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Madison Blair fended off a shiver as she stared down at the still aquamarine water of the resort's penthouse pool. Sure, the Hearthside Inn kept the Olympic-size swimming facility a comfortable 86 degrees, but that didn't prevent Madison's moment of trepidation.

She didn't want to just swim, after all. Nope. A well-known international travel writer, she wanted to follow her hidden sensualist's instincts for once and skinny-dip the way women in Cancun or the French Riviera did. The way people at exotic resorts all over the globe did when they weren't bogged down by reticence and caring what other people thought the way Madison always had.

Maybe she could do it if she didn't totally skinny dip. She could just take a lap topless and let the water caress her skin. It was three a.m. The chances of her being discovered by a fellow insomniac were probably pretty small.

Just dive in! the voice inside her head shouted. When had she ever simply plunged headfirst into any adventure, big or small? She had booked this week at the Hearthside in order to indulge herself for a change. To take a few risks and experience the kinds of exciting activities she normally only wrote about. And after a day in the wintry wonderland of the Adirondack Mountains, Madison was very ready for the heated pool.

She had a mere week before she needed to be back at her office in Manhattan. One week to see if she could live for herself instead of everyone else in her life. Dipping one toe into the warm water, Madison reminded herself that she'd already ditched her no-commitment boyfriend and the dead-end relationship she'd been hanging on to for two years. Surely that proved she was ready for some serious change.

And she'd already booked an appointment at the inn's famous spa and salon tomorrow for some blond highlights to her medium-brown hair and just about any other beauty procedure they could dream up for her. She was evolving into someone who could skinny-dip, damn it.

Lowering her fluffy white beach towel with the Hearthside's elegant monogram on the corner, Madison bared her two-piece bathing suit to the empty penthouse pool room and reached for the clasp of her halter top.

While she was evolving into that fearless skinny-dipping female, she would settle for a topless lap. Bathing suit bottom firmly in place.

A woman had to start somewhere.

Allowing the purple Lycra top to slither to the concrete, Madison smiled at the rush of power she felt over being half-naked and perched on the edge of the pool. I am woman. Hear me roar.

Springing off her toes and into the water, Madison plunged into the pool and straight to the bottom. Warm enough not to shock her body yet cool enough to feel refreshing, the temperature was perfect. She stayed underwater and cut through the wavy walls of blue with her arms, her hair floating all around her like a mermaid's mane.

She smiled at the seductive sensation of water gliding over her naked breasts. How easy men had it to swim without the constant tug of elastic at their shoulders. This delicious freedom was what self-indulgence was all about.

Infused with a renewed commitment to her week of unrepentant decadence, Madison reached the other end of the pool and propelled herself to the surface. Shooting through the liquid ceiling, she breathed deep to fill her lungs.

And nearly sprang right out of her bikini bottoms.

Her eyes locked on a pair of men's black wing tips. Goose bumps that had nothing to do with the temperature prickled her skin.

Frozen, Madison lifted her gaze from the leather shoe tassels to take in gray flannel trousers. And ? gulp ? a very sexy crisp white shirt opened at the neck to reveal a hint of muscular chest. A yellow-and-blue-striped silk tie looped around his collar, unknotted.

A fantastically gorgeous man grinned down at her ? every inch of her ? with a wicked gleam in his hazel eyes. "Little late for a swim, isn't it?"

To be continued...



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