Free Take Me If You Dare by Candace Havens

adding a mai tai at the end. The room service staff agreed to set the food up on the patio table right outside their door.
    “How about we take a quick swim to work out the kinks?” Jackson smiled at her, and her pulse quickened. After what she’d seen at the massage parlor, she couldn’t wait for another chance to see him sans clothes. The man’s body begged to be touched, and she planned to do that a lot.
    Suddenly tongue-tied, she coughed into her hand. “Uh, great idea.” She reached into her bag and scooped out one of the four bikinis she’d thrown in. This one was red with tiny bows on each side. It was one of her favorites. “Five minutes. I’ll meet you out on the beach.”
    She heard him chuckle as she shut the door.
    Mariska stared at herself in the mirror.
    Live for the now.
    She’d seen the phrase on a fortune cookie a month ago. It was the cookie that had inspired the trip to Thailand. Tired of living in the past and worrying about what everyone else thought of her, she’d decided it was time for a real vacation. One where she could be whomever she wanted, and maybe she’d find herself.
    Mariska grabbed the side of the sink.
    “You better watch out, Jackson. I’m a bold woman who isn’t going to shy away from life anymore. I’m going to have my way with you. Mmm, in every which way I can. I’m done with boundaries. It’s all about being in the now and living life to the fullest.”
     
    O UTSIDE THE VILLA, Jackson did a quick search of the perimeter. He’d lost the tail before they even left the city, but he couldn’t be too careful. If someone had seen him with Mariska, it wouldn’t be hard to track her down since she’d probably used her credit card to book the hotel.
    He’d been surprised when she didn’t jump his bones the minute they walked in the door. From the slight quiver in her voice, it sounded as if she’d contracted another case of the nerves.
    She might be a woman of contradictions, but he didn’t care. Life would never be boring around her, and he liked that he couldn’t always read her.
    He’d meant what he told her earlier about going at her pace. To him, she was a delicacy. One he intended to savor. He could wait.
    As he watched Mariska walk down the beach, Jackson was glad he’d already jumped into a cool wave.The water hid his instant erection. The woman had no idea the kind of effect she had on him. The second he saw her in that damn red bikini he swore he’d send a thank-you letter to the designer. It fit her body perfectly. Her pert breasts were covered barely enough to make the mind wonder how long it would take to untie that little bow between them, and the ones on the sides of her beautiful, curvy hips.
    As she moved closer to him the cool water slapped against her taut belly, and her nipples hardened into tiny buds pressing against the material. Using her right hand, she shaded her eyes from the sun. “You started without me.”
    You have no idea. Jackson reached out to her, careful to stay waist deep so she couldn’t see the tent in his board shorts, at least not yet. “The water was too enticing. Of course I could say the same about that bikini.”
    As she reached him, he saw the blush on her cheeks. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
    She ducked her head and stared down at the water. “Um, are there sharks here? I really don’t like sharks.”
    Jackson laughed hard at that. “You’re nervous again.”
    “No, no.” She waved her hand. “I’m kind of a freak about sharks. Well, sharks and snakes. Probably too much Discovery Channel as a child. Great whites like cold water, right?”
    She was hot and cold, this one. But he was a patient man.
    “There are about seventeen different species in thispart of the world, including the nurse, whale and tiger sharks, but most of them prefer the deeper waters, so I think we’re okay. How good of a swimmer are you?”
    She bit her lip but finally met his eyes. “I’m pretty good. Why? Do