One Night with the CEO by Mia Sosa Page B

over. “ Puedes hablar? ” she asked the man. Based on Mark’s rudimentary command of the Spanish language, he guessed she’d asked the man whether he was able to speak.
    The man shook his head and clutched at his throat. Karen stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his thick waist, centering her hands just below his belly button. Sweat trickled down his skin and panic set in his eyes. Karen pressed her hands against his abdomen, only the top of her head visible above the man’s shoulders. After several thrusts, the man coughed something up. Mark had never been so happy to see a piece of masticated meat. Gross? Certainly. But that mangled meat reminded him of the gravity of the situation: A few minutes more without oxygen and that man might have suffered brain damage.
    Karen pointed a finger in the air and directed the man to follow it. After several questions and answers in Spanish, the man hugged Karen and repeated “ Gracias ” to her.
    Did men swoon? Because that had been the hottest display of badassery he’d ever seen—and her command of the situation made his knees weak.
    After chatting with a few of the bystanders, she hurried past him, her hands resting on her hips and her gait reminiscent of someone who’d just finished running a race. He trailed after her, sensing she needed time and space to regroup. She trudged through the sand with her head down. When she reached the water, she bent at the waist to catch her breath.
    “What you did back there was amazing,” he said behind her.
    She straightened and gulped in air. “Thanks.”
    “I think you’ve found your calling.”
    She lifted a brow. “I didn’t perform life-saving surgery on the man. I did the Heimlich. You don’t need a medical degree for that.”
    “No, but you took control of the situation, and you comforted him after a bad scare. Not everyone has the ability to do those things. You did them as if they were second nature to you.”
    “Yeah. I didn’t have time to think about the what-ifs. I was on autopilot.”
    “I think we should celebrate your heroic efforts.”
    She crinkled her nose in disbelief. “Oh, yeah. How?”
    “By getting in the water.”
    Her eyebrows shot up. “No.”
    “C’mon. I’ll go with you.”
    “No.”
    “Fine. Suit yourself.” He took off his shirt and dropped it on the sand. “Be right back.”
    Manipulative? Sure it was. Would it work? He’d find out soon enough.
    *  *  *
    Wait. Hold the phone. He had a tattoo?
    Karen’s eyes devoured the view of Mark’s back as he waded into the water. The tattoo sat in the center of his lower back, in the dip just above his impressive butt. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like an infinity symbol. Given Mark’s fascination with numbers, the choice didn’t surprise her. But the fact that he had one? That definitely surprised her.
    His back muscles rippled as he swung his arms over his head and stretched. To make matters more torturous, he turned back and waved, a bright smile lighting up his face. After she returned his wave, he scooped a handful of water, drew it over his head, and released it onto his face and shoulders.
    He was on a beach, in the water, his gorgeous body backlit by the sunset behind him. A freakin’ man-nymph. This was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up, no matter how squeamish the sea made her. So she tamped down her nervousness and headed straight to him. And if she needed his shirtless body for support, he’d understand, right?
    She waded in until the water covered her ankles. Okay, that wasn’t so bad.
    Mark returned to shore and held out his hand. “Come on. You’re doing great. And we won’t go very far.”
    “Oh, I know we won’t be going very far. And besides, unlike you, I didn’t come prepared for an evening swim.”
    He splashed her legs. “You’ll have to get your thighs wet at least.”
    “I’m dealing with long-repressed memories of a near-drowning, and this is the best you can come up with?”
    Bent