Barbara Boswell - Family Feud

“Cheap souvenirs, taffy and fudge shops and family fun,” Shelby added. “Don’t forget to mention how you love to sit in front of a roaring fire, listen to rain on the roof and go for long walks on the beach.”

“I run on the beach, I get too hot sitting in front of a roaring fire, and the sound of rain annoys me. It means a ruined vacation. I prefer sun or snow, seasonable weather in seasonable places.”

They looked at each other and laughed. Their gazes locked and lasted after their laughter faded, crossing the intangible line into sensual awareness. Garrett’s breath caught in his throat. Shelby’s eyes were shining, her mouth wide and soft and tempting. His blood seemed to thicken and surge hotly through him, pooling in one hard throbbing strategic area. Now he needed the shock of a cold water plunge.

Shelby felt the sexual tension stretch between them. Her pulse accelerated and her breathing quickened. She quickly looked away from him.

“So, now that you know I’m a wholesome, honorable, single guy instead of a married cad bent on cheating on his wife, will you go swimming with me?” Garrett said huskily. “With our clothes on.”

“Just run right into the ocean wearing our clothes?”

“Well, you made it pretty clear that you weren’t interested in skinny-dipping.”

Shelby hesitated. It occurred to her that she had never swum wearing anything but the appropriate attire, a swimsuit. During staff parties at Casa del Marina, managers and senior staff were sometimes rowdily tossed into the pool, fully dressed, by some exuberant revelers. Not Shelby, though. She’d never even been approached. She was not the type to inspire anyone, not even a wildly exuberant reveler, to pick her up and throw her into the water.

“You have no choice, you know.” Garrett’s voice sounded above her head. “I’ll give you thirty seconds to take off your shoes and socks and then I’m dragging you into the water, with or without them.”

Without saying a word, Shelby pulled off her socks and shoes and tossed them aside. “I’ll race you into the water,” she called over her shoulder as she sped into the waves.

It was an unfair contest as she was already on her way before she issued the challenge, but Garrett responded at once. He ran into the surf, water splashing high around him.

“I win,” sang Shelby, standing knee-deep in the water. It was lukewarm and felt refreshing against her overheated skin.

“You cheated,” Garrett countered.

“Don’t be a sore loser. After all, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s if you play the game.”

“ How you play the game,” amended Garrett.

“Whatever.” Shelby shrugged. “There aren’t any waves today. The ocean is as still and clear as a swimming pool. Which is where you should be, if you wanted to swim today,” she added, casting him a reprimanding glance.

“But you can’t do this in a pool.” Suddenly, without a hint of a warning, Garrett placed his hands around Shelby’s waist.

Shelby felt heat flare within her. Their eyes met and held and a heavy silence engulfed them. Was he going to kiss her? she wondered. Did she want him to? Her heart was thundering madly against her ribs so hard and so loud, the beats echoed in her ears.

As she was pondering those questions, she felt his strong fingers tighten around her waist, felt him lifting her up, up off her feet. A dizzying, disorienting moment later, she was flying through the air and then plunging back into the water several feet away from him. She went under and came up spluttering.

Shelby grabbed a handful of her wet hair and pushed it out of her eyes. “You threw me!” she gasped.

“You’ve got a keen grasp of the obvious.”

Shelly waded through the water, which lapped around her waist, back to where Garrett stood. He was grinning down at her, unrepentantly.

She found herself grinning back. “It was fun. Do it again.”

Garrett obliged. He picked her up by her waist, raised her out of the water and tossed her as easily as a beach ball. Once again, Shelby experienced the rush of sailing through the air and crashing back into the warm, clear water. Once again, she waded back to him.

“Again?” he asked.

She nodded. He picked her up and threw her again. Shelby emerged from under the water, laughing.

“One more time?” suggested Garrett.

He didn’t wait for her reply but waded over to her, picked her up and tossed her back into the ocean. “Now it’s your turn to throw me,” he said when Shelby surfaced.

She eyed his solid, hard frame. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Come on,” he urged. “You at least have to try.”

“What do you think I am? A sumo wrestler? I can’t pick you up!”

“You can in the water. It negates gravity or something.”

“‘Negates gravity’?” Shelby repeated scornfully. “I’ll bet you were a whiz in physics class with theories like that.”

“I never took physics,” Garrett confessed. He cupped his hand and splashed a spray of water at her. “I wasn’t into science. My talents lay elsewhere—like in the cheap-motel industry.”

“And in unassailable concepts like family fun,” Shelby added. She vigorously splashed him back. “Personally, I’ve always considered family fun to be an oxymoron. You know, a complete contradiction in terms.”

“Having met your father, I can understand why. Are your mother and sister as bad or worse?”

Shelby used both hands to shower him with blasts of water. “My mother is a dear. Everybody loves her. My sister is...” Her voice trailed off. How to describe Laney?

Garrett drew his own conclusions. “A jackal?” he suggested.

She shouldn’t have laughed, Shelby scolded herself after she’d already done so. She tried to repair the damage. “Wait until you see Laney. You’ll be tripping over your tongue as you spout accolades to her beauty.”

“I never spout accolades,” Garrett assured her.

He glided swiftly through the water to stand before her. “Are you going to toss me or not?” he challenged.

“I told you, it’s impossible. Look.” Shelby tentatively placed her hands on his waist. Her fingers locked around his wet skin, she felt his hard warmth beneath her palms. “See, I can’t budge you. You’re solid as a...a...” The husky thickness of her voice surprised her, and she lost her train of thought.

Her eyes flew to his face, just as he lowered his head to hers. Before she had a chance to speak or move or even think, Garrett’s arms came around her and his mouth took hers.

For a split second Shelby was so startled she stood rigid in his embrace, her eyes wide open, her lips closed. She was pressed so tightly against him that she could feel him everywhere, enveloping her in his seductive masculine heat. She was achingly aware of the virile, burgeoning strength of him throbbing against her, of the muscular hardness of his chest crushing her breasts.

His mouth was seductively firm and tasted of saltwater, his big hands moved slowly and sensuously over her, molding her ever closer against the taut male planes of his body. Shelby’s eyelids drifted shut as her arms crept around his neck. Her mind seemed to have short-circuited, giving her body free reign to do as it liked. And it most definitely liked these exciting, enthralling feelings coursing through her. A glowing warmth flamed deep in her belly, and she felt a secret intimate ache that swelled and throbbed within her.

Her lips parted for him and his tongue penetrated the warm wetness of her mouth, deepening the kiss. Shelby moaned when his tongue rubbed hers, stroking in tantalizing sensual simulation.

He slipped his thigh between hers and she yielded to him, parting her legs to accommodate the thrusting male pressure. Hot, sweet pleasure streaked through her. Shelby clung to him, drowning in a smooth silky sea of desire. As if of their own volition, her hands moved over the taut muscles of his back, reveling in the solid masculine feel of him. Her fingers dared to move lower, to the strong muscular curve of his buttocks.