Feeling much more in command of herself and her unruly hormones, she handed him one of the kick-boards and smiled. "Let's get those legs going."

After showing him how to hold the board, arms extended, they kicked slow, side-by-side laps. After the first few, Lexie showed him how to add his previous lesson by putting his face in the water and turning to breathe. Thirty minutes later she called a halt. Standing in the shallow end, she applauded her pupil.

"Great job, Josh. You'll be swimming like a fish by the end of the week."

He stood, and she silently applauded herself, as well-for keeping her errant eyeballs fixed on his face.

"Well, I really appreciate your help." He walked closer to her, stopping when only two feet separated them. Warmth seemed to radiate off his wet skin… or was that just her skin heating from the inside out? He looked big and solid and wet and delicious. And he was standing waaaay too close. "Is that it for tonight?"

She bobbed her head in a jerky nod. "Yes. But I'm very pleased, as you should be. You're a fast learner."

"You're a good teacher." He tunneled his fingers through his wet hair, and she bit down on the tip of her tongue to keep it from flopping out of her suddenly dry mouth at the rippling of all those lovely muscles. "When's our next lesson? How about early tomorrow morning?"

He certainly was eager to learn. "I'm afraid I'm already booked in the kid's camp for the two hours before my normal shift begins. What about tomorrow night at nine?"

"Tomorrow is Friday."

"Yes. Do you have other plans?"

"No." His gaze flickered downward and rested on her mouth for several seconds. That brief glance touched her like a heated caress, sending her pulse into double time. "I'm just surprised that you don't." He raised his gaze back to hers. "Tomorrow is fine with me. What's on the agenda for the next lesson?"

Lexie swallowed and fought the sudden urge to wipe her overheated brow. When the heck had the temperature risen to three hundred degrees? "Ah, I'll teach you how to float…" Her eyes widened and she gulped. Uh-oh. Floating involved touching. Lots of touching. His gorgeous, nearly naked body.

"You okay?"

No. I feel like I just backed into a furnace. "I'm fine. We'll be covering, um, floating, then I'll teach you some basic strokes."

Something heated and intense flared in his eyes and his gaze again dropped to her lips. Good grief, if he didn't stop looking at her like that, she was going to do something that would no doubt mortify her for the rest of her natural days. Such as blurt out a barrage of questions similar to, "Are you married or otherwise unavailable? Are you as attracted to me as I am to you? Does your mouth taste as good as it looks?"

Reaching out, he touched a single, wet fingertip to her shoulder, then slowly dragged it down her arm. Goose bumps beaded her flesh, completely at odds with the inferno his feather-soft touch ignited.

"Teach me some basic strokes," he murmured in a husky voice that tripled her pulse rate. "That sounds very… educational. I'm looking forward to it."

Without another word he nodded to her, then exited the pool. She tried to keep her eyeballs from staring at him, but her brain apparently wasn't capable of sending out the proper signals. Damn it, the man had barely touched her, yet he'd fried her circuits but good.

Her circuits took another jolt when he crouched to pick up his belongings. Holy cow. Those wet swim trunks clung to his backside in an exceptionally fine way. Hmm. Exactly where might that snakebite scar be, assuming he had one?

No sooner had that thought registered in her befuddled mind than he turned to face her. Holy double cow. Those wet swim trunks clung to his front side in an absolutely heart-stopping way. He blew that entire "cold water causes penis shrinkage" theory literally out of the water.

He draped his towel over his shoulders, then nodded at her. "Till tomorrow." Before she could reply-which could well have taken a week since she'd apparently forgotten how to speak-he headed down the darkened path and, within seconds, disappeared from sight.

Lexie blew out a deep breath. Walking to the edge of the pool, she hoisted herself onto the edge. She wrapped her towel around her, then pulled her cell phone from her gym bag. A quick glance at her waterproof watch showed it was ten o'clock. Sort of late for a weeknight, but Darla would understand. This was an emergency.

An image of Josh Maynard's wet body flashed in her mind and she hastily punched in Darla's number.

No doubt about it, this was a full-scale, five-alarm emergency. The instant Darla answered, Lexie said, "I think I've found my fling guy."

Chapter 3

"Oh, he definitely sounds like your fling guy," Darla said half an hour later over drinks at Mermaid's, a local bar. "You need to have sex with him. As soon as possible."

Lexie nearly spewed out a mouthful of margarita. Good grief, Darla certainly didn't mince words. Lexie managed to swallow, but the frozen drink went down the proverbial wrong pipe, starting up a coughing fit. While she gasped and sputtered, Darla calmly waggled two fingers at their waiter, indicating they wanted another round.

"Do I need to Heimlich you?" Darla asked, dragging a tortilla chip through the queso dip then popping the morsel into her mouth.

Lexie shook her head, coughed a few more times, then took a deep breath. Recovered, she glared across the table. "No, the Heimlich isn't necessary. But-"

Darla cut off her words by raising her perfectly manicured hand in a stop motion. "Let me guess," Darla said. "You agreed you need a fling. You want to have a fling. But now that there's actually a potential fling-worthy guy on your radar screen, you're nervous."

Lexie could only stare. "What are you, psychic?"

"No. Just been there, done that enough times to recognize the symptoms. You're wondering if your reaction to him was just some sort of hormonal aberration, and you're trying to mentally compile a list of reasons why you shouldn't have anything to do with him."

"Impressive. Do you tell fortunes, also?"

Darla dipped another chip and waggled her elegant brows. "Yup. I see lots of sex in your immediate future."

The mere thought crept warmth up Lexie's neck. "But what about those dozen reasons I came up with why I shouldn't have anything to do with him?"

"You came up with a dozen reasons why you shouldn't have sex with a man who makes you sweat in a pool? You're kidding. I can't think of one. You experienced a perfectly normal, healthy, physical reaction to an attractive man, and it's about damn time. So what's the problem?"

"For starters, I don't know anything about him. Like his marital status and if he's out on parole for being an ax murderer."

Darla waved a dismissive hand. "That can be remedied by asking a few questions. What else?"

Lexie hesitated. "It's sort of difficult to explain. I guess I'm surprised by my strong reaction to him. I'm surrounded by attractive men all the time, but I don't want to remove their clothes with my teeth."

"That's because you're honorable, and until about eleven months ago you were engaged to Tony. This is a simple matter of logic. You haven't had a man in almost a year. Good Lord, Lexie, that's just not natural. Your body's had enough of celibacy." She pointed a tortilla chip at Lexie. "If you were thristy, what would you do?"

"Have a drink."

"And if you're hungry?"

"Eat."

Darla leaned back in the vinyl-upholstered booth with a triumphant smile. "Exactly. Your body knows what it wants. What it needs. And what it needs is a good sweaty bout of stress-relieving sex. And it wants that sweaty bout of sex with that gorgeous cowboy. From what you've told me about him, he sounds fun and wild, and he's certainly temporary-all the rules for a fling."

"I know. Yet as incredibly tempting as a bout of sweaty sex sounds, I'm hesitant. How can I have sex with a stranger? For all I know, he's some sort of wacko."

"And for all you know, he's a sweetheart. You're not looking to marry him. Think of him as your 'transitional' man. You've been out of the social scene for a long while. You need someone temporary to ease you back in. Get you back in the saddle, so to speak. And a cowboy who ignites you like a blowtorch is just the man for the job." Darla leaned forward again, resting her elbows on the scarred wooden tabletop. "Look. You've mourned over your breakup with Tony long enough-"

"I have not been mourning. I've been busy. There's a difference." Lexie twirled her straw in the remnants of her drink. "You know I don't regret ending things with Tony. He was a good guy-at least until I lost him to the glamorous world of extreme sports-but I just couldn't live like that anymore. Never knowing if he was going to come home in one piece, spending half my time at the hospital." She dragged her hands down her face. "You know you're at the hospital too much when you're on a first-name basis with all the emergency room nurses. Give me a nice safe accountant. An insurance guy. Banker. Chef. Gardener. But no more dare-devils. You're supposed to grow old with someone-not because of them. I can't go through that again."

"You'd be insane to even consider it," Darla agreed as their waiter deposited two more margaritas in front of them, then left them alone once more. "Any idea what Tony's up to?"

"Nope. I assume he's on his Everest expedition. After that he planned to run the Amazon on a raft." She shot Darla a rueful smile. "I wouldn't be surprised if after the Amazon he decided to kayak over Niagara Falls."

A visible shudder shivered through Darla. "He was insane, Lexie. He had absolutely no fear. Skydiving, bungee jumping, rock climbing… it just wasn't right. And let's face it, after he won that skydiving competition, after almost dying in the attempt, he turned into a-"

"Jerk. I know." Lexie blew out a sigh. "You would think that a close brush with death would have made him less inclined to risk himself, but instead it pushed him the other way. Made him take more risks, seek out higher levels of danger. Like he had something to prove."

"Mmm-hmm. And he sure didn't seem to mind all the adoration from those assorted blondes, brunettes, and redheads who came along with that extreme sport lifestyle. Guess he felt he had something to prove in that area, as well."

"His womanizing definitely was the final nail in the coffin," Lexie agreed.

"I have to say, you took the whole thing pretty calmly, Lex. I would have damaged the guy."

"I wasn't calm at all. I was hurt and angry, but honestly more sad than anything. Sad for him that nearly losing his life set him on such a self-destructive course. Sad for both of us that his success so drastically changed the sweet guy I fell in love with into someone I couldn't live with."

A determined look entered Darla's eyes. "Well, it's over between you, and now, finally, you've met a man who rings your bell. If you're worried about not knowing him, then get to know him a bit first. How long is he staying at the resort?" She shot Lexie a knowing look. "You did check, didn't you?"

A guilty flush heated her skin. "Yeah, I checked. He's registered for the next three weeks."

Darla raised her brows. "Seems to me you could find out a whole bunch about a man in a lot less time than that. In fact, I'd say a clever girl could find out everything she needed to know over a few drinks."

"He hasn't asked me to go for drinks."

"Have you lost your voice? Ask him. Invite him to join you for a beer after your lesson tomorrow night." She waved her hand around, encompassing their noisy surroundings. "Bring him here to Mermaid's. It's cozy and fun. Or how about the bar at the resort? Ply him with liquor, ask him probing, personal questions until you know him better, then have your wicked way with him." She waggled her brows. "Find out if that snake left a scar."

Lexie sighed. "I cannot believe I'd ever want to see another scar. Tony had more of the damn things than Florida has sand fleas. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing. You're in lust. It's normal. Accept it, and act on it. You need to do this. You need to stop working nonstop and enjoy yourself. You're young, attractive, unattached, primed for action and suffering from a crisis-level lack of sex. The timing is perfect. I mean, when were you planning to have a fling? When you're a grandma? Ask him out."

"What if he isn't interested?"

"Then he's an idiot and you're better off without him. Did he seem uninterested during your lesson?"