Free He's the One by Linda Lael Miller Page B

to her hips, still treading without effort, now supporting
     both of them. “Still stubborn, I see.”
    “And you still have to be right all the time.”
    “Yeah.” He toyed with the bathing suit string low on her hips. He’d always loved this
     particular suit, and as he tangled his fingers in the ties on either side, her brain
     tangled with memories of what exactly those fingers could and had done to her. “I’m
     thinking of switching departments,” she heard herself say. “Back to investigating
     worker’s comp cases instead of fraud.”
    Once again she felt his assessing stare, though he said nothing as he kept running
     his fingers in and around and under the string on her hips in a way that seriously
     hampered her thinking ability.
    “Did you hear me?” Her breath was soughing in and out of her lungs now, and since
     he was holding her, it wasn’t from the effort of remaining above water.
    “I heard you.” He towed her closer to shore so she could stand. “Before you drown.
     So did your own personal insurance company beg you to change jobs, or what?”
    That sounded like amusement in his voice now, and she set her jaw in annoyance. “I
     just thought you’d like to know.”
    “What you do for a living is no longer my concern, as proven by the papers you sent
     to me.”
    She’d sent the divorce papers out of hurt, not that she’d tell him so. “I figured
     you might be in a hurry to get rid of me.”
    “Why would you figure that?”
    “Because your brother told me you were dating again.” Just the thought left her cold.
     Terrified. “He said you needed a date for some charity event.”
    He sighed. “Cooper has a big mouth.”
    “No, he doesn’t. He’s protecting you. And anyway, what you do is your own concern
     now, right?” she asked, tossing his words back at him.
    “Ella—”
    “It’s okay, James.” She shrugged in the water, the motion bringing her breasts in
     direct contact with his broad, wet chest. Because that hit her with a jolt like an
     electric shock, she began to turn away, wanting to hide the madness that overtook
     her whenever she thought about him touching someone else, kissing someone else, loving
     someone else.
    It haunted her. He was a sexual man, demanding, earthy, rawly sensual, and she couldn’t
     imagine he’d really gone six months without—
    “Oh no, you don’t.” Grabbing her arms in his big hands, he whipped her around in the
     water, frustration written all over his face. “I hate this,” he ground out. “Hate
     the doubts, the anger, the fear—”
    “James—”
    “You’re standing there picturing me with someone else. I know it because I’m doing
     the same thing and it’s killing me. Killing me, Ella.”
    “I haven’t—”
    “I haven’t, either, damn it. God, I hate this, hate all of it, especially the missing
     you.” He gave her a little shake, then hauled her up against him. “So you know what?
     The hell with that part, at least.”
    And he covered her mouth with his.
    She had exactly one coherent thought: Yum . Then her every brain cell checked out, replaced by pleasure cells, of which he hit
     them all.
    It amazed her. One second they were standing there in the ocean, the water pummeling
     them, staring at each other with all the pent-up emotion and exhilaration that was
     never far from the surface with them, and the next his mouth opened on hers, making
     her whimper with a carnal need so powerful it shook her to the core, taking away all
     rhyme and reason.
    Then he pulled back and stared at her, water dripping into his face, eyes dark and
     hot.
    Her own heart was drumming so hard and heavy she could hear nothing but the blood
     roaring through her ears.
    “I can’t do this again, El,” he said. “But I can’t not, either.” And he came at her
     again.

Chapter Five
    H e tasted the same, Ella thought dazedly, like heaven on earth, and in the water as they were, their
     bodies being gently battered by the rise