Crazy For Lovin' You

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“I see.” He glanced over his shoulder at the water again, then back to her. “I don’t remember the pool being here.”

She wanted to tell him to forget about it but she held back. She had a sneaking suspicion he’d just remembered everything. “It’s new. Are you leaning toward giving me the contract?”

“The Circle S meets all the criteria.” The corners of his mouth turned up. “But I wouldn’t want to plunge into anything. Before I have all the facts.”

She swallowed hard. “Facts are good.”

“Especially all the facts so you don’t do something you’ll regret. Not that I learned that from you.”

Without warning, he scooped her into his arms as easily as if she were a rag doll, and held her over the pool.

Chapter Three

Mitch knew Taylor had been acting funny. Eventually he realized it was because she wasn’t sure whether or not he remembered her pushing him into the motel pool ten years ago. Two could play that game. He bent his knees and lowered his arms in a sudden movement, as if he was going to drop her. She let out a high-pitched squeak and hung on to him.

He liked the way she threw her arms around his neck. But he especially liked the way she felt, pressed up against him, all sweet and feminine—with curves in all the right places, including the soft mounds molded to his chest. Her breasts. Those were definitely new, at least to him. The last time he’d seen her, when she’d plastered herself to his front and kissed him, she’d been flat as a panhandle prairie.

Not anymore.

He swallowed hard, locking his gaze onto her face, taking in her big, beautiful brown eyes. And her mouth—so close, so kissable. All he had to do was lean forward just a bit and steal a taste. What the hell was he thinking? The answer was easy. He wasn’t. At least not with his brain.

“Let me ask you something,” he finally said. He couldn’t resist keeping her in suspense a little longer.

“What?” She glanced at the water below her before meeting his gaze again. “You’ve got me over a barrel, so to speak. Ask away.”

“If you’d known I found your sister and Zach together that night, would you still have pushed me into the pool?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Because you deserved it. You were so mean to me, you made a hornet look cuddly.”

He laughed, but it died quickly as memories washed over him—recollections of the one time in his life he was almost happy. His first love. Jen was the girl every guy wanted, and he’d thought she was his. Until the night he’d found her and Zach together. Mitch hadn’t known about them, and finding them like that had sent him over the edge.

He’d lost it. Punched the guy until Jen managed to pull him off. After which she’d angrily told him she never wanted to see him again. They took off and he’d gone to brood by the pool, betrayed, angry and wanting someone else to hurt the way he was hurting. That’s how Taylor had found him. She’d told him she loved him and innocently kissed him. And he’d lashed out at the one person who had given him nothing but friendship.

Only a long time later did he regret it and the fact that he hadn’t had a chance to tell Jen the truth about Zach before she married him. After he’d died there was no point.

He met Taylor’s gaze. “You’re right. I wasn’t fit company that night. But as I recall, I tried to warn you off.”

“We were friends. By definition friends try to help when there’s a problem, even if it gets ugly. I don’t run out on the people I care about.”

“Did you care about me?”

“Yes.”

She shrugged and the movement reminded him that her breasts were pressed against him. Her shapely thighs and trim waist nestled to his belly. Her soft, sweet breath fanned his face. The triple whammy sent what felt like all the blood in his body to points south. The acute awareness made him think of things he had no right to, especially about Taylor. Thinking was one thing; acting on it would be just plain stupid.

“Speaking of problems,” she said, tightening her hold around his neck, “would you mind putting me down?”

Mitch decided he would mind very much. Besides, no one had ever accused him of being too smart. When he looked into her eyes, he saw apprehension that he was sure had nothing to do with a dunking in the pool. What was she worried about? And why did it bother him that she was?

“I haven’t decided where I’m going to put you,” he said honestly.