Jacquie D’Alessandro - In Over His Head

"Sounds interesting. How do you play?"

"I get you all in a lather. Then rinse and repeat." To demonstrate, he leaned forward and kissed her.

When he lifted his head, she murmured, "Hmm. Nice kiss. I give it a 9.4."

"Nine point four? Hell." He stepped forward, backing her against the wall. Shower spray rained down on them as he pressed against her, his erection sliding against her soapy belly. "Hang on, sweetheart. We're going for a ten."

Lexie spent the entire next day trying to do two things: not watch the clock and not think about Josh.

She failed miserably on both accounts.

Not only did her eyeballs constantly stray to her watch, but each time her mind performed a quick calculation, then registered its report. Only twelve hours and fourteen minutes till you see him again… Only eleven hours and forty-two minutes… Only nine hours and eight minutes…

If she had a nickel for every time she scanned the pool and beach areas for him, she'd be in Bill Gates's league. And it was totally ridiculous to even scan for him since he'd told her he planned to spend the day checking out sailboats. It was fortunate she knew the routine at the resort by rote, because her mind was simply not on her job. No, her mind was too busy reliving last night… and anticipating tonight.

An image of her and Josh in the shower flashed in her mind and she had to take a deep breath. He might have been going for a "ten," but he had delivered a twelve. At least. More like a fifteen. Had any man ever looked so good all wet and soapy? Felt so good? Made her feel so good?

Nope. On all counts. No doubt about it, Josh was an amazing and generous lover. She couldn't have picked a better guy to have a fling with.

But somewhere between them making mind-blowing use of the second and third condoms, her pesky inner voice had started dropping unsettling, unwanted raindrops on her parade-raindrops that soon plopped on her head like water balloons. Yes, she'd felt sated and languid and feminine and incredibly satisfied. But there was something else sneaking in-a not-so-welcome feeling she recognized with a sense of dawning unease.

Tenderness.

Damn it, she didn't want warm, cozy, tender feelings raising their unwanted heads! And she certainly didn't want this transient vacationing cowboy to inspire them. There was absolutely no room for warm fuzzies in this equation. Good grief, what was wrong with her? A couple of orgasms and she was totally losing her grip.

Knowing that the best thing she could do was to put some space between them, she'd left shortly after the fourth condom. Obviously she was incapable of thinking clearly when he was close. Especially when he was lying on top of her, naked and still buried deep in her body. He'd asked her to stay, and the fact that it would have been so easy to do so, convinced her it was imperative that she leave. But they had a swimming lesson scheduled for tonight. And as much as her mind cautioned her to remain aloof, she couldn't wait.

Without a doubt, last night had been… Holy cow. She didn't know. Incredible. Exciting. But something else. Something more and unsettling that she couldn't put her finger on. Had he felt it, too?

Don't be ridiculous. It was sex. Great sex. That's all. You're reading too much into it because it had been so long, you'd forgotten what it felt like. How good it could be.

Yet even as that thought occurred to her, her little inner voice piped up, It's never been that good. That hot.

With an effort she forced her attention back to the task at hand and stored away the flippers and masks from her snorkeling excursion, then made her way toward the Marine Patio for a quick lunch.

After placing her order for a turkey club, another image of her and Josh together in the shower, her pressed up against the tiles, legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust deep inside her, flashed in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut in a futile effort to dispel the image. If she didn't get ahold of herself and her runaway libido, she'd be tempted to track him down, looking for a nooner.

Hey, now that's not a bad idea , her unruly hormones chimed in.

She pressed her lips together in annoyance and told her hormones to sit down and shut up. Clearly she was suffering from a glandular imbalance brought on by too much sudden sex after such a long drought.

She managed to nab a table under an umbrella-lord knew she was hot enough without the glaring sun beating down on her-and had just taken a bite of her sandwich when a familiar feminine voice sounded behind her.

"There you are!" Darla slid into the bright aqua-and-yellow chair opposite her. She pulled off her designer shades, then gave Lexie's face a thorough, narrow-eyed exam. Lexie, wishing she'd kept her own shades firmly on her nose, tried her best to keep her features impassive, but clearly she failed for a knowing smile eased across Darla's face.

"I knew it," Darla said, filching a pickle from Lexie's plate. "And if it weren't for the fact that I'm happy for you and that your brain is clearly bamboozled by outrageously fabulous sex, I'd be royally pissed that you didn't call me. For crying out loud, I've been dying all morning, waiting to hear from you." She bit the pickle spear in two and raised her brows. "So… don't keep me in suspense. Clearly you decided he wasn't a wacko or a creep. And based on that neon glow radiating off you, he's stupendous in bed."

Heat rushed into her cheeks. "Yes. To all of the above."

"How stupendous?"

A sigh she couldn't contain eased past her lips. "Off the charts. He gave me goose bumps in places you can't even see with a mirror. And that's before he even took off his clothes."

Darla's eyes goggled, and the other pickle half dropped from her fingers onto the table. "Tell me he has a brother. Please."

"Sorry. Only child."

"Damn." She heaved a mournful sigh, but then brightened. "Well, the rest of womanhood's loss is your gain. When are you seeing him again?"

"Tonight. We have a swimming lesson."

"And after the lesson?"

A picture of Josh, naked and aroused, rose in her mind's eye. "We didn't specifically discuss it, but I wouldn't turn down the chance of a repeat of last night."

"Was Mr. Cowboy as blown away by your night together as you were?"

"I didn't hear any complaints. In fact, his enthusiasm was extremely flattering."

Something in her tone must have sounded less nonchalant than she'd hoped for because Darla's eyes narrowed. "But something's bothering you."

"Not really. It's just that…" She shrugged. "Naturally I was hoping he'd be nice. I just hadn't expected him to be so extremely nice."

"Nice as in 'nice body, nice ass, nice technique' or nice as in 'nice guy, nice smile, nice personality'?"

"Well, both. But option number two is the one that surprised me."

Darla nodded sagely. "Ah. So you like him. And that worries you." Before Lexie could answer, Darla reached out and squeezed her hand. "Listen, Lex. It's perfectly natural that you'd like him. You should like him. You wouldn't have gone to bed with him if he wasn't a decent man. So don't sweat it and get all crazed over it. He's handsome and sexy and great in bed and nice. What's not to like? You're having a fling, nothing more. Remember the rules. Fun, wild and temporary . He's Mr. Transition, getting you back into the groove, building up your confidence, so that when Mr. Right comes along, your engine's all revved up and ready. Just keep things in perspective and enjoy yourself."

Some of the tension eased from Lexie's shoulders. Darla was right. She just needed to keep things in perspective. She was simply out of practice when it came to stuff like this-although, she'd never been in practice with brief affairs. There'd only been two other men besides Tony-one in college and one during her first year teaching-and both of those relationships had lasted over a year.