At the last possible moment, Theo came to his senses. With a kick, he dove beneath Elle and swam to the far side of the pool before surfacing. He resumed his laps, trying like hell not to look at her, trying not to even think about her in that green bikini. After a few minutes, she climbed out of the pool and went into the house. He should have been relieved, but instead he was cursing himself for missing an opportunity he never should have even thought about taking.

Obviously, it was for the best that she’d gone in when she did.

Except she was back now, walking across the pool deck toward him with a wineglass in each hand. A hot rush of awareness washed over his skin as their eyes met. She left a glass of wine on a table by the pool for him and took hers back into the hot tub.

And this time, he followed her.

He sank into the hot, swirling water, keeping as much space between them as possible. Elle sipped from her wine, watching him out of those gorgeous green eyes. Her hair was tied up in a messy knot on top of her head, and he wanted to drag his fingers through its honeyed depths and send it tumbling over her shoulders. He wanted to kiss her, touch her, taste her. He wanted to lose himself inside her until she screamed his name as she came apart in his arms.

Instead, he reached for his wineglass and took a sip. The warmth of the cabernet in his stomach did nothing to soothe the lust raging inside him. “So, ah, how are you liking Rosemont Castle so far?”

A wide smile spread across her face. “I love absolutely everything about it.”

“I didn’t really need to ask, did I?”

“No.” She took another sip from her wine. “This is more than a job for me, you know?”

Something flickered in her expression, something almost vulnerable. He knew almost nothing about Elle other than how much she wanted to stay here in his castle. “What did you do for work before coming here?”

She scrunched up her face. “Well, I’m a failed actress living in Orlando, so I did the logical thing and took a job as a theme park princess.”

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw to hide his smile. “An actress?”

“I gave it a try after high school, but my heart wasn’t really in it.” She stared into the red depths of her wineglass. “The truth is, I’ve never really known what I want to be when I grow up. I guess I still don’t.”

“There’s freedom in that, though,” he said. “You can be anything you want to be.”

“I suppose that’s true.” She set her wineglass on the pool deck and leaned back. “Do you feel like your life was already planned out for you, being a Langdon?”

“Not exactly. I’m free to live my life as I wish, more or less. I guess…I wasn’t expecting to become an earl at twenty-eight. This title should have gone to my father before me.”

“Your father passed away?” she asked softly.

“He died of a heart attack a few years ago.”

She reached out to touch his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, I think you’re going to be a great earl,” she said, lightening the mood between them. “And I hear you have ladies lining up for your attention once you get home to London.”

“So I’m told,” he said dryly.

“I guess that’s one perk of becoming an earl at twenty-eight,” she said, watching him closely.

“I’m not so sure I’d call it a perk.” His gaze dropped to her lips, red and glistening. Right now, hers were the only lips he wanted to kiss.

“No?” She scooted closer, her eyes dancing with the reflection of the water swirling around them. “You’re single, right?”

“Yes.” Painfully so.

“I mean, I totally understand if you bat for the other team…”

He gave her a wry smile. “That is definitely not the problem.”

She scooted toward him again. “Then what is the problem?”

He leaned forward so that their lips were only inches apart. His cock was thick and aching with his need for her, his blood pumping hot and fast through his veins. “You.”

She sucked in a breath. “Me?”

“You,” he repeated, and then he closed the remaining distance between them and kissed her. His lips brushed hers, and it was like something inside him roared to life for the first time in…well, he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt like this before. His entire body hummed with an awareness that was stunningly intense. He opened his eyes, staring into Elle’s, so wide and green. “You, Elle, are the problem.”

“Oh,” she whispered. “I, um…”

And she leaned forward and kissed him back. Her lips parted, inviting him inside. He reached out to cup her face, his tongue stroking hers with a languid yet frenzied intensity. She tasted bold and spicy like the wine she’d been drinking.

“Been fantasizing about this moment,” he mumbled, nipping at her plump bottom lip as his hands slid around her waist, finally touching her soft skin the way he’d wanted to for so long.

“Really?” She scooted closer, resting a hand on his chest.

“I’ve been going mad wanting to kiss you since the first moment I laid eyes on you.” He brought her face back to his and drank her in, touching and tasting, kissing her until his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest and his cock strained painfully against the confines of his trunks.

“Theo,” she whispered against his lips.

“Yeah?”

“I thought you were kind of a jerk when we first met, but I wanted to kiss you too.” She was smiling at him then, her green eyes twinkling dangerously, and he thought he might not ever get enough of her.

“This is a terrible idea,” he said as he brought his lips back to hers.

“The worst.” She gripped his shoulders, moving closer. His hands tangled in her hair while hers scraped down his back, stopping just short of his swim trunks.

“We can’t let it happen again.” His voice was gruff, almost hoarse, so great was his need for her.

“Just one kiss,” she murmured, skimming her fingernails down his chest. “Which means we should make it a really good one.”

“I would say it’s already excellent, wouldn’t you?” He trailed his lips over her jaw and sucked at the pulse point on her neck.

Elle moaned. “Excellent, yes, but let’s shoot for phenomenal.”

“I’m up for the challenge.” He slid her into his lap—sideways to keep things from getting out of control—but now he could hold her in his arms the way he’d been aching to all night. He ran his palms down her back, reveling in the way she shivered beneath his touch.

She leaned in, her breasts pressed against his chest so firmly he could feel the hard buds of her nipples through her bikini top. She wrapped her arms around him and brought her mouth back to his, hard. Her tongue tangled with his, hot and wicked, and they kissed, and kissed, and kissed some more.

His hands roamed her body as he familiarized himself with the soft swell of her breasts, the dip of her stomach, and the firm globes of her ass. Every inch of her was feminine perfection, and this kiss was going to fuel his fantasies for a long damn time.

“I think we’ve achieved ‘phenomenal,’” she whispered. She drew back and sat for a moment, chewing her bottom lip and staring at him. Her hair was a mess, her cheeks flushed, her lips swollen from his kisses. God, she was exquisite. “Phenomenal kiss aside, you’re basically my boss, and I don’t want what just happened to jeopardize our professional relationship.”

“You have my word that it won’t.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she said with a smile.

“I expect nothing less.” He smiled back at her, and it felt fucking good to smile. He felt lighter, happier, more alive right now than he had in weeks, maybe even months.

“Okay then, I guess this is where I say goodnight.” She pressed her lips to his one last time, then climbed out of the hot tub.

He shamelessly checked her out as she bent over to pick up her towel. No need to pretend he wasn’t absolutely captivated by her body and the way she filled out that bikini. “Goodnight, Elle.”

“Goodnight, Theo.” She wrapped the towel around her hips, picked up her wineglass, and padded off in the direction of the house.

He hoisted himself out of the hot tub and dove straight into the pool because he had a hell of a lot of cooling off to do before he could even think about going back inside.

“I can’t believe you kissed him!”

Elle popped a forkful of grilled chicken salad into her mouth as her cheeks burned. “I can’t either. It was…hot, you guys.”

“Of course, it was,” Megan said with a knowing look. “Just look at the man.”

“I still think you kissing Theo was a bad idea,” Ruby said, taking a bite from her own salad. They had come into town for a late lunch to discuss Elle and Theo’s hot tub encounter away from the prying eyes and ears of the castle, eventually winding up at an outdoor café in Towering Pines’s quaint downtown area.

“It was definitely a bad idea,” Elle agreed, her stomach twisting uncomfortably. “Because it wasn’t a ‘two unattached people had too much wine and made out’ kind of kiss.”

“What kind of kiss was it then?” Ruby asked.

“The forbidden kind,” Megan said with a theatrical sigh, placing her hands over her heart. “You kissed like two people who’ve been fighting their attraction to each other for a while now.”

Elle winced. “Definitely that kind of kiss.” And in the bright light of day, she couldn’t help feeling it had been a mistake. He’d said he wouldn’t let it affect their professional relationship, but really, how could it not? She would never look at him again without remembering the hot thrill of his tongue in her mouth and the passionate—almost reverent—way he’d touched her.

“But anyway,” Elle said, reaching for her water glass, “we both agreed it can’t happen again.”

“Why not?” Megan asked, pouting in exaggerated disappointment.

Ruby gave her a look that said, “Really?”

“Because we need any chance we can get of having our jobs here become permanent,” Elle said. “The last thing we need is for Theo and me to have some kind of fight or break-up or whatever and he decides to send us packing the minute our contract is up.”

“Fine, if you must be all rational about it,” Megan said. “But I don’t think he’s going to change his mind about selling anyway, and either way he’s going to be moving back to England soon, so I really don’t see the problem with you two having a quick and dirty fling.”

“And this is exactly why you’re taking a break from dating right now, Megan,” Elle said, exasperated.

Her friend straightened in her seat. “Well, tell me how you really feel.”

“I’m sorry.” Elle rested her head in her hands. “I’m upset with myself, and I’m taking it out on you.”

“I think we all need a glass of wine to go with our lunch,” Ruby said decisively, motioning for their waitress. “What’s done is done, and there’s no point in us fighting about it now.”

So they drank some wine, and Elle indeed found her mood much improved by the time they left the café. When she got back to the castle, she would find Theo so they could talk like two rational adults and clear the air between them. And so what if she wanted him now more than ever? She could be a big girl about it.

After lunch, she, Ruby, and Megan wandered through various cutesy shops downtown. Elle—naturally—found a pair of turquoise-beaded sandals she just had to have.

“I absolutely love these shoes,” the cashier, a girl named Sandy, said as she rang them up. “I have a pair too. They’re as comfortable as they are gorgeous.”

“Excellent.” Elle grinned at her.

“Are you new in town or just visiting?” Sandy asked as she slid the shoes into a hot pink shopping bag with the store’s logo on it.

“Just visiting for now, but we’re hoping that might change.”

“Where are you staying?” Sandy asked.

“Up at Rosemont Castle,” Elle told her.

Sandy’s eyes grew huge. “I’ve always wanted to see the inside of that place. What’s it like?”

“It’s gorgeous. It feels like you’re inside a real British castle, or what I imagine that would be like anyway.” As she spoke, yet another idea was taking root in her mind. What if they offered guided tours at Rosemont Castle? She was willing to bet Sandy wasn’t the only one eager for a look inside, and thanks to her previous job experience, Elle would probably make a decent tour guide.

By the time they made it back to the castle, she was feeling much better about things. She went upstairs to change into her jogging gear and took Remington for a quick loop around the castle’s property. The foster pets were settling in nicely, and their very first guests were expected to check in on Monday—a husband and wife vacationing for their tenth anniversary and a younger couple still dating. Both had expressed interest in the Fairy Tails program.

Azalea, the deaf pit mix from the shelter, weighed heavily on her mind. Elle had checked online that morning and seen that she was still awaiting adoption, and she was more determined than ever to bring her into the program as soon as a space opened. After her jog, she walked Remington past the guest house, hoping for a chance to speak to Theo, but he didn’t seem to be home.

She went back to the castle and took a shower, then walked down to his office. The door was shut, and if he was inside, he didn’t respond to her knock.

Theo was a coward. He knew it as he sat there in his office and ignored her knock. A bloody fucking coward. He’d kissed her, and now he needed to face the consequences. He needed to apologize for his mistake and promise it would never happen again.

The problem was, it hadn’t felt like a mistake.

Kissing Elle felt like the only right thing he’d done in a long damn time. He worked late that night and the following night, barely leaving his office except for meals. He bumped into Elle and her friends only in passing, but things seemed surprisingly unaffected between them when he did see her. By the time Friday rolled around, he had decided to forego any conversation with her about the kiss and do his best to put it behind him. A couple of his buddies from grade school had invited him out for beers, and it was exactly the distraction Theo needed.

His father had sent him to boarding school in London when he was eleven. After that, he’d only spent summers in Virginia, but he’d managed to keep in touch with a few friends here regardless.

“You’re an earl now, huh?” Sean said, tapping his beer against Theo’s. “That sounds fucking impressive, man.”

“And we can say we knew you when,” Tucker added.

“It’s an unusual circumstance, that’s for sure,” Theo agreed, taking a long pull from his beer. An unusual circumstance…that could describe his whole damn life. Growing up in America as a member of the British Aristocracy. Losing the members of his immediate family one by one. Inheriting the title so young. None of it had happened way it should have.

“I’m sorry about your grandfather. He was a good man,” Tucker said.

“Thank you.”

“He really made an impression around here, that’s for sure,” Sean said. “I don’t think there was a person in town who didn’t know him and have something positive to say. We’ll miss him.”

“So will I.” Theo was pensive as he polished off his beer. Why had Alistair made a bigger impression on the locals here in Virginia than in Great Britain where his true obligations had lain? It was surprising to hear his friends talk about his grandfather this way when he was so used to hearing his own family’s disappointment.

“Hey, there’s Jake Reardon,” Sean said, gesturing toward the door. “Did you hear that his wife passed a few weeks ago?”

“I hadn’t heard.” Theo signaled to the bartender for another beer. He didn’t know Jake well, but the town was small enough that their paths had crossed from time to time. And everyone knew what had happened to the poor man soon after he graduated high school. His bride had fallen during their wedding reception, hit her head, and gone into a coma, and she’d lingered there for years.

“Jake!” Tucker called.

Jake approached the bar. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt, his eyes weary in a way Theo hoped he never experienced. “Theo, it’s great to see you again.”

“Likewise, old friend.” Theo clapped Jake on the back. “So sorry about Alana. I just heard the news.”

The lines around Jake’s eyes deepened, and he nodded. “I appreciate that. Sorry to hear about your grandfather too.”

Theo bought him a beer and spent the next two hours catching up with his old friends. By the time he left the bar, he had plans to meet them again next week to watch the game. Since he’d had more than a few beers by that point, he called for James, Rosemont Castle’s driver, to take him home.

As James pulled up outside the guest house, Theo saw a figure seated on his front steps. A blonde figure that made his pulse pound and his blood heat.

It was Elle, and she was clearly waiting for him.