Page 18 of Resist

Realwell.

Crawling on top of me, he locked his arms so that the weight of his body didn’t rest on mine, and then he performed push-ups while singing he wanted to do all the things I wanted him to do, his lips barely grazing mine each time he lowered himself down.

That’s it! I can’t. I can’t take anymore.

“Okay. Okay.” I pressed my hands into his chest as he pushed up, stopping him from lowering himself again. “Time’s up. Get off.”

His eyes widened. “What? Wait! I’m not finished yet.”

“I am.” I gave him a light shove. “Lucas, move.”

He blinked, climbed off, and offered me a hand to stand up. Heat blazed in my cheeks as I rose to my feet, and I felt a little dizzy, my hand shooting out to the back of the chair to steady myself.

Corinne and the guys clapped and cheered.

“Dimps, Dimps, Dimps,” Josh said, his applause slow and purposeful. “Never knew you had it in you, buddy.”

Lucas smiled, his posture both proud and a little bashful. “I need to brush up on a few things, but I like where the performance is headed.”

“I reckon Helena likes where the performance is headed too. Might need to change your panties after that one, hey boss lady?”

Corinne facepalmed.

“What? Look at her.” He pointed at me. “She’s all flushed. Dimps did good.”

“Dimps did okay,” I corrected him, my voice harsh, my eyes seething. “And I’m not flushed. It’s hot up here, under lights, as you well know.” I turned to Lucas. “You did okay, but there was no direction, no … act.”

He jolted at my assessment. “No act?”

“Yes! What was the story behind the performance? What was your theme? Each act has a theme. Yours had none.”

“Hold up a little,” Matt interjected. “That’s a bit a rough. What Dimps just did on stage is the most confident and ‘in character’ I’ve ever seen him.”

“That may be so, but what character was he?”

Their faces drew blank and none of them answered.

“I was a character in control of what I wanted and whatyouwanted.” He stepped forward, and I noticed just how wounded and aggrieved he appeared. “I was a gentleman.”

“Yes, you were.” I brushed past him to leave the stage. “But we have a lot of work to do before you perform that act for our customers.”

“So you liked it?” he called after me.

Stopping my hasty steps, I closed my eyes, sighed, and then opened them before pivoting to face him. “I didn’tnotlike it.”

Truth be told, I’d liked it a lot. Too much. Enough that I now needed a cold shower, and like Josh had said, a change of panties.

My skin heated under thewarmth of the sun as I stepped onto the wooden deck surrounding the hotel pool and carefully made my way toward an empty sun lounger. The air was humid and thick, the perfect weather for a quick dip in the water and an afternoon with a good book.

Unrolling my beach towel, I laid it over the plastic slatted lounge, placed my book down and then stretched toward the sky, my dark-lensed Ray-Bans shielding the harsh rays from my eyes.

“Boss lady has come to play,” a voice said from behind me.

Turning to face the pool, I spotted Josh with the rest of the guys and some of the crew: Corinne, Dex, Patsy, and Johnno the security guard. I smiled and gave them all a quick wave then dipped my sunglasses and glared at Josh, who was sitting on the edge on the pool, his ginormous legs kicking in the water.

“My name isHelena, Josh, not boss lady.”

He winked then bit into an apple all the while smiling at Corinne who was in the water by his legs. I shook my head and let it go. I wasn’t in the mood for arguing. I just wanted to relax by the pool before the next leg of the tour commenced the following day.