Charlie hadn’t really thought this through. Specifically, she hadn’t thought through the part of this that involved walking out of the restroom wearing nothing but her one-piece. It was her most


    modest swimsuit-she’d worn it under her cocktail dress for that reason. But it still exposed more of her body than she wasfortable showing.


    But if she was worried about Nichs’s prying eyes, she shouldn’t have been. He was actively swimmingps when she emerged. She looked around, confirmed they were alone in the pool area, and quickly walked toward the water. The goal was to get in before his head emerged from the water.


    She almost made it. The water was up to her waist when Nichs came to a stop a few feet in front of her, wiping water from his eyes. She quickly moved down to the bottom step, but that put her too close to him. She couldnd on the floor of the pool, which would push the water just below her chest, but that would shrink the space between them to almost nothing.


    “Hi,” he said.


    That word had never sounded so filled with heat. Itbined with the intensity in his gaze to create a zap of electricity between them. Charlie felt the urge to take a step back, but that would be even worse. She felt… exposed. But mostly she was just scared of what she was feeling right now.


    So she took option number three. She couldn’t go back or forward, so she went under.


    With a silent thanks to her mom for making her take swim lessons as a kid, Charlie sunk under the water and swam around Nichs, speeding toward the other end of the pool. Distance. Distance was exactly what she needed right now.


    When she finally emerged, she realized her feet could no longer touch the bottom. She grabbed the side of the pool while she blinked the water away and looked for Nichs. He was swimming again. Vigorousps.


    She worked her way around the edge until she could touch the bottom. Maybe she should get out and go to the hot tub. She could make it over there before he saw her walking, possibly. She needed to do it now, though, before he finished hisps.


    “Woo-hoo!”


    The sound bounced off the walls, making it impossible to determine the direction. Charlie automatically turned to look at the door to the pool area, figuring that had to be the answer. Sure enough, a small group of five women stood there. Shellie was front and center.


    “We heard this was where the party was!” Jamie yelled.


    Charlie immediately wanted to duck back underwater again. Yes, this was exactly what she didn’t need. The two biggest body shamers in her life nearby while she was in a swimsuit. They were the very reason she felt selfconscious about her body to this day.


    Without asking to join, the five women descended on the pool, tossing towels onto the lounge chairs lined up along the length. Charlie edged her way back until the water covered her shoulders and part of her neck.


    “Hey, Nick!” Jamie called out. “Hope you don’t mind that we joined you two lovebirds.”


    Resisting the urge to correct her on the shortening of his name, Nichs swam over next to Charlie on the wall. It was a move that somehow established them as a couple.


    “We could go,” he said in a voice low enough so that only she could hear.


    Charlie shook her head. As much as she wanted out of here, the idea of emerging from this pool with these women watching horrified her. No, she’d wait them out. Even if it meant sticking around here until the skin on her fingers puckered.


    “What’s the story on you two?” Shellie asked after she and Jamie had a quiet discussion between them whileing down the stairs into the pool.


    “How did you meet?”


    Oh. They hadn’t discussed that. Why hadn’t theye up with a story? “Nichs and my boss are best friends,” Charlie blurted out before Nichs could speak. The goal was to avoid him talking at the same time with a different story. Sticking to the truth was the safest bet, she figured, even if it wasn’t morous.


    “No, sweetie, tell them the real story.” Nichs moved closer, putting his arm up on the side of the pool so that his hand draped down onto her bare shoulder. “We were at a party at Derek Hughes’s house. You know, the guy who’s been all over the newstely?”


    “The missing billionaire dude?” Jamie asked.


    She and Shellie were gradually wading toward Charlie and Nichs. Charlie wanted to drop a big rope down the center of the pool to keep them on their side, but she knew that was unreasonable. They couldn’t hurt her.


    Not physically, anyway.


    “Who?” Shellie gave Jamie a confused look.


    Jamie turned to look at her friend. “Derek Hughes. He’s this guy who runs a huge yachtpany. He escaped to Hawaii when someone called him ‘hot’ on their website. Anyway, they tracked him down and he’s fine, but he’s…fine.”


    Charlie felt like she should know what Jamie was talking about, but she didn’t really keep up with Silicon Valley gossip. She preferred reading a good book to scrolling social media feeds.


    “You know him?” Jamie turned her attention to Nichs, giving him a starstruck look she hadn’t had before. Before, her stares at him had seemed a bit on the predatory side.


    “Sure.” Nichs shrugged. “Silicon Valley’s a pretty small town, especially with us all working in the same industry. Anyway, Charlie was there with her boss and his girlfriend. I saw her from across the room, and that was the end for me. I knew I’d never look at another woman again.”


    “Aww. That’s so sweet,” one of the other women gushed, swimming over to tread water next to Shellie and Jamie. Neither Shellie nor Jamie shared simr sentiments. Instead, Shellie scrutinized Charlie and Nichs.


    “Is your boss worried you’ll quit?” Shellie asked, staying in ce as Jamie and the other woman swam off a little. They were discussing how long they could hold their breath underwater.


    “Me?” Charlie asked. Shellie was looking at her, but the question seemed out of ce.This is the property of N?-velDrama.Org.


    “Yes. You know, when you marry his friend here. Is he worried you’ll quit?”


    “I doubt it.” Charlie shrugged. She tried to imagine what her boss would think if she really was marrying Nichs. “He’s happy for us. Besides, he knows how much I love my job.”


    “And your job is…?”


    Still assessing. Charlie felt like she was interviewing for a position at a bigpany. It was a very ufortable feeling.


    “I’m head of HR for TravTech. It’s an app developmentpany. They have the top tutoring app in the world.”


    “HR. Is that…human resources?”


    “Yes.” Charlie answered the question very matter-of-factly, daring Shellie to say something negative about it. “Payroll, benefits, that sort of thing.”


    “Don’t let her fool you,” Nichs jumped in to say. “She’s Justin’s right-hand person. Without her, that ce would not be able to run.” “That’s awesome,” Shellie said. But she looked bored.


    Truth was, Shellie didn’t really care what Charlie did for a living. Charlie wasn’t even sure this assessment had anything to do with high school. It felt like they were trying to figure out how someone like her hadnded an amazing man like Nichs.


    After a long, weighty silence, Nichs spoke up suddenly. “I’m feeling a little tired. Plus, I could use some alone time with Charlie. You ready to go back to the room, sweetie?”


    Normally, she’d be all too eager to get away from Shellie, but that meant stepping from the safety of the water. She looked over at Nichs, who was giving her a questioning look.


    Somehow, he figured out exactly what was bothering her. “I’ll go grab us some towels.”


    Nichs turned, managing to lift himself out of the water while making it look like it was as easy as walking. Charlie noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that even Shellie was watching him. In fact, all sshing seemed to subside as he crossed the room to the shelves where extra towels had been stacked for guests.


    “Excuse me,” Charlie said.


    She swam for the steps, knowing that there would be no other way to get out while also keeping her body covered. She waited while Nichs carried the towel to her, then she used that towel to cover herself as much as possible as she climbed the steps to leave the pool. It looked awkward, and part of the towel got wet in the process, but it kept her mostly covered, and right now, that was all that mattered.


    “See you in the morning!” she heard Jamie call out as Charlie collected her dress and followed Nichs from the pool area.