Anything You Can Do(12)

"We?" she asked. If it had been any other woman, he'd have thought she was trying to find out if he was married. However, he felt sure Bailey was simply requesting information.

"My family," he told her. "Not me. I don't have time to care for an animal. Besides, my town house in St. Louis is no place for a Doberman."

Bailey nodded. "I feel guilty about leaving Samantha alone all day. Sometimes I take her to the office with me on Saturdays."

"You're kidding! What does Stafford Morris say about that?"

"He doesn't. The view of the office is a little obscured from his golf course at the country club."

Austin laughed delightedly at Bailey's sardonic humor. Her mouth quirked upward, and those incredible sea green eyes danced.

"How about a swim?" he asked, suddenly unable to sit still. "The sun's getting pretty hot."

"Paula, can you hold Samantha?" She turned the leash over to her friend, who accepted it without opening her eyes.

The pool was a decent size, as condo pools went. The space appeared more than adequate for its purpose since most of the residents were lying beside it. Only four other people were actually in the pool, including one tan lady floating lazily on a raft. Austin almost sighed as the cool water enveloped his overheated body. The day had turned into a scorcher.

Beside him Bailey slid completely under the water and came up, shaking her short hair. Not many women could still look good with no makeup and wet hair, Austin thought, falling into a leisurely backstroke, watching Bailey as she joined him.

At the end of the pool, they turned and launched into a crawl simultaneously, laughing at the coincidence. Bailey was a relatively strong swimmer, Austin thought. She didn't seem to have any problem keeping up with him. They hit the other end and flipped over.

Austin stretched out, reaching, feeling the rush of adrenaline from exercise. Through the churning water, he could see Bailey beside him, and they shared a smile. Austin increased his stroke. They hit the opposite end at the same time.

Of course, Bailey would be faster than most women. She had nothing on that sleek body to slow her down. Even her small, high breasts appeared aerodynamically designed.

Damn her, he thought, stroking as hard as he could, hitting the end of the pool and flipping back the other way, didn't she know he was physically stronger than she was? Hadn't he proven that at the run?

"Get out of the pool," he heard someone shout, and looked up to see Gordon and Paula on the edge, glaring down.

Were they crazy? He was pulling ahead of Bailey. He wasn't about to get out now.

They bounced off the edge and started another lap.

He'd pass her for sure this time. Again and again his arm lifted out of the cool water into the warm sun, back into the cool. His muscles stretched, lengthened, contracted. He couldn't see Bailey from the corner of his eye anymore. He'd passed her! He was winning!

A hand grabbed his as he neared the end of the pool again. "If you don't get out of the pool, I'll throw in your Cartier," Gordon promised, dangling the watch over the water with his other hand.

Austin stared uncomprehendingly at his friend's face, at Bailey pulling up beside him. Damn! She hadn't been very far behind, but with a few more laps...

Were Gordon and Paula conspiring to keep him from winning?

"Why?" he demanded angrily.

"Look around you," Paula invited. "You've succeeded in clearing the pool. You've embarrassed even Gordon and me, and that isn't easy to do."

Austin looked. The bronzed lady clutched her raft and glared. He and Bailey were the only ones in the water. Reluctantly he pulled himself up. Bailey followed suit, and they sat on the concrete rim, breathing hard, staring across the water. Paula and Gordon moved back to the ice chest, and he heard a beer can pop.

"Pretend you don't know them," Paula advised from the background.

I won, Austin wanted to shout. I was ahead when they stopped us. He couldn't say that. They hadn't been racing. "You're a good swimmer," he said, grudgingly.

"Thanks. So are you," she replied. Her response wasn't very hearty either.

"Don't feel bad because I was ahead of you. Men are inherently physically stronger than women." There! He'd managed to remind her of his victory by putting it on an impersonal basis. Just a simple statement of biological fact.

"That's true," she agreed sweetly, green eyes dancing. "It's Mother Nature's vain attempt at compensation for shorting men in the brains department."