I pushed through the door to the juice café on the outskirts of the Olympic village. It was blistering hot. Hotter than fuck. Jim had tried to run me hard in the gym, but he couldn’t distract me from the pool. It was still closed, and we hadn’t gotten an update.

I stopped two feet short of the counter when I looked up. My eyes locked on those crystal baby blues of hers and my chest seized. Ava.

What the fuck was she doing here?

I thought she might pretend she didn’t see me. But other than the girl making a drink, we were the only two in this place. There was nowhere to hide. I thought about turning around and walking back out the door. It was what I should have done.

She pressed her pouty lips together. Shit, she was beautiful. Everything in me tensed.

“Hi,” she greeted me quietly.

“Didn’t know you would be here.”

“At the Olympics or in this bar?” she smarted off.

I folded my arms. “Don’t tell me you’re pissed, sweetheart.”

“Me? Why would I be?”

“No reason.”

I could tell she wanted to say something. Her eyes flickered.

“Order.” The girl behind the counter placed a frozen drink on the counter.

Ava spun around. “Obrigado.”

“You speak Portuguese?” I asked, suddenly curious about what her tongue could do.

“There’s a lot you didn’t bother to get to know about me. You didn’t stick around long enough.” There was more than an edge of bitterness in her voice. She was hostile. I could feel the anger radiating off her skin.

She shoved past me on the way to the door.

I grabbed her by the elbow before she was out of reach. “Hold on. That’s not fair.”

“Let go, Blaine.”

I hadn’t forgotten. She was right—I hadn’t been fair. But I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing it.

My fingers slowly uncurled from her arm. “Just thought we could have a drink.”

She huffed. “Yeah, I know how that goes with you.”

“What? You didn’t have a good time?” I winked. We both knew the answer. I’d heard sounds from those luscious lips that night that had haunted my dreams ever since.

I saw the blood rush to her cheeks. She remembered too.

“I didn’t say that,” she whispered, trying to keep the conversation private.

I shrugged. “Then what’s the problem? You’re in Rio. I’m in Rio.”

She chewed her bottom lip, driving me crazy. Suddenly, running into this American spitfire seemed like the answer to my pent-up energy. I couldn’t swim today, but I knew what a night with her was like.

I studied her blue eyes. Ava had long legs that were sun-kissed from her heels to her sweet paradise. She had a graceful way of swinging her auburn hair off her shoulders. She was gorgeous and sexy. And fucking smart. The girl knew her sports shit.

“The problem is I’m not one of your swim groupies. I’m not one of those girls who follows you around.”

“Hey, I like those girls too.”

Her eyes flared. “Then go find one of them to screw over.”

“Ava.” My voice echoed in the café. Was it possible to convince her she was the kind of distraction I needed? The perfect workout for my body.

“Looks like you’ve landed on your feet again like a roo after—”

“Don’t try to pretend that you care what happened to me.” She stopped me.

“I did care. I do.” I breathed. “Did things work out with Sports Now?”

“No. I have a new job.” She closed her eyes. “I have work to do. I need to go. Good luck, Blaine. Really. I hope you do well. I’m sure you’ll sweep the gold. Everyone is talking about it.”

“Since there’s no pool to swim in I don’t see how that’s going to happen,” I grumbled.

“What? What are you talking about?” Her tone quickly changed.

My brow furrowed just thinking about it. “The damn pool is closed for repairs. I can’t get in for laps.”

“What? That’s ludicrous. It has to be open.” Suddenly, she seemed interested in what I had to say. I saw her shoulders relax and she spun to face me, squaring off her shoulders.

“It’s not. Bastards closed it for a broken valve or some shit. I can’t seem to get any answers.”

“What about the diving pools? Will they let you in there?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No. Booked with divers. My coach tried. It’s going to be at least another day before I can swim.”

My fingers tingled. My back tensed. I had a full day of no swimming in front of me, and I had just run into the best fuck of my life. It was starting to feel like the Olympic gods had put her in my path for a reason. I wanted those tan legs wrapped around my waist. Didn’t she know she could solve all my problems with one good fuck? Okay, maybe two.

“Does anyone on the committee know?”

She touched the straw to her lips and sucked slowly. God, she was killing me. My eyes trailed over the smoothness of her throat and landed between her breasts. Damn, she had great tits. I had to restrain the dirty thoughts in my head and answer her.

“Not yet. But I’m going to file a complaint.”

“What if I could help you get their attention?”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I work for the American PR firm handling the press for the Olympics. I could get a story out there for you. Tell everyone what’s happening to all the swimmers.” She paused. “Not just the world’s favorite Australian asshole.”

I whistled. “Such strong language for a pretty mouth.”

She cocked her head slightly, waiting for a real answer. “If you’re not interested, just say so. I have to find a PR story to get to my boss by five. I don’t have time for this, Blaine.”

“Wait, wait.” My hand instinctively wrapped the curve of her waist.

There was still an ember between us. It just need to be stoked a little, and I’d have her back in my bed. I saw this as a complete win-win. The press would pick up my story. I’d get to fuck a gorgeous woman. Tomorrow, I’d be back in the pool.

“I think we could work something out.” I smiled at her.

“This isn’t some kind of negotiation. It’s not last time.” She eyed me. “I’ll listen if you want to tell me what happened and I’ll write a piece for it. That’s it.”

“I seem to remember last time you had a pretty good time.”

“We’re not talking about it. That’s rule number one.”

I shook my head. “Rules? You’ve got rules now? I forgot it took a while before you stopped being so uptight. But once you did… Holy fuck, Ava.” I chuckled when I saw her cheeks turn crimson.

“Shut up. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” She stormed out of the café, carrying her drink, and blazed a path into the sun.

I jogged after her. “Ava, I’m kidding. I won’t mention it.”

She kept walking even when I caught up to her. “Go back to the village, Blaine. One of the groupies would be excited to spend time with you. I’m sorry I ran into you.”

“Don’t say that. It was Olympic destiny, don’t you think?”

She huffed. “No, I think you’re a dick. And I never should have slept with you. I’m not making that mistake again. Forget I mentioned the PR offer. It has officially been rescinded.”

Damn. She was making this hard. And my cock too.

“Thought you wanted to help me.” I tried to stoke the flame.

“Changed my mind.” She paused to sip the smoothie.

“Change it back,” I growled. “And stop telling me to rack off.”

“Rack off?” Her brows knitted together in confusion.

“Yeah, you know, get out of here.”

I could tell she was trying not to smile, but it happened anyway. “I don’t think I’ll ever get all those Australian sayings.”

“And I don’t think I’ll ever get all of your American ones.”

I could see it. She was considering it. The walls were coming down.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” she grumbled.

I slung a heavy arm around her shoulder as if she were an old friend, not the woman I lusted over for the past month. “Never, baby.”

She rolled her eyes, tossing my arm from her body. “No calling me baby. None of those weird animal names either. None of that Australian stuff. This is a professional interview. You’re not getting back in my pants.”

“Aren’t you wearing a skirt?” I glanced toward the tops of her thighs and followed the lines to the fabric hugging her ass.

She huffed. “Seriously?”

I laughed. “Calm down, I’ll do the interview.”

“The interview isn’t what I’m worried about.”

I felt the challenge. The thrill of the chase in front of me. It might have been a month since I had taken Ava to bed, but we’d be back there in a matter of hours. I’d forget I wasn’t in the water. I’d forget I was pissed as hell. I’d forget everything but how fucking amazing she was.