Free Sweet Promise by Ginna Gray

from her supine body, making Sean's nostrils twitch and flare. This wasn't such a bad idea after all, he mused as he watched his palms glide languidly over her slick shoulder blades, then trail downward to her waist. The strange anger he had felt at breakfast had slowly dissipated. Smiling, he gently kneaded the soft flesh beneath his hands. This was what he needed to get his mind off things. A little sun and fun, a beautiful woman to add spice. And, he thought with pleasurable anticipation, he had a hunch that with very little encouragement, Gloria could add a great deal of spice to this vacation.
    His dreamy complacency didn't last long. At that moment Sean looked up, straight into Joanna's eyes, and his hands stilled. Briefly, her cool gaze flickered over him, then she turned away and dumped her canvas bag onto a lounge. Sean clenched his jaw and cursed fluently under his breath.
    Suddenly self-conscious, he finished applying the lotion to Gloria's back with a quick, impersonal touch. "There, I think that's got you covered."
    "Mmm," Gloria mumbled sleepily.
    Sean capped the bottle and tossed it onto the towel beside her, then moved away and stretched out on the next lounge with his fingers laced together behind his head.
    Through barely slitted eyes he watched Joanna shuck her frothy little beach coat and drop it beside her bag. His eyes roamed over her, and he cursed silently once again as he felt an unwelcome surge of heat rush to his loins. The shimmering cinnamon material of her one-piece suit molded Joanna's high breasts and boldly defined every hollow and curve of her slender body. Cut daringly low both front and back, and high at the thighs, the suit revealed a great deal of creamy skin and emphasized the long length of her shapely legs.
    "Come on in, Joanna," Susan called from the pool.
    Without so much as a glance in Sean's direction, Joanna stepped to the edge and dove neatly into the water.
    For the next half hour Sean watched as Joanna played with the Adamson's baby, who paddled with amazing agility between the three adults. After a while they each took turns caring for the child while the other two swam. Sean was just toying with the idea of joining them when Tony appeared.
    "Hi. Aren't you going to swim?" Joanna asked, eyeing his cream slacks and bronze silk shirt.
    "Not today. My back's still a little red from yesterday." Tony nodded toward the umbrella covered table at the end of the pool. "Why don't you take a break and join me for a drink?"
    "Okay." Grinning mischievously, Joanna turned to Susan and Bill. "Come on, gang, Tony's buying."
    "Great!" Bill plucked the baby from the water and urged the two women toward the side. When they had heaved themselves out he handed Lori to her mother and clambered out after them, and they laughingly dripped their way around to where Tony sat waiting.
    Feeling unaccountably irritated, Sean stood up and plunged into the water. Submerged, he swam the length of the pool three times before surfacing for air.
    He was resting at the side, breathing heavily, when Gloria jumped in beside him, feet first. She surfaced laughing and looped her arms around his neck, pressing her body intimately close to his. "Gotcha!" she cried gaily. "And now you have to pay a forfeit."
    Gloria tightened her arms and lifted herself higher against his body. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back and pursed her lips invitingly.
    Unable to resist, Sean glanced toward the table at the end of the pool, then looked back at the lush red mouth. Joanna wasn't watching, and it wasn't any of her business who he kissed anyway, yet he felt absurdly guilty. Determinedly Sean leaned forward, then hesitated. After a moment, his mouth twisted in a rueful half smile, and he reached up and detached Gloria's arms from around his neck.
    "Behave yourself," he said, smiling to take the sting out of his words. He turned the pouting woman around and gave her a little push and a playful slap on the rump. "Come on. I'll