On Dry Land (Swimming Upstream #3) by Rebecca Barber Read Free Book Online

in his arms, Tyler set her bare feet on the floor, and before she had the chance to protest, he stole her seat in front of the computer.
    “Don’t, Tyler,” she whined as she tried to step in his way, but with the flick of his wrist and a few well placed kisses, Ava was squirming and trying to dart out of reach. Sighing heavily, Ava stepped backwards. “Did you want some breakfast?”
    “You trying to distract me?”
    “Would I do that?”
    “Yes,” Tyler answered quickly. That’s exactly what she’d try to do. And it was exactly what she was attempting.
    “Tyler…” her voice was thick like honey. Sickeningly sweet.
    “Ava…”
    “Don’t read it. Please. It’s not finished…”
    “What’s in it for me?
    Tyler watched as fear passed over her features before being banished away with a heavy swallow. He knew Ava was trying to be tough. Trying to force a confidence they both knew she didn’t possess, but it wasn’t about to stop her. When her fingers found the hem of his shirt, Tyler would have sworn he stopped breathing.
    “Ava…”
    “Yes, Tyler?”
    “Don’t start something you can’t finish.” His words came out as a desperate hungry growl. His whole body was on fire. Sitting in front of Ava’s computer, surrounded by scrunched up balls of paper, his eyes were glued to the pale thighs slowly being revealed.
    “Who said I can’t finish it?” Ava whispered, and with one movement, she pulled Tyler’s shirt over her head, leaving her naked.
    “Fuck, Ava!”
    But she was gone.
    Unable to force rational thought into his body, before he knew it Tyler’s feet were following the seductive sounds of her laughter.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
     
    Ava
     
    “Fuck, that was close,” Ava sighed as she lay in her bed stealing sporadic glances at the God-like man lying beside her.
    “I can hear the wheels in your head spinning, Ava,” he teased. That damn grin of his got her in trouble so damn often.
    “Liar,” Ava called him out as she trailed her fingers up and down his chest.
    He rolled over and winked, sending Ava’s heart into overdrive. Even after all these months Ava still had trouble believing that Tyler had chosen her. Over and over and over again, he continued to choose her.
    “So, now you’ve distracted me and it’s…shit. Well, it’s after ten o’clock. I want to know…” Tyler moved and suddenly Ava found herself pinned beneath Tyler’s weight. “How much of my life, of our life, is in that new book?”
    “Why? You worried?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Well, in that case you’ll be happy to know that nothing that has happened in our real life has made the cut.”
    “We’re that boring?”
    A snicker snuck out unexpectedly as Tyler placed a wet kiss behind her ear and tugged on her ear lobe with his teeth, sending Ava’s libido into overdrive. “Never. But I didn’t want to risk upsetting the guy who is the inspiration for the main character.”
    “Why not?”
    “’Cause I don’t want him to storm into my office and make a fool out of himself.”
    “Really? A fool out of himself.”
    “Yep! That would be totally embarrassing!”
    “Well, we can’t have that.” Tyler laughed as he rolled off her. “So, Miss Jacobs, do you have plans for today?”
    “Umm…”
    “Good! Then don’t make any. I’m taking you out. So, shower up. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
    “Bossy much?”
    “You have no idea, Short Stack!”
    “Shower now!” Tyler repeated as he slapped her playfully on her bare butt. “We’re leaving in fifteen no matter what you’re wearing!”
    “Agh!” Ava squawked as she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
    Through the thin door Ava could hear Tyler’s laugh, and shaking her head, Ava stepped into the shower and let the scalding water pound on her head. She was thankful for the moment alone. It had been a hell of a twenty-four hours. Some space and time was exactly what she needed.
    For the