insecurities, Ronnie whipped her T-shirt over her head like a child ripping off a bandage.
But her witty remark died on her lips as her gaze raised to Ace’s. Before she could utter a sound, he said, “Very sexy.”
Then she was scooped up in his arms and summarily dumped into the swimming pool.
When she came up sputtering water, the tension of the moment had been broken. Ace was suddenly next to her splashing water in her direction.
“You were moving too slow. I didn’t have the patience to watch you dip one toe, then the other before you declaredthe water too cold. So I thought I’d help you along. You’re welcome.”
“You—” Without thinking, Ronnie jumped on his back and pushed his head under the water.
Ace burst to the surface, laughing. He quickly grabbed her around the waist and held her so she couldn’t get at him again.
As her own laughter began to subside, she began to realize that only a thin, wet layer of bathing suit separated her bare skin from his. Feeling her self-consciousness returning, Ronnie began to kick her feet and flail her arms, sending wave after wave of water at Ace until he dumped her back into the water.
She felt safer, hidden under the surface of the water. “I’m free,” she said, goading him to chase her.
They played a cat-and-mouse game around the pool, carefully dodging the other occupants. Ronnie was able to evade Ace’s grasp for quite some time, until she made the mistake of feinting left when she should have feinted right.
“I’ve got you now,” he shouted, as she found herself locked in his arms.
Before she could stop herself, she said, “And just what are you going to do with me now that you’ve got me?”
“Whatever I want, of course.” His tone was light and playful, but she could see heat rising in his eyes.
Suddenly it was more than Ronnie was prepared to handle. She didn’t come to Las Vegas to have an affair. Especially not with the ridiculously hot Sexy Chef.
Immediately Ronnie began squirming in his arms. But that only made the situation worse. Ronnie applied a little pressure against his muscular embrace and quickly realized there was no escape. Ace’s arms were like bands of steel holding her against him. And her struggles causedan exciting friction between their bodies. Suddenly the heat in his eyes wasn’t the only thing rising.
Clearly a bit startled himself, his grip on her loosened and Ronnie wriggled free. In a full panic now, she dove under the surface and swam to the nearest ladder. She didn’t care that she had to now walk halfway around the pool to get back to her things.
Barely taking the time to fully cover herself, she gathered up her clothes and started heading for the hotel entrance.
“Ronnie!” Ace called out from somewhere behind her.
Darting a quick look over her shoulder, she waved in his general direction. “I’m going to go back inside,” she called to him. “I’ll see you later.”
Ace stood on the pool deck, watching Ronnie literally run away from him. Granted, things had progressed faster than he’d intended, but he hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from her.
Ronnie had always been sassy and confident. Ace couldn’t quite wrap his mind around it, but it seemed that since Ronnie had lost weight, she had become self-conscious.
It was obvious in the way that she’d dressed for the pool in layer after layer of clothing. It had seemed as though she was avoiding disrobing in front of him. From the way she’d been acting, he’d half expected to see gruesome burn scars or massive stretch marks, but her body had been tight and toned. The only thing wrong with her shape had been that matronly tank suit that covered up too much of it.
He’d wanted to stare, openly admiring her new figure, but, on impulse, he’d decided to drop her into the pool. He’d gotten the desired reaction. She’d been too angry to focus on her hang-ups … at least at first.
If only he’d been able to keep his hands off her, she might not have run from him. But that only made him more determined than ever to let her know how he’d been feeling about her.
“There you are. I’ve been looking all over this place for you,” Ace heard Garett say, walking toward him, looking like a fifties throwback in his straw fedora, white cabana shirt and pale plaid pants.
“Get a load of you, Frank Sinatra,” Ace said, looking his publicist up and down.
“Hey, if you think I’m not going to make the most of my time in Vegas, you’re crazy.”
“And here I thought you traveled all this way to give me moral support.”
“Why don’t you dry off and come inside, Ace. We have work to do. The press junket is tomorrow, and I want to do a little prep.”
Ace started across the pool deck to the lounge chair where he’d left his things. “I do press all the time. I really don’t think I need to prep.”
What he really wanted to do was go after Ronnie. He had a feeling that the more time he gave her, the more she’d be able to convince herself that nothing had happened between them.
“Of course we have to prep,” Garett said, coming up behind him. “We need an angle. Something that will make you stand out from the other contestants.”
Ace shrugged, drying himself off with his towel. “I’ll stand out from the others when I win.”
“We can’t wait until then. We need to find an angle now. Something that will make them follow you for the entire competition.”
Ace pulled his on T-shirt over his head. He should have been used to Garett’s push for publicity stunts by now.
Instead, he chose to ignore him most of the time. And it wasn’t lost on his friend that Ace was distracted at the moment.
“You’re not focused. Does this have anything to do with the girl I saw hurrying away from you just now?”
“She’s not just some girl. That’s Ronnie.” At his friend’s blank expression, Ace continued. “You know, Veronica Howard. She’s in the competition.”
“Are you kidding me? I didn’t even recognize her.” Garett rubbed his chin. “I don’t know how I feel about you mingling with your competitors. Unless, of course, you were trying to get in her head. Psych her out a bit?”
Ace waved him off. “We have a healthy rivalry going, but I’m not trying to get in her head. Ronnie and I are friends.”
Garett studied him for a minute, nodding his head. “I get it. Not in her head, just in her pants.”
Ace was so taken aback, he didn’t deny it. He just gaped at Garett.
He snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s perfect. We’ve found our angle.”
“What are you talking about?” Ace asked, stepping into his flip-flops.
“I’m talking
