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straight into the air and into the pool. She landed with a hard splash and my laughter grew louder, my hand snapping over my mouth. Her head emerged and jaw dropped, her shoulders tensed up around her ears as she pushed the hair from her eyes.
    “You are going to pay for this, Jackson Taylor!” Before she could lunge forward and out of the pool, Ruben wrestled her from behind and dunked her head back under water. Enrique and Jeff started cracking up and swam over to join in on the fun.
    Jackson sat down on the edge of my chair, grinning down at me. “Whatchya reading this time?” He pulled my Kindle from underneath the towel. “ A Tale of Two Cities or some shit?”
    “Jackson.” I reached to grab it from his hand, but he pulled back and jumped up on two feet, playing with the buttons. “Give it back, come on.”
    The screen turned on and he started strolling with it, away from my chair. I strode after him, trying to peer over his shoulder and snatch it away. “He did what with her tampon?” His eyes flew wide, a smile twisting his lips in surprise. “Holy shit, Em. What are you reading?”
    I reached for it again but he dodged my grab, picking up speed as he rounded the corner of the pool. “Jackson, I swear, if you don’t give it back to me—”
    “His red room of what ?” His brisk walk turned into a full-on run and I started to chase him, his laughter booming as he weaved in and around the lounge chairs. We’d completed our first circle around the pool when Kayla, Kelly, and Michelle sat up from their beauty sleep to lift their sunglasses and glare at us as we raced by for lap number two.
    We zipped past the tiki bar and Jackson dashed through the gate and out into the surrounding garden, skidding to a stop when the scorching cement walkway burned his bare feet. “Damn!” He bounced on his feet and grabbed my arm, pulling me onto the grass and underneath the garden’s Greek column-style archway. A matching bench sat underneath, cascades of lush foliage overflowing from the top of the arch, providing a nice sliver of shade.
    “Are you happy now?” I planted my hands on my hips and he sat down on the bench, tugging my hand to pull me down with him.
    “I feel like I just won the lottery.”
    “Congratulations. You discovered my secret.”
    “You’re a romance junkie. And here I was thinking you were reading about the meaning of life.”
    “Hey.” I grabbed my Kindle from his lap. “A lot of people give romance a bad rap, but there’s a lot to be learned from a good romance novel.”
    “Oh?” He leaned back on the bench on the heels of his hands, eyes flickering over my scantily-clad body. I adjusted the triangles of my bikini top and shifted to cross my legs. “Like what? The ingredients for an amazing orgasm?”
    I laughed and shifted again, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “That’s such a stereotypical thing to say. Yeah, sex is a big part of romance. It’s the physical extension of a couple’s relationship. It shows how they feel about each other and how they interact with one another. Romance is an exploration of those elements, but it’s so much more than that.”
    “Really? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure that tampon scene was all about gettin’ it on.”
    “Yeah, it was.” I laughed again at his boyish enthusiasm. “But I’ve never bought that whole romance-only-equals-smut equation. Sex tells a story; how the couple deals with it, and how they have it says a great deal about what kind of people they are. It’s just as legit of a storytelling device as fantasy or science fiction. And the scene you’re making fun of is just one of many in that series that shows how the characters grow to trust and compromise with one another. They have to figure out boundaries, decide how far they’re willing to go for one another...their sex life draws great parallels with the other challenges in their relationship. It’s what makes their love so powerful in the end.”
    “Leave it to