Page 64 of Booked for Summer

Laughing, she made the mistake of turning to look at him. What happened next was a blur, but as she lost her balance she watched with a kind of suspended dread as her fate was spelt out in the changing expressions flashing across his face. Worry, confusion, horror, panic.

She had a split second to scream. Then she was plunging into the cold water of Nantucket harbour.

Smack! The water hit her stomach, the most undignified belly flop ever imagined. As she spluttered to the surface, she groaned. ‘Shit, this is cold.’

She looked up to the wharf, only to find Liam pulling his shirt off over his head, then yanking off his shoes. As she gaped in shock, he executed a neat shallow dive into the sea, coming up to the surface just next to her. His hands slid firmly around her waist.

‘What are you doing?’

‘What do you think?’ Treading water, hands still on her hips, wet hair plastered across his forehead, his eyes flashed with irritation. ‘I’m saving you from drowning.’

She started to giggle. ‘Er, I can swim.’

‘How was I supposed to know that?’ he asked indignantly, hands still on her hips, though the death hold had loosened.

‘Maybe ask before flinging yourself in to save me?’

‘You didn’t like the idea of swimming with sharks,’ he countered, looking like a drowned, very pissed-off male.

‘Er, duh, that was the shark part.’ Unable to resist, she pressed a kiss to his face. ‘Thank you.’

He didn’t look mollified. ‘You screamed. Was I supposed to wait and see if you sunk?’

He’d not hesitated, she realised, just gone with his instinct, and that had been to save her. ‘Again, thank you.’ She kissed him again, this time a fleeting glance on lips that were warm despite the cold sea. ‘Cool dive, by the way.’

‘Better than your belly flop,’ he muttered. Letting go of her, he swam the few yards towards the yacht and hauled himself athletically up onto it. She took a moment to admire the ripple of his back muscles before letting out a sigh and swimming after him.

Looked like the evening had come to a soggy, anti-climactic end. And maybe it was for the best. Maybe she’d just had a lucky escape from what would have been a colossal error in judgement.

Yet as he held out his hand to haul her on board, and as she watched the drips of water slide across his perfect pecs, it didn’t feel like a lucky escape. It felt like a wasted opportunity.

* * *

Good God. She looked like a freaking mermaid, Liam thought as he reached to clasp her hand. Wet blonde hair dragged back from her face, bold blue eyes appraising him, clothes plastered against a body that would tempt any man with blood still flowing through his veins.

The lust that had receded during his unexpected evening swim smacked into him again with full force as her wet, slippery body collided against his.

A towel, that’s what she needed he reminded himself as he dragged his gaze away from her chest. Not him gawking at the hard nipples he could see poking against her soaked top.

‘Come with me.’ He took her hand, insides doing an unexpected jig as her fingers wrapped around his.

‘No, wait.’ She halted at the door to the cabin and he swore he could hear his hormones deflate in disappointment.

‘I was going to get you a towel.’

‘Oh.’

Did she sound disappointed? He peered at her more closely. ‘Or you can have a hot shower?’

‘Sounds good.’ She stared down at the highly polished teak. ‘But I don’t want to drip all over your snazzy floor.

‘It’s a boat. It’s designed to be dripped all over.’

‘Ah, obviously. Silly me. Not as silly as tripping over my feet and bellyflopping into the sea, but?—’

Okay, he was done. ‘Do you want to shower and call it a night?’ She blinked, and he instantly regretted his tone. Too harsh, too full of the sexual frustration he should not be showing a woman who’d just had a nasty shock. ‘Sorry, it’s just I’m shit at reading female signals. Tell me what you want to do.’

She dipped her head, eyes widening when she saw the obvious erection outlined by his wet linen trousers. ‘Is there another option? After the shower I mean, because that water was frigging freezing.’

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