I glared at him for another second, but I couldn't maintain my anger at him, looking at me with that innocent expression, water droplets sticking to his impossibly long eyelashes.
I shook my head, not able to contain the smile that made its way to my face. "You really are an ass**le. I can't believe you threw me in the pool. No one has ever thrown me in a pool."
He swam up to me, pulling my body to his and swirling us around in the water. "That's a shame. You're so pretty soaking wet." He leaned in and kissed me lightly on my lips, and then kissed each of my eyes and then my nose. Okay, he was forgiven.
"You're a really good swimmer," I noted.
He nodded. "When you grow up in hotels and cheap apartments, all with pools, you tend to spend a lot of time perfecting your swim strokes." He paused. "I didn't have much else to do. Some kids play basketball. I swam."
I studied him. "I guess I was under the impression that because your mom was… famous… that you had money."
"Hard to have anything when you spend everything you have on non-prescribed prescription drugs. And I know I used the word 'famous' before, but I would probably say 'well known' is a better term. But in the business, that doesn't always translate into 'well paid.' It just means she was willing to do things others weren't."
I stared at him, my heart hurting. What must it have been like for a little boy to know what his mom was doing every time she went off to a job like that? We were at the pool though and this wasn't the time to ask him any more questions.
I changed the subject. "Why'd you borrow that raft?" I asked, nodding my head toward it, floating nearby.
"Because I want to prove a point," he said, swimming to it and pulling it back to me.
"Oh God, is this part of your Titanic therapy?" I asked. "Listen, I'm not a professional. And I really think this requires one."
He winked at me. "Never let go, baby. Come on, work this through with me. I need you, Grace."
I laughed. And then we spent the next half an hour trying to get us both up on that narrow raft without tipping over. Every time he rolled off, he would sink under, holding one hand up in his imitation of a human popsicle. I was laughing so hard my face hurt.
Finally he was able to hold himself steady enough that he could drag me on top of him and we both lay there, eyes wide, moving as little as possible. A slow grin spread across his face and he whispered to me, "I knew it."
"Never let go, baby," I whispered back.
He laughed and that was all it took for us to capsize.
**********
Carson
We got out of the water and dried off and collapsed on the lounge chairs. I kept one eye on Grace's little bikini-clad body as she closed her eyes and dozed off for a little while.
I walked over to the bar and ordered us a couple beers and when she stretched and opened her eyes a half an hour later, I handed her her drink. "Thanks. Sorry, was I out for long?"
"I'm glad you were. I need you well rested for tonight." I winked at her.
She smiled teasingly at me. "Why? Are we going to work through more emotional cinematic issues?"
I laughed. "Same one. Only we're gonna use the bed as the flotation device."
"You really do need extensive therapy, don't you? I might have to start charging."
I took the beer out of her hand and pulled her over on top of me. "Name your price. I'll pay it," I said, squeezing her ass and tickling her ribs.
"Ahhh! Carson, you're gonna make me pee on you," she squealed.
"Kinky. But not at the pool, baby. Not everyone's into that kinda smut. You're gonna shock some–"
"Grace? Is that you?" a male voice asked.
My head came up and Grace's whipped around. She sat up and was over on her own lounger so fast, my hands were still positioned where her ass had been milliseconds before.
There was a tall, brown haired guy in swim trunks standing at the end of our lounge chairs looking at Grace with a worried expression on his face.
"Parker! Hi. Oh my goodness. I didn't even know you'd be here this weekend! Hi!"
"Hi," he said, looking over at me, clearly waiting for an introduction. Grace ignored it.
"So, how are you enjoying the conference so far?" she asked, tilting her head and smiling at him. I saw his eyes dart down to her practically na**d body before he answered, and I felt my hands clenching into fists.
"Uh, it's good. I really liked Professor Fulton's talk this afternoon. What did you think? I didn't see you there."
"Oh, um, I've been sitting in the back mostly. Yeah, the talk was good. Very informative." She nodded her head vigorously. I wondered if this geeky bozo could see how full of shit she was. If he couldn't, he didn't know her very well. That thought made me want to smirk, but I held it in.
Finally, he just stuck his hand out to me and said, "Parker Grayson, I'm in school with Grace."
I held out my hand and opened my mouth to speak when Grace cut in, "This is Rick… Ryder. He's in law school at, uh, Stanford."
Parker looked dubious. "Stanford, huh? Great school. How do you two know each other?"
"Oh Rick's parents are friends of the family. You know. We go way back. Right, Rick?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Right."
"Oh, well it's cool that you two got to see each other here then. What's your law focus, Rick?"