“It’s really hot out here,” she said, pulling his attention away from her breasts.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. How about we get in the water?”

“Sounds like a great idea.”

They turned and headed into the waves. He grabbed her hand as the water lapped at their ankles, then their knees and thighs.

“Oh this feels so good,” Harmony said, as they ended up standing waist deep in it.

“Care to dive in?”

She shook her head. “No thanks. You don’t even want to know what water does to my hair.”

Today she wore her hair straight, though he liked it curly, too. “I’m not even going to ask.”

“Good. Don’t. But feel free to dive away.”

“I’m going to.”

He turned and dove into the next wave, coming up feeling a hell of a lot cooler, and hopefully more clearheaded.

Harmony had dipped her body up to her shoulders. How women managed to stand in an ocean with waves crashing over them and not get their hair wet was a goddamned mystery to him.

He made his way over to her and swept her up into his arms.

“Time to get wet,” he said, and lifted her up.

Harmony screamed, but she was laughing as he set her body gently into the water. He still held on to her.

“Don’t worry. Your hair is safe with me.”

She wound her arms around him. “You do not want to see this hair all wet.”

“Oh, see, now it’s a challenge to see it. What happens to it? Does it stick out all over? Because mine is sticking out all over.”

“Yes. It sticks out all over. It’s a mess.”

“I’ll bet it’s a sexy mess.”

She shook her head. “It is not.”

He let her down in the water, but she held on to him, which meant her body slid down over his.

Yeah, still torture.

“I guess if you want to see my hair wet, you’ll have to get me in the shower. And to get me in the shower, you’ll have to see me naked.”

He frowned. “Don’t tempt me.”

She turned away, giving him one hell of a sexy smile. “Don’t you know? I’ve been trying to do that all day.”

She headed out of the water, her hips swaying as she walked onto the beach.

Barrett decided he should stay in. He needed to cool down some.

Get her naked. What the hell, Harmony? Was she playing some kind of game with him?

Then it hit him. Of course. She’d just gotten dumped by her boyfriend. She needed a self-esteem boost, and he’d been nearby right after it happened.

She was rebounding. She wasn’t really interested in him at all.

He knew what that was like. He’d been dumped before, and the first thing he wanted to do was lick his wounds and go right after the next available female.

That’s all Harmony was doing, hitting on the next available male, which had just happened to be him.

He’d give her a pep talk, tell her she needed some time to heal after her breakup and remind her that she wasn’t ready yet.

And he absolutely wasn’t the right guy for her—for obvious reasons.

Then they could go back to being friends again, and this crazy sudden attraction he felt for her would go away.

Now that he had a plan, he headed out of the water.

Thirteen

Harmony had fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure if it was her utterly draining morning, or the rotating ceiling fans that had lulled her into a prone position on the sofa, but she opened her eyes to realize she’d conked out, cold. She picked up her phone to see she’d been out for over an hour.

She sat up and realized she wasn’t the only one snoozing. Barrett was on one of the chairs, his feet propped up on the ottoman, his arms laced over his stomach. His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and even. She took a moment to simply admire his beautiful body.

Even asleep, he looked formidable. She wanted to snap some photos of him with her phone, but that would be taking advantage without his permission, and she wouldn’t do that. Instead, she leaned back, grabbed her ice water and took a long, slow sip from the straw, enjoying the eye candy. Her mind filled with visuals of stripping naked and straddling him, rubbing herself against his board shorts until he got hard.

She inhaled a deep breath, imagining him taking hold of her hips, rising up to kiss her. The kiss would be hot, passionate, and he’d fill his hands with her breasts. She could already imagine her breasts rubbing against his chest as he rose up only long enough to shed his board shorts, his cock springing up, hard and pulsing.

He’d sit again, only this time she’d slowly lower herself onto him and—

“Stop that.”

She startled out of her fantasy, snapping her gaze to Barrett, who hadn’t moved but his eyes were now open.

“Stop what?”

“Staring at me like that.”

She swallowed past the dryness in her throat evoked by her oh-so-intense fantasy. “Like what?”

“You know like what.” He pushed upright and grabbed for his water, then leaned forward to take a drink, but not before she caught sight of his erection.

He must have been awake longer than she was aware, and he’d caught her staring at him. Had her expression given away her thoughts?

Her lips curved and she leaned back against the sofa and took a long swallow of water, then set the glass down. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, so don’t play innocent with me, Harmony. And there’s something I need to talk to you about.”