Wine & Roses Read Online Free PDF Page A

of a blurry patch of blue.
    Silently cursing her poor vision, she edged her way to the stairs and stepped down slowly, finding the water pleasantly warm around her calves. Once she was chest-deep in the shallow end, she ducked lower so the water’s surface encircled her shoulders.
    “It’s really nice,” she said, lifting her feet from the bottom to breaststroke her way toward Jason.
    “It’s perfect,” she heard him remark as she swam closer. “I noticed before that you had pretty eyes, Abby, but now that I can see them without your lenses in the way, I have to say, they are uncommonly beautiful.”
    Taken aback, she slowed to a stop and treaded water, wishing she could see his face clearly. “I’ll bet you say that to all the half-blind girls who take off their glasses to swim in your pool.”
    Gliding smoothly through the water, Jason moved a little closer to her. “You doubt my sincerity?”
    “I suppose I’m not very good at taking compliments graciously,” Abby admitted. “Thank you.” Glancing down, she noticed her slip billowing out around her waist. At the same time she became aware of how transparent the garment became when wet, the dark circles of her nipples clearly visible through the fabric.
    When she looked up, Jason was close enough for her to see his smoky gaze sweeping over her, lingering on her bare shoulders. The depths of his eyes glowed with a dangerous heat that ignited a warm, sweet sensation in her belly—followed by a bolt of alarm. Until now their flirting had been titillating but safely chaste. Now he was mere feet from her, both of them barely covered, with his gaze all but consuming her.
    Heeding a sudden compulsion to put space between them, Abby took a breath and dove under the water, swimming back toward the shallow end of the pool. Emerging, she wiped her eyes and glanced around her hazy surroundings, having lost track of her companion.
    Turning to look for him, Abby bumped her shoulder against something warm and solid, realizing quickly that it was Jason she’d collided with. He caught her arm to steady her.
    “Sorry, I didn’t see you,” she said, still catching her breath.
    “It’s all right. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
    “No harm done.” As she stood on the bottom of the pool, the water lapped around her midsection, leaving her more exposed now than she had been in the deep end. And Jason was so close to her now that his warm breath tickled her forehead. “Well, it’s getting late.” Her gaze flickered down to observe the water droplets trickling over the smooth curves of his shoulders and chest.
    “Were you thinking of leaving?”
    “Maybe I should.” But she didn’t move, compelled to remain right where she was even as she longed for the safe cover of her clothes.
    “Stay a little longer, Abby.” Under the water, Jason’s arms drifted around her waist and drew her gently to him. Surprised, she pressed her hands to his chest, damp but warm and pleasingly firm under her palms.
    Abby had no chance to reply. Bending his head, he pressed his mouth to hers, his lips moist and soft as they explored hers, and at once any protest that might have formed in her mind fell away. She welcomed his slow, deepening kisses, succumbing to the sweet desire that flared through her body. His hold on her tightened as her hands slid, seemingly of their own accord, to caress the enticing planes of his firm shoulders and biceps, the rigid set of his muscles a testament to his mounting passion. Abby felt both amazed and elated by the deep, quivering need blooming within her. She hadn’t experienced such urgent desire in so many years, she hadn’t thought these feelings still resided somewhere within her.
    As Jason continued to assail her mouth with luxuriant kisses, his hand rose to cup her breast, his thumb stroking the tip through the wet fabric of her slip, sending shocks of hot excitement through her body. A soft groan of pleasure escaped her throat, and she