Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2)(94)

Sean laughed unexpectedly loudly. He apparently didn’t see that one coming.

“I stopped by your house to get you but Ben said you had already left. I’m sorry, I should have called.”

“I took the bus to Marin and got a hotel room.”

Sean’s face went from humor to blank in a flash. “Oh.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Did, ah, you plan on having company later?”

“No, actually. Don’t look so worried--I wasn’t planning on seducing you. I just thought I might drink and wanted to enjoy the area instead of having to catch a bus. I have a day at the spa planned tomorrow. Then the bus back, because I’ve been too busy to find a car. Your fault.”

“I wasn’t worried about you seducing me,” he continued his lazy lap.

“Oh, you were worried about me seducing one of their fathers,” she nodded toward his slowly approaching fan club. “Or were you thinking I had planned to overthrow Blondie and snag John?”

Sean smiled in an “I’m an idiot” sort of way. “You’d have to get a boob job in order to overthrow Blondie. I have a feeling John doesn’t know what real boobs feel like anymore.”

“Gross. They look really hard.”

“I will abstain from the rest of this conversation.”

“Eww. Please do. I don’t want to hear about your conquests. Also, your cheerleaders are starting to creep me out. I’m going to head to the shore.”

Sean glanced behind him and then slightly shook his head. “It was a toss-up between adoring girls or over-anxious old farts. Had the farts been in the pool, I would have gone that route. But, and don’t take my word for it, you’ve got a similar problem led by the winemaker’s son.”

She stopped floating for a minute and looked. There they were, just as Sean said, slowly floating out in her direction. There were five of them, all following James’s lead.

“Alright, until next time,” she said, giving Sean a wink and swimming toward the side in the middle of the pool, away from the Team Sean camp, and away from her own fan club.

She let herself air dry as she got another glass of champagne and considered talking to business people. She figured the neighborhood kids wouldn’t follow her toward their parents. As she pondered it, though, she saw more than one pair of old eyes dip, then stick, to her wet boobs.

Neighborhood kids it was. She would opt for a virgin’s attempt at hitting on a girl over a sleazy old man any day.

A few glasses of champagne and a few more dives later, she’d finally had enough. The neighborhood kids were dull, ridiculous, and extremely irritating. She didn’t care what this kid’s dad did, or what he got for his birthday. She also didn’t care which college this other kid went to, or what college his friend tried to get into and failed. They were too young, and their conversations were starting to chafe.

With her own call of duty over, she decided to find Sean and tell him she was leaving. And yes, if she was any good at seducing, she would absolutely give it a go.

Sean must have just told a joke because the cheerleaders were in rapture. Not wasting the opportunity to stare, she checked him out for the hundredth time. She just couldn’t get enough of that body. Seeing him in a swimsuit was heaven. Almost better than na**d because there was that thrill of the chase. She wanted to trap him, move in, and reach down under those swim trunks and play with what she found.

When she looked up to his eyes, he was looking down at her goods. He then looked up and saw her watching him.

Busted.

Krista smiled bashfully. Sean gave her a boyish grin and shrugged. Krista nodded her head to the right, indicating a meet up. He nodded, and they both moved out of the swarm of neighborhood kids and toward each other.

It might have been in slow motion as Sean stepped out and walked toward her, his shimmering, wet muscles in play, the power in his stride making all the young girls behind him swoon and stare. He was magical. The glide of his body, the anticipation of the meeting, the thrill of what might happen next. His eyes were serious, delving into her as though he were thinking the same thing.

As he neared, Krista’s heart was hammering. She could barely get enough air. She could make out the hunger in his eyes. The hum of his body. She knew what that look meant. She knew what he was thinking. She’d seen that look often enough; usually right before some part of his body found its way to hers. A fantastic cl**ax always followed.

The memories made her intensely horny and intensely sad at the same time.

She spoke first, their eyes locked together, “I’m heading out. I can’t take it anymore.”

“Can’t take what? The young guys looking at your br**sts, or the old ones?” His eyes were hooded as they looked down on her.

“All of the above,” she murmured.

“How are you getting back?” He took a step closer.

Her legs nearly gave out. “I’ll walk out a ways, and then call a cab. I don’t want to get a cab from here. It would be embarrassing.”

“I’ll drive you.”

Her heart and groin both jumped at the suggestion. “Did you want to swim at my hotel? I plan on getting in a few more hours without being pestered.” Part of her asked as friends. But only part. She knew it. She hoped he didn’t.

“Sure.”

Without further ado they got their stuff—Krista heard the protests of the girls from the other side of the pool—and walked away from the neighborhood kids. Sean quickly pulled her into the cluster of trees with the drinks.