Taking It All Off. Cindi Myers

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СКАЧАТЬ sugar-white beach and the aquamarine ocean, the lacy palm trees and the lounging couples. The sun warmed her skin, melting away the tension. Her real life seemed very far away. “Being here has made me realize how much I need to relax.”

      He continued to hold her hand long after she would have pulled away. “I know just what you need.” He strode across the sand, pulling her along with him.

      “Wait!” She stumbled, hurrying to keep up with him. “Where are we going?”

      “To the bar. We’ll have you relaxed in no time.”

      WHY HADN’T HE noticed before what a great smile she had? Jake sat on a bar stool next to Glynna, watching as she twirled the miniature paper parasol in her glass of rum punch. She had small, even white teeth and full, pink lips. Luscious lips, made for kissing.

      He straightened and blinked. Where the hell had that thought come from? He looked down and discovered his own glass was empty. He shoved it across the bar. He’d better slow down, if his mind was taking off in wild directions like that.

      She shifted to sit with her back to the bar, facing out toward the ocean. The bar itself was open to the elements on three sides, so that the sea breeze brought the smell of salt and suntan oil and the shouts and cheers from the volleyball game to them. “To think I didn’t want to come here,” she said.

      “Why didn’t you want to come?” he asked. Not that he’d jumped at the chance to take the assignment. He had too many other irons in the fire to spend a weekend at the beach.

      “I don’t usually write fluff pieces like this.” She looked at him over the rim of her glass. “And I have so much work to catch up on, and errands and…stuff.” She laughed. “Meaningless stuff.” She sipped her drink, making long slurping sounds as she drained it. She giggled. “And I thought it wouldn’t be fun.”

      He told himself he shouldn’t laugh, but he couldn’t hold back the chuckles. This was a different Glynna McCormick than he’d ever seen. Away from the office and out of those severe suits she always wore, she was softer, funnier…and sexy as hell.

      He was a fool for agreeing to spend the weekend with her without putting his hands on her. His gaze moved over the curve of her breasts at the neckline of the swimsuit top, to the smooth triangle of thigh showing at the slit of her sarong. She was a woman made for touching, and he was a man not used to denying himself.

      If he wasn’t already crazy, he was liable to be half-insane before the weekend was over. Maybe he should sleep on the beach….

      “Tell me about the nude photos.”

      The question startled him from his musings. He stared at her. “What nude photos?”

      She laughed. “The ones that fell out of your bag at the office the other day.” She leaned toward him. “Are you freelancing for Playboy or something?”

      He coughed. “Yeah, right. If Playboy was knocking on my door, I wouldn’t need this gig.”

      “Then what were they for?”

      He shifted on the bar stool, picked up his empty glass and set it down again. “It’s for a show at a gallery downtown. A series of photos of artistic nudes.”

      “You mean a gallery showing of just your photos?”

      He nodded, watching her out of the corner of his eye. “It’s not a big gallery, but if the work sells well, it could lead to bigger things.”

      “I doubt very many photographers get their own showings. I’m impressed.” She opened and closed the parasol, sliding it in and out of her fingers. “It was a beautiful photo. Who was the model?”

      “The wife of a friend of mine. He came with her to the shoot and I agreed to give them prints in lieu of a modeling fee.” He shrugged. “You do what you have to when you’re paying your dues.”

      “And what are you paying your dues for? I mean, where do you want to go with this?”

      “I’d like to go on to exhibit nationally. To be represented in New York, be one of the top names in art photography.”

      “You have the talent. I guess all you need now is luck.” Her voice was breathy, wistful.

      He leaned toward her. “What about you? Do you do other writing besides your work for the magazine?”

      She shrugged. “I have some investigative pieces I’m working on. But I’m so busy I don’t really have time to devote to them.”

      “If you could do anything, be anything, what would it be?”

      “I’d like to go to New York to write for a major magazine there.”

      “Then why don’t you do it? What’s stopping you?”

      She frowned, and traced her finger through the condensation on the side of her glass. “My father…”

      He put his hand on her arm. Her skin was cool and smooth. She looked at him, but didn’t move away. “Are you going to let him run your life forever?”

      She did jerk away from him then. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      “I’m not blind. I see the way you jump every time he says hop.” He sat back and reached for his glass, wishing it weren’t empty. “You’re a grown woman. Why not act like it?”

      “Go to hell, and take your opinions with you.” She shoved off the bar stool and stalked away, swaying only slightly when she stepped out onto the sand.

      Cursing under his breath, he turned from the sight of her and signaled the bartender for another drink. Now he’d done it. Just when he thought they were connecting. Though why should he care? He and Glynna were from two different worlds. His father and grandfather had been oil-field roughnecks who spent their time off in Telephone Road ice houses, drinking beer and playing pool while Glynna’s family sat behind desks in clean suits all day, then drank cocktails and munched hors d’oeuvres around the swimming pool in the evenings. She’d had her career gift-wrapped for her the day she graduated from some upper-crust college. She didn’t know what it meant to struggle to prove yourself. So why should her opinion of him matter at all?

      GLYNNA DRESSED for dinner, but all she really wanted was to take three ibuprofen and crawl under the covers until morning. Why, oh why had she drunk those two rum punches? The sun hadn’t even set and already it felt like the morning after.

      But her head wasn’t the only thing that hurt her. Jake’s words had wounded like a dart in her flesh, all the more painful because she knew they were true. Of course she had been letting her father run her life. Anyone would see that on the surface. But did they understand he was all she had? It had been just the two of them since her mother died when she was nine. He’d discouraged relationships with men, even talked her into living at home until two years ago, when she’d insisted on her own place.

      So here she was, twenty-six and alone. She’d never done anything her father didn’t approve of. For a long time, that had worked for her. She’d made a life for herself, but maybe that wasn’t enough anymore.

      And now here was Jake, offering opinions she hadn’t asked for and imposing СКАЧАТЬ