Page 51 of Random in Death
They stepped into the tropical air of the pool house with its potted palms and brilliantly blossoming vines.
The water sparkled, a perfect blue.
“If I don’t work in a swim every few days, I forget how good it feels in here.” She shed her vest. “I figured on hitting the gym, then the dojo, then the pool today. But one out of three’s not bad.”
“Should I feel guilty I managed all three?”
She glanced back as they both undressed. “No. I’ll catch up eventually. I bet you worked, too.”
“A little here, a little there. The progress on shoring up the infrastructure of your building’s coming along well.”
On that, she rolled her eyes and dived into the water.
On her first lap, she heard him dive in. He swam beside her, an easy pace. While sleep had been a desperate need, the swim, the cool water around her, her muscles warming and stretching, relaxed her, body and mind.
After six laps, she surface dived and did the last two underwater.
Then, she came back up, sucking in air before rolling over to float.
“I could do a cop bar.”
Rather than float, he lazily treaded water beside her. “You could, as it’s yours, but it’s more than a bar, isn’t it? The space is a music venue, a club. I’ll add you have the Blue Line only so many blocks away for brews and fake burgers and such.”
“Yeah. Well, cops like music. And not just for cops.”
“Which would limit your patronage.”
“Clubs are noisy. You wouldn’t go there—a cop wouldn’t—to bounce around the sticky parts of a case like you do at a bar like the Blue Line. Same with civilians. They’re not going to brainstorm a work problem, or talk shop, right? People go to a club to blow off steam or look for somebody who wants to get laid. So…”
She rolled again, treaded water with him. “Off Duty.”
“Clever. I like it. Your waiter who’s put in a long day serving others is off duty there as much as the cop who’s spent the day on the job. Your admin, store clerk, and so on. They’re all Off Duty.”
“Great. Now I don’t have to think about it anymore.”
“I’ll have some design options tweaked to suit for you to look over in a few days.”
At that, she just sank beneath the surface.
On a laugh, he went under, grabbed her. And pulling her to him, met her mouth with his. Still locked together, they surfaced.
Legs lazily kicking in tandem with his, she studied him.
“You didn’t want me in something more comfortable. You wanted me naked.”
“I’d be mad not to.”
“And your cap off to the nap included pool sex.”
“Well now, naturally.”
“Plus, it’s still Sunday.”
“With more than enough time for Sunday pool sex before it’s Monday.”
“How long can you hold your breath?” On the question, she fixed her mouth to his, and pulled him under.
Long enough, she thought, to pump heat into her blood. Long enough for him to take them both deep, into the water, into the kiss, then push off the bottom so, wrapped together still, they shot back up into the air.