She was driving me crazy.

It had started almost from the first, but the past few days – hell, the past few hours, it was like she’d ramped up her game or something.

She was in her room, sleeping. I could hear the soft, steady sounds of her breathing and was tempted to get up, go stand in the door and watch her as she slept. But that was a little too stalkerish, even despite the fact that I was developing an obsession with her.

Are you sure you wouldn’t want to kiss me, Liam?

Her sassy question, most likely inspired by a little too much wine, was still echoing in my head.

Did I want to kiss her?

Hell, yes.

I wanted to grab her and pull her up against me, cover that smart-ass mouth with mine and see what she tasted like.

Maybe if I didn’t know how things would end, I might have given into the idea too. But the last – and only – time I’d been with a woman, well, it had sucked. I shoved the memories and the frustration aside, as I set about making up the couch, so I could sleep.

Mila’s grandmother Millie had offered me a bungalow of my own, and if I wouldn’t have felt like I was slacking on the job, I would have taken her up on it just to get some much-needed distance in between me and the woman who was starting to haunt my every waking thought.

Kiss me, Liam…

The echo of her words danced through my mind once more, and I swore under my breath, straightening up and shoving the heels of my hands against my eyes.

I’d been tempted.

So, so tempted.

If she hadn’t been drunk, I might have even given in, although I had no doubt I’d regret it later on.

So would she. I had no doubt of that, so it was a good thing that she was more than a little wasted.

Still, what would it have been like?

I imagined feeling that wide, mobile mouth against my own and bit back a groan as my cock responded with enthusiasm. Down, boy, I told the bulge in my pants.

Not that my dick was going to listen.

Mila was almost like a drug, getting into my system without me really realizing what she was doing until it was already too late.

Lately, just the scent of her was enough to stir a reaction.

The libido I thought I’d managed to throttle into complete submission was raging out of control and just thinking about an imaginary kiss had things inside me raging to life.

I wanted to touch her, to do what she’d teased me about…kiss her.

Feel her sleek, supple curves against me as I pulled her close.

I wanted to feel her hands on me – not just the way they’d pressed into my chest earlier, but all over me.

Dropping onto the makeshift bed, I stripped off my shirt and let it fall to the floor next to my feet.

Kiss me, Liam…

“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, forcing my rigid limbs to move, laying down on the couch that hadn’t been designed to accommodate a six-foot-tall guy.

I bet that bed is nice and soft, a sly voice whispered inside my head.

Yeah, I bet it was too. And Mila would be even softer, snuggled under the covers and breathing softly.

Stubbornly, I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep.

* * *

“Come swim with us,” Mila said, dropping to her knees in the sand next to me.

I sat on a towel and tipped my glasses down to meet her eyes. She wore a bronze bikini that made her skin glow – and my fingers itched to roam all over those exposed curves.

Dragging my eyes away from her, I looked at the group of people congregating by the waterside. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye out,” I said, shaking my head.

“Oh, come on. You kicked off your shoes, put on some swim trunks…take it a step further,” she teased, reaching out to put a hand on my arm. “Relax a little, Liam. Live a little.”

She flung out her arms and tipped her head back. “Look around…there’s nothing here that’s going to hurt me.”

She’d delivered several variations of that argument throughout the day, insisting I didn’t have to accompany her everywhere.

I told her that my job insisted otherwise.

It was harder to tell her no this time, for some reason.

As if sensing my weakening resolve, she leaned in a little closer. “Come on, Liam. Come swimming with us.”

Don’t even think about it, my common sense warned me.

Not that I was going to get up and walk into the water right now. Mila’s nearness and the way the lotion smelled on her skin had caused my body to react predictably.

I wasn’t about to stand up and walk down to the water while sporting wood.

“No, thank you.” I pushed my sunglasses back up and focused on the horizon instead of her.

After a few more seconds, she rose and huffed out a breath. “You don’t know what you’re missing,” she said lightly.

I was better off not knowing too. I kept that in mind as the group waded out into the surf, then a little deeper.

I kept an eye on them, all the while scanning the beach.

She was probably right.

She was most likely safe here.

I hadn’t seen even one person – other than myself – who didn’t seem to fit in just fine.

Laughter and shouts drifted back on the air to me, and I turned my head, watching as they all fell into a pattern of swimming or just floating in the water.

The sun beat down on my head and sweat trickled down my brow. I swiped it away, eyes drawn once more to the impossibly blue water.

Mila was splashing one of the guys swimming with her in the face.

He responded in kind, and I watched, refusing to allow myself a reaction, as the man moved in closer to her.

But after a few seconds, Mila smiled, then turned away, swimming off and away from the group at a diagonal.

Some of the others had already headed in, and a quick glance at my watch told me that they’d been in the water almost an hour.

I squinted, searching for Mila in the next group of people to arrive on the beach.

A few more lingered in the water, but Mila wasn’t one of them.

I scanned the water, searching for where I’d seen her – there. There she was.

I blew out a breath and told myself that maybe going into the water with her wasn’t such a bad idea.

At least I’d be able to keep up with her.

Shaking my head, I got to my feet and moved closer to the water’s edge.

She was pretty far out. I was just about to call out to her when she went under the water.

I held still at first.

She was playing with me. Again.

But she didn’t emerge.

Finally, after another ten seconds, she did, and she slapped at the water. There was something intrinsically panicked about her motions, and my instincts went on red alert.

Kicking off the flip flops I’d worn down to the beach, I ran through the shallows before diving into the water, my arms cutting through the waves as I swam to her.