Perfect. Let's continue with Chapter Four — the next layer of tension, intimacy, and emotional testing between Ava and Julian. In this chapter, we put them in the open… yet totally alone.
Chapter Four — Poolside Provocation
The Hart estate's pool was more resort than home.
Infinity edge. Glass fencing. Slate tiles so clean they mirrored the clouds.
Ava stretched on a lounger, her skin warm from the sun, headphones in, sketchbook balanced on her knees. Her bikini top barely held on under a half-buttoned shirt. Every breeze teased it open a little more.
She was alone.
She thought.
Upstairs, Julian leaned against the balcony rail, shirtless, a towel slung over one shoulder. He watched her. Not creepily. Not lustfully, even. Just… like she made noise inside his silence.
When she finally looked up and saw him, she didn't flinch. She just raised one eyebrow and pulled out an earbud.
"Enjoying the view?"
Julian smirked. "I live here. The view comes with the property."
"Is that how you talk to all the girls who sunbathe in your backyard?"
"Only the ones who know I'm watching."
Ava closed her sketchbook slowly, stood, and walked toward the pool.
"You ever get in?" she asked, toeing the water.
"Not during the day."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Too exposed."
Ava kicked off her sandals, unbuttoned her shirt all the way, and tossed it aside—like a dare. Then she stepped in, letting the water wrap around her thighs, waist, chest.
"Scared of being seen, Julian?"
"No," he said. His voice dropped. "Scared of what happens when I stop pretending not to."
Her body stilled.
Then she turned, dipped under, and came back up slick and breathless. "Pretending not to what?"
Julian didn't answer.
Instead, he disappeared from the balcony.
Five minutes later, she heard footsteps. Wet ones.
He walked out shirtless, board shorts low on his hips, the lines of his body like poetry written in muscle. He didn't speak. Just dove in—clean and deep—and surfaced right in front of her.
They were inches apart.
Ava swallowed. "Bit forward, aren't you?"
He floated closer, hair dripping, eyes unreadable.
"Not a trap," he said softly. "Just gravity."
"You think I'm falling?"
"I think you already have."
A pause. The water rippled between them.
She stepped back. "Then you'd better hope I know how to swim."
Julian's smile was slow and dangerous. "I don't hope. I test."
He swam past her.
She didn't turn around.
But every inch of her skin felt like it had been touched.