Tap Out by Michele Mannon Read Free Book Online Page B

underwater.
    Wildly, she kicked her legs, attempting to break free of both the water and the vise gripping her ankle. Something, or rather someone , had yanked her back under.
    She reached out. Her hand connected with something soft and slippery, something to grab onto and use as leverage. Hastily, she worked her fingers up to the elastic waistband and wrapped them tightly around it. The material resisted, dragging the top of her hooked-on-for-dear-life fingers down along a warm, hard surface in a wet caress.
    Still, it worked. Warm sunlight caressed her cheeks as she surfaced, gasping for breath as her head bobbed above water. She’d been given another chance. This time , I’m not going to blow it. The thought flickered through her mind like a passing sunbeam. Briefly. Before she went under once more.
    An arm—the swimmer’s!—wrapped around her waist, pulling her in tight against his side. And, blessedly, upward, until her head broke the surface.
    She sputtered and blinked away the pool water from her eyelashes.
    Her silk blouse spread out around her like a bright purple jellyfish but Sophie didn’t care.
    Laughter rang out loudly. She glanced at the Boys, pointing and fist pumping the air like their favorite wide receiver had just scored a touchdown, and ignored them and their less-than-sympathetic sense of humor. Not even the Boys were going to buzz kill the feeling of euphoria sweeping over her. She’d been given another chance.
    “Are you nuts, pinning me to the bottom of the pool like that? You nearly killed me.”
    Sophie tensed, horrified. The taut arm holding her pressed up against his side flexed. Caden.
    Utter humiliation. Figured he’d be the cause. Crapola .
    “I barely touched you,” she snapped, trying to figure out how to work herself free of his hold without drowning before he recognized her.
    “See this?” He flexed a bicep and her gaze fell to his enormous, well-defined muscle before shifting to the floatie. “Weights. Plus my muscles are shot from swimming extra laps.”
    Was there anything unattractive about the man aside from the floatie strapped to his arm? She pushed the wayward thought aside, turning her head to eyeball the rim of the pool. A hopeless cause—she’d never make it, even if she launched herself off his body. Better get their reintroduction over with. Bracing herself, she flipped her hair off her face and glared at him.
    “Holy shit on a brick, you’ve got to be kidding me!”
    She opened her mouth to give him a what-for but his hold on her slackened and she slid down his wet body. Her nipples pebbled up. Reminding her that not much separated her boobs from his rock hard body, aside from a soaked silk blouse, sheer cami, and thin, lace bra.
    Holy shit on a brick is right. This was Caden. Her savior? The cause of her intense , immediate arousal? CADEN. DANG IT! She flexed her fingers, frantically searching for the elastic, leverage so she could hoist herself up and off of him. Hoping somehow she’d manage to keep her head above water, then miraculously morph into an Olympic swimmer and sprint the heck away from him. She found the elastic, and then some. And then more some, a heck of a lot of more some.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He pulled his hips back, breaking himself free from the contact the tops of her fingers had made with... sweet Mother Mary.
    The water rippled as the elastic snapped back into place against his taut stomach. She made a grab for his bicep. Think documentary. You just landed—literally—on the hottest welterweight around. One within reach. Several long inches of him. Get a grip , Sophie!
    He tried to shake her off.
    Kicking with both feet, she squeezed her hand, pulled herself up and then managed to weave her other arm around him.
    “Are you fucking insane?” His emerald green eyes smoldered with anger. He tugged his arm back but she steadfastly held on even as her body slammed up against his chest.
    Caden flexed beneath