Page 86 of Men or Paws

Rocco reached for my waist to keep me from falling back, but his forward momentum was too much as he fell on top of me and pushed me under the water before I had a chance to hold my breath. He quickly pulled me up, our bodies pressed against each other, both of us out of breath and spitting up water.

Thinking that we were playing, Houdini swam around us, trying to get closer, each time bumping into Rocco and pushing us into each other. Our bodies slipped and slid against one another, the sensation like a hot oil massage, putting more than a few of my erogenous zones on high alert. If it weren’t for the fact that my body was completely wet from head to toe and I was still trying to get water out of my nose, I probably would have self-combusted from the skin-on-skin contact. The feeling of him against every part of me propelled my brain into overload.

I could die happy tonight.

“Houdini, out of the pool. Now,” Rocco said as he kept eye contact with me.

The dog swam back to the steps of the pool in the shallow end, getting out and shaking the water off.

Rocco’s strong hands were holding me tight, like I was hanging off a cliff and he didn’t want me to fall. He removed one of them to slide some hair out of my eyes.

“Are you okay?” He caressed the side of my cheek, so caring, before dropping the hand back down to my waist.

“Yeah . . .” I nodded, swallowing hard, still trying to wrap my brain around what had just happened. “The cramp is gone.”

His laughter shook my body. “Good to know.”

I laughed with him, but then made the mistake of glancing at his lips.

He reciprocated, dropping his gaze to mine.

Rocco’s laughter faded and his chocolate-lava-cake brown eyes turned a little darker, closer to double-fudge brownie, actually, with eighty-six percent cacao.

I knew that look.

He wanted to kiss me.

My heart banged in my chest.

I was sure he could feel it since our bodies were still plastered together, just as I could feel every nook, cranny, bump, and muscle on his body.

Rocco was enjoying holding me, there was no doubt about it.

Was he going to kiss me?

I had no idea.

Did I want him to kiss me?

More than I wanted to breathe.

Take my life’s goals, my dreams, my plans for the new business, even the fifteen thousand dollars he was going to pay me, and toss them all into the trash.

Just one kiss from Rocco would make my life complete.

Kiss me.

Unfortunately, sending subliminal messages was not my expertise, and there was no way I was going to kiss him first because of the contract. If anyone was going to do the kissing, it had to be him, so I couldn’t be blamed for it and get fired.

Wait a minute . . .

Rocco looked like he was contemplating the kiss again.

He glanced down at my lips and inched closer.

The sound of someone clearing their throat tore us away from our sexy staring contest.

Noooooooooo!