Page 99 of One Kind Hand

She ran her fingertips over his muscles. “No one—and I mean no one—has ever seen me in a bikini before.”

Austin’s smile tripled in size. “I’m the first?”

Charlie loved how he backed up a step as if he hadn’t gotten his fill of looking at her dressed as she was.

Or barely dressed.

“Your sexiness alone might be enough to distract me from the fact that we’re about to be in a room full of water.” He pulled on a T-shirt and slipped into his sneakers while Charlie grabbed a flannel shirt and put it on like a cover-up with her own sneakers.

Austin squirreled her off to the elevator and they made out on the descent to the first floor. Charlie gained a new appreciation for elevator travel on that trip down to the pool.

They pushed open the doors of the pool facilities and the smell of chlorine hit Charlie’s nostrils. The pool was heated so the entire room had a tropical, sauna-like atmosphere to it.

Austin’s hand tightened on hers and she could feel his anxiety level rising.

“Breathe, Austin.” She rubbed his back. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

He shook his head. “I want to. I can. With you here with me, I can do this.” He brought their joined hands up to his lips. “Unstoppable, remember?”

She cupped his cheek, running her thumb along his whiskered jaw. “Unstoppable.”

But he didn’t follow her when she stepped toward the stairs of the pool. It was as if his feet had been cemented in his spot, his blue eyes wide as he regarded the water. Charlie could almost hear his heart thudding against his ribs.

“How about if we sit on the edge and put our feet in to start?” She put her hand on the small of his back and gave him a little push forward.

Nodding, he shuffled his feet until they were at the edge. Charlie grabbed some towels, folding one to make a cushion to sit on and putting two more within reach for drying off.

If they ever actually got wet.

Figuring she’d take the lead, Charlie lowered to the towel she’d folded, pulled off her shoes, and slid her legs into the water as she sat. “Oh, it’s so warm.” She patted the spot beside her then looked up at Austin’s tortured face as he stared unblinking at the water. “You don’t need to do this, Mr. Movie Star.”

His gaze flicked to her face and his tongue came out to wet his lips. “But I do need to.”

When he didn’t come any closer though, Charlie let the flannel shirt fall off her shoulders, knowing she had him when he released a soft moan.

“We’re totally alone in here.” She arced her arms out at the room. “You can touch absolutely anything you want.” She leaned back on her arms and looked at him over her shoulder. “Absolutely. Anything.”

Austin peeled off his T-shirt and toed off his sneakers. He made a neat pile on a nearby lounge chair and approached her on stiff legs. He was so beautiful with all those muscles in all the right places, and the vulnerable expression on his face made Charlie want to make him feel nothing but amazing.

She reached up an arm, extending a hand to him. When their fingers touched, Austin let out a shaky breath, his gaze darting from her face to the water as he neared the pool.

“Fuck. Why is this so hard?” He clenched his jaw, his free hand rolled up into a fist.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Charlie said. “Maybe because you’ve been afraid since you were eighteen. That’s a long time to feel a certain way about something, Austin. Give yourself a break.” She squeezed his hand. “How about if you think about this in stages? Like, you’ve successfully entered a room full of water. That’s Stage One. Congratulations.”

He offered her a weak smile. “I feel like a child.”

“Even adults need positive affirmations when they achieve big things. Standing here right now is a big thing for you, Austin. Take a minute to recognize that.”

He nodded then took a few more steps, his toes touching the towel where she sat.

“Now Stage Two is sitting next to me. Don’t put your feet in yet.” She rubbed the soft, fluffy towel again. “Put that fine ass right here.”

Austin lowered to his knees first then shifted so his butt rested on the towel. He didn’t let go of her hand though. In fact, his grip had tightened and grown a little clammy.

Poor guy. She would have gladly gone back upstairs to his suite, but he seemed as determined to do this as he was afraid to do it. She slid her hand to his shoulder, massaging her way over to his neck and hooking her hand there. Brushing her lips to his, she was encouraged when he sank into the kiss, his free hand coasting up her arm and into her hair, his fingers scraping along her scalp with a possession that super-ignited her insides.

Within moments, she was groaning into the kiss, their tongues caressing and the setting around them fading away as they explored each other’s mouths more fully. God, she could kiss him forever. He tasted like the ginger ale he’d had in his sisters’ suite and Charlie wanted to drink every drop of him.