Free Soaked (The Water's Edge #2) by Stacy Kestwick

roll through and be gone after an hour or two, so I headed back up to my room to clean up and change clothes before dinner, wondering if I had time to sneak a nap in before I met Nick and Grady at seven. After stepping off the elevator, I was halfway down the hall to my room when a door in front of me flew open. An older woman with dark, messy hair stepped out, looking flushed. She glanced at me vacantly, a satisfied smile stretched wide across her mouth. Her top had slipped off one shoulder, but she didn’t seem to notice.
    Pausing, I turned to watch her saunter to the elevator. She was humming as she pushed the button.
    Someone had a good afternoon.
    When the elevator had whisked her away, I spun back toward my room. I took two more steps and the same door opened. Nick stepped out.
    I came to a stuttering stop, looking between him and the elevator behind me. Facing him again, my eyes widened and my eyebrows rose to my hairline. “So that’s where you’ve been getting your workouts?”

 
     
    HIS FACE WAS blank. “She’s a client. ”
    I opened my mouth. Closed it. Tried again. “So you’re an escort too?”
    “What? No! Not that kind of client.”
    “That woman—” I jerked my thumb toward the elevator. “—had just orgasmed. She was still fucking glowing, Nick. You’re not claiming responsibility for that?”
    He smirked and adjusted the front of his pants, not even trying to hide it. “She took care of herself. I watched but didn’t touch.”
    I’m not sure why that shocked me, but it sounded so . . . dirty. More so than if he just admitted to fucking her. Maybe it was because she had decades on him? Could a guy like him—young, attractive, successful—really be aroused by her? She was old enough to be his mother.
    Maybe he had Oedipus complex. Of maybe he just liked cougars.
    “I have no words.” I stared at him, my mind churning to understand.
    He held up the camera in his hand. “It was a photoshoot. Boudoir. Dark, sexy, hot—”
    “Is this for your campaign? Are you appealing to the horny retirement crowd? I hear that segment of the population has one of the highest rates of STD’s these days.”
    He laughed, loud and long. “No. This is just a side project. Word gets around that I do these sessions, and as long as I’m discreet, Grady turns a blind eye. It seems well-satisfied vacationers are a little looser with their wallets.”
    I glanced down. A slight bulge still pressed against his zipper. “Just took pictures, huh?”
    “That?” He grinned, unashamed. “There is nothing sexier than a woman confident in her body. At any age. A woman willing to let go and give in to the moment, and just fucking own it and go for it—that’s hot as hell.” His bold gaze ran down the length of me, pausing where my wet bikini top had soaked through my T-shirt, plastering the cotton to my chest. He pointed. “Kind of like that look you’re rocking right now.”
    I ignored his lecherous perusal. “I’ve done boudoir photoshoots.” I thought of Aubrey and the photos of her I found in West’s nightstand. “None of them have ever ended in a client looking like that. ”
    “Maybe you weren’t doing it right then.”
    I huffed out a breath. No, things definitely hadn’t gone right with her. “Lemme see, hotshot. Impress me.” I reached for the camera in his hand, but he snatched it away, holding it out of reach.
    “What happened to customer confidentiality?”
    “What happened to professional courtesy?” I countered without missing a beat.
    He tucked the camera behind his back. “I’ll tell you what. You want to see what my photos in this setting look like, I’ll shoot you. No charge. You can even keep all the images.”
    I chuckled. “You wish.”
    “I do.” His eyes darkened as he met my gaze, then dipped down to where my nipples had beaded against my wet shirt in the air conditioning.
    “I’ll let you know if I change my mind on that one, but don’t hold your breath.” I