Free BarefootParadise by J L Taft Page B

laughed and she loved the sound of it. It
was deep and wholehearted.
    She started to say something to him when a volleyball came
sailing her way. She ducked her head at the last second and the ball hit the
edge of the pool behind her.
    “What the fuck?” she shouted as she got out of the way.
    Steve grabbed the ball and they both looked back toward the
net. The young blonde who had flipped her hair incessantly on the plane was
smiling her way. Little bitch.
    Gwen knew the look she shot her way. Back off.
    Steve went to toss the ball back but a couple little boys
got in the way. The young girl swam over and stopped a foot from Steve.
    “Sorry about that, Professor,” she said with a snotty smile.
    “Your aim seems to be much worse than it was last week,
Marissa.” He handed her back the ball.
    “Maybe you should come over and help me practice,” Marissa
said to Steve. It was an obvious come-on line if Gwen had ever heard one.
    She looked back and forth between the two, wondering what
Steve would do.
    “Go back to your game, Marissa, I’m fine here.”
    Marissa pouted and swam in a little closer, giving Gwen a
dirty look that turned her pretty face into an ugly mask.
    “Are you sure about that, Professor?”
    Steve surprised the young girl and Gwen by splashing her in
the face. “Cool off, Marissa, and go back to your game.”
    The shock on her face was priceless and Gwen had to smother
a chuckle. With one more dirty look sent Gwen’s way, Marissa swam back to the
other girls.
    Steve heaved a sigh and turned his attention back to Gwen.
    “I think you have a serious crush on your hands, Steve.”
    “That girl tries my patience,” he told her.
    She had to ask. “So, you’re not interested in her?”
    His dark gaze held hers and she got caught up in it. He
reached his arm out and ran his fingers lightly up her thigh under the water.
It was a bold move and it made her shiver.
    “I prefer a real woman to a spoiled little girl.”
    “Do you now?”
    “I do. But like you said, it’s not finding a woman that’s
the problem. It’s finding the right woman.”
    They shared a smile and several of the girls hollered to him
from the pool steps.
    He sighed and said, “I’m being paged. No rest for the
wicked.”
    He stood to go and she watched the water run down his chest.
    He took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing her palm
instead of the back of her hand like she expected. “It was very nice to meet
you, Gwen.”
    “Nice to meet you too, Steve.”
    She watched him wade away and follow behind a dozen ponytailed
girls. When he was almost out of sight he stopped and turned her way. He blew
her a kiss and she smiled and waved to him.
    Yep. He might be just what she needed.

Chapter Two
     
    Gwen went back to her room, giving herself plenty of time to
take a nap and slip into something sexy to go to dinner. She had found a great
little dress that was a dark purple and had an open back. The front showed just
the right amount of cleavage and the hem stopped just above her knees.
    But it was her shoes that made her feel sexy. Black, shiny
stiletto heels. They had straps that came around her ankles and more lines that
followed down her foot. There were a dozen kinky little straps and she loved
the shoes even if they were a bitch to walk in.
    She spent extra time on her hair, blow-drying it and curling
it into soft waves. She might be having dinner alone but that didn’t mean she
couldn’t look her best. Her eyes were looking very purple today and, blowing
herself a kiss in the mirror, she left her room.
    A cute young waiter seated her at a table with a view of the
ocean. She planned to have a great dinner with lots of drinks and watch the sun
go down and maybe she would get lucky and run into Steve.
     
    Steve was irritated beyond his degree of control. Marissa
had accosted him in the hallway outside his room and had tried to kiss him. She
was immature and annoying.
    His only consolation was that the head coach