“I can take them out if you want.”
“That would be awesome. If you do it now, I can get in the water. It’s driving me crazy to have to just sit here and bake while everyone else can go in the water.”
“Sure, I can do it now.” She was happily surprised he wasn’t brushing off any discussion about his injury.
Houston flexed his leg. “It’ll be great not to have to sleep with them pulling tonight.”
“Should we walk back to your condo?” Josie had all sorts of ideas about what they could do once they got there, none of whichinvolved medical procedures. “Unless you have scissors in your swim trunks.”
He pretended to pat down his sides. “Left them in my other trunks. Just let me flag my mom down and tell her where we’re going.” He rolled his eyes. “She worries about me, you know. If it wasn’t for Larry, she’d be hovering over me right now. She didn’t even want me to come to the beach. Between the heat and the horrible shark flashbacks, she’s waiting for me to pass out or something.”
His lip was twitching in amusement, but Josie had to wonder if he was upset staring at the water. Somehow she thought she would be if a shark had ripped into her.
“Are you having flashbacks?” she asked in concern. “That would be a completely normal reaction.”
He genuinely didn’t look like he was dealing with trauma. “I look at the water and I still feel the way I always did—itching to get in it. I don’t blame the shark and I doubt it could happen a second time. So no. I’m not having flashbacks.”
Well, she was. Flashbacks of his mouth on her breasts, his fingers inside her, the way her thighs had clenched as he moved in and out of her body, slowly and powerfully...
Then Houston said, “What was that?”
“What?” She looked around, startled out of her steamy thoughts by his serious tone.
“That.” He pointed in the direction of the water.
“I don’t see anything.” She leaned forward, alarmed. Maybe Houstonwasmore traumatized than he cared to admit. Or maybe there was another shark in the water. His mom and his niece were out there somewhere, unaware of the danger.
“Right...”
His hand landed on her waist and tickled her. “Here.”
She screamed in surprise, her heart racing, part from fear, part from the feel of his hand on her, so darn close to her nipple. “Oh, geez, you scared me!”
Turning to see him laughing, she swatted him on the thigh. “That wasn’t funny. I thought there actually was a shark out there.”
That grin turned her heart upside down. She had barely been capable of functioning around Houston when he had been cold and aloof. A relaxed, laughing, joking Houston was just more than one woman could be expected to resist, and she had the damp bikini bottoms to prove it.
“No, no sharks out there. There might be sharks out here, though.”
The humor had left his voice, and the grin had fallen away to be replaced by a deep sensual searching gaze. His thigh was against hers, the hair on his leg tickling her. She sat frozen as he traced a finger down her arm with his left hand.
Those ice-blue eyes had darkened to the color of denim. “If I bite you, Josie, it’s an accident. Just like that shark that got ahold of me.”
He was warning her again that he might hurt her. Josie just looked at him head-on. “I’m tougher than I look.”
They were staring at each other so intently that neither one of them saw Miranda until she was already crashing through the air towards Houston with the speed of the Concorde.
Josie and Kori both gasped as Miranda crashed into his chest, Houston grunting at the impact. Josie leaned forward, reaching out as Miranda wobbled on Houston’s lap, his hands struggling to steady her. Then the child shifted, the brunt of her weight landing on his right hand with the splint, and Houston lost his tenuous grip on her.
With a shocked cry, Miranda sailed backwards off his lap into the sand, and while three sets of hands tried to grab her, all came up short. Miranda thumped onto the sand, Kori gasped, and Houston cursed.
“It’s okay,” Kori hastened to assure him, pulling Miranda to a sitting position. “She’s fine. Sand is soft.”
But Houston looked horrified. “I’m sorry, cutie. Are you sure you’re all right?”
He petted Miranda’s long dark hair with his left hand. She nodded and put her hands on his knees. “I want to sit on you.”
“Of course you can. Just give me some more warning next time.”