna love it.”
“What is it?”
She opened the patio door and gestured for me to step outside with her. “You haven’t seen what my fountain can do.”
“All right, you have my attention. What can it do?”
She hit a switch on the wall and a cascade of color streamed out of the waterfall lighting up the night.
“Wow, that’s gorgeous.”
“And romantic.”
“I have to confess, I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you.”
“You bring it out of me,” she grinned. “Jump in. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Okay,” I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
I hopped into the pool and swam a few laps so that I was out of breath when she returned. She sat on the edge and waited for me to swim over to her before lowering herself in to the shallow end to stand facing me.
I slid my arms around her, coaxing her to come closer. “I love this.”
“The pool?”
“No-well, yes, but I was talking about spending time with you. It’s starting to feel like-
“We’re a couple?”
“Yeah, especially if you keep finishing my sentences for me,” I joked.
“That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about. You’re reading my mind, Delia.”
“Mmm, I’m listening,” I said, nuzzling her neck.
“I’m buying Madeline’s factory.”
“Oh, I see. You want to talk business,” I said, not hiding my disappointment very well.
“Yes and no. Does business and our personal relationship have to be completely separate?”
“To be fair, you are the one who made that rule.”
“Yes, I did, but I was wrong. I mean, usually it’s a smart rule, but it doesn’t work for you and me, obviously.”
“Quite obviously, but I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
“As I said before, I want to help launch your line. I think the best way is to set up a subsidiary company for it and any future lines you dream up. We could be partners.”
“Partners. Nadine, I don’t know what to say. That’s so much more than I ever expected from you.”
“That isn’t all.”
I sucked in my breath and waited for her to continue. Partnering in a subsidiary company was something to shout from the rooftops, but it wasn’t what I was really after, not anymore. It wasn’t enough and she knew it, but would she give me what I needed? Apparently, she was content to keep me guessing because she went silent. I exhaled in an exasperated sigh.
“Nadine, I need a lot more from you than a good business deal. I love you. I know that’s the last thing you asked for, but I do.”
“I know. I love you, too.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “My only concern is that you’ll get sick of me.”
I laughed. “Why would I ever get tired of you?”
She reached behind me and untied my swim top at the neck so that it fell away from my breasts. I felt the same familiar excitement that always overcame me when we were this close. She answered in a sultry voice. “Do you know how much time we’ll be spending together between starting a new company and frolicking half naked in the pool?”
I splashed her and took a step back, removing my top all together and letting it float away. “Not nearly enough,” I said and dived back into the water, swimming away. “Come on. I’ve been chasing you too long. Your turn to see if you can catch me.”
“I’m a hard person to live with,” she called after me.
“I already know that.”
“I dedicate far too much of my life to my work.”
“Me, too. That’s what makes us so perfect. Can’t you see that?”
“Yeah, I do,” she said, beginning to stroke her way across the pool when it became apparent to her I wasn’t coming back.
We met at the fountain and a rainbow of color rained down on us as we stood there kissing for the longest time. It didn’t matter how much of the night got away from us. We had forever.
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