Chapter 9: Heat and Water

After the intensity of the morning, the three of them stretched out across the bed, breath slowly returning, skin still warm from touch and release. It was Faith who finally broke the quiet, glancing toward the soft rustle of palm fronds just beyond the open doors.

“I think a dip in the pool is in order,” she said, brushing a hand through her curls and sitting up. “Paul needs a little time to recharge.” Her tone was teasing, but there was affection in it too.

Paul smiled. “A man needs to breathe now and then.”

Faith looked over at Kacie and added, more softly, “Maybe it’s a good idea to slow down anyway. A little time to talk. Learn a bit more about each other before we get completely lost in bed.”

Kacie nodded in agreement, still tracing lazy circles across Faith’s thigh. “I’d like that,” she said. “But I can’t promise there won’t be teasing. Or a lot of touching.”

Paul grinned as he stood. “Sounds like a perfect afternoon to me.”

They gathered themselves lazily, not bothering with clothes as they padded toward the pool just beyond the sliding doors. But before they made it down the steps, Faith paused, turned back, and picked up the phone.

“I’m ordering drinks and snacks,” she said, giving them a wink. “I plan to spend some time in the water. And we’ll need fuel.”

When the front desk answered, Faith spoke with breezy confidence, her tone just this side of flirtation. She asked for a couple of cold beers for Paul, something fruity and tropical for herself and Kacie — sweet but strong. For food, she requested a platter of local-style pita bread, warm and charred, with small bowls of dips, nuts, dried mango slices, and a few other light snacks meant to be savored under a hot sun.

She let the staff know they’d be by the pool and that the server could bring everything straight there.

Moments later, the three of them slipped into the water. The pool was just the right size — private, shaded by tall plants and high stone walls, with sunlight reflecting off its surface like glass. The heat of the morning sun was rising, and the cool water was instant bliss. Faith sank low with a sigh, her arms resting along the edge. Kacie floated nearby, her hair drifting around her shoulders like silk.

They began to talk — slowly, naturally, letting curiosity and comfort guide them. Kacie told them more about the agency she’d started two years ago, her years modeling in Manila and abroad before deciding she’d had enough of being told what to do with her body and image at the ripe old age of twenty-four. Starting her career early and having a mother that taught her how to look after herself in a cutthroat industry left her in the perfect position to start her own agency. She had an easy confidence in the way she spoke, not boastful but grounded, earned. Faith and Paul shared bits about London, their life together, the unusual freedom they gave each other — how openness didn’t mean distance, just a different kind of closeness.