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Chapter 2 : Jade - Steam
The pool area looked deserted, which suited Jade just fine ...
all she
wanted to do that evening was relax. It had been a hard week,
leading up to
this vacation, and she was still tense from all the problems at work.
To be
able to take a few laps in the pool, then relax in the jacuzzi, sounded
like
heaven.
She lowered herself in the pool and slowly swam across, enjoying
the feeling of the cool water on her body. There was nothing
better than
feeling the knots in her shoulders dissolve with each stroke.
As she swam, though, she noticed someone walking out of the
corner of her eye. It was a man ... and he was heading towards
the jacuzzi.
Damn, she thought, I didn’t want to have to share. Sighing, she
turned back
to her laps.
Once her muscles were completely stretched out, she lounged in
the
pool for a few minutes, hoping that whoever it was would leave the
jacuzzi.
No such luck, though ... she couldn’t see over there, because there
were
trees hiding it. A nice, private place -- but she didn’t want
to have to share
with a stranger. It looked like she had no choice, though, so
she hoisted
herself out of the water and, without toweling off, headed over there.
When she pushed the tree leaves aside, she saw the man laying
in
the jacuzzi, his eyes closed and his head back on the edge. He
didn’t hear
her come up, so she studied him for a moment ... okay, so maybe she
didn’t
mind sharing with him, after all. He was pretty damned good looking
--
dark skinned, with a curly ponytail and broad shoulders. Not
bad at all ...
Jade cleared her throat. “Hi,” she said.
He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Oh, god, I didn’t
even hear
you come up. Hi ...”
Oh, my god, thought Jade -- he had the most gorgeous eyes she’d
ever seen. “Mind if I join you?” she asked.
He smiled. “Not at all ...”
She stepped into the hot tub, gasping at the temperature.
“Damn,
that’s hot, especially after being in the pool!”
“Yeah, it is pretty hot ... it feels good, though. By the
way, I’m
Howie ...”
She managed a smile through her grimaces as she sat in the scalding
water. “I’m Jade ... nice to meet you.”
For a moment after she sat, she closed her eyes and adjusted to
the
water. When the heat finally began to seep into her pores, she
opened her
eyes again, to find Howie watching her through half-closed eyes.
His gaze
somehow managed to raise the already high temperature ... when he noticed
her looking back at him, though, he averted his eyes.
“So,” he began, “you’re staying here?”
“Yeah ... my friends and I are on vacation.”
“That’s nice,” he sighed. “I’m actually working while I’m
here, but
I’m at least taking tonight off to relax.”
“Relax ...” Jade sighed with him. “I plan to do plenty of
that in the
next week. I’ve been working my butt off.”
“I know the feeling,” Howie sympathized. “Sometimes it feels
like
life never slows down, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah ...”
They fell silent again. Jade tried to stare at him without
being
noticed ... he was simply gorgeous, and she was having all kinds of
thoughts
about what they could be doing in the jacuzzi together. She blushed,
though
... those weren’t the kind of thoughts you were supposed to have about
a
complete stranger.
She stopped. Why not? If she was determined to have
a good time
on this vacation, why not do it all out? She might never get
a chance again
to do *exactly* what she wanted, when she wanted ... it was now, or
never.
“Hey, Howie,” she said, a slow smile spreading across her face.
“Do you ever get the urge to do something completely crazy?”
He noticed her grin, and smiled himself. “Sometimes ... why?”
“Oh, no reason ... just ...”
With that, she stood up, leaned over him, and kissed him squarely
on the mouth.
