Page 56 of Hot SEAL, Under Pressure

“All good. You?”

“Regretting saying yes to this show but yeah, all good.” Dani nodded.

Next to Dani, Nick looked less forgiving, but she couldn’t worry about keeping the cast happy. Let Joanne deal with any issues since she was here.

Right now, the need for self-preservation was strong. Shelly was fine with allowing herself to take off her associate producer hat and just be a contestant.

Stefan helped her sit on what had become their log, guiding her down while supporting her weight against him. He was treating her like she was especially delicate and breakable, which she was pretty sure she’d proven wasn’t true by bouncing her way to shore and living to tell about it.

Once she was sitting and had decided she wasn’t going to fall over, he still didn’t let go. He left one arm wrapped around her.

“Do you need anything? Water?”

“Maybe in a bit.” Her stomach was still woozy from the ocean water she’d swallowed or the concussion she was going to deny having.

Eyes focused on her, Stefan moved her hair so he could inspect what she suspected would be a colorful bruise by tomorrow on her forehead.

Zach approached holding his wife’s hand. Gabby looked as exhausted as Shelly felt, though less battered.

“Hey. Stefan, is it?” Zach asked, with a very masculine lift of his chin in Stefan’s direction.

Stefan glanced up at the SEAL standing nearby. “Yeah.”

“I saw what you did out there. I wanted to say thank you,” Zach continued.

Stefan sniffed. “Why are you thanking me? Your wife was doing great. She wasn’t one of the swimmers I had to help.”

Gabby took a step forward. “No, but I saw you guiding the others, so I knew to avoid the rip tide before I got caught in it. So thank you.”

He tipped his head. “You’re welcome. And good race. I saw you pull ahead and win.”

She looked a bit shy as she said, “Thanks.”

When Gabby and Zach had moved away, Shelly tilted her head to get a better look at Stefan. “You helped the other swimmers?”

“Yeah. Just a little. I showed them where to go to get clear of the rip tide. I waited until they were all past it. And I know it’s a competition and I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t leave them out there—”

Shelly shook her head. “No. Of course you couldn’t leave them out there. I’m glad you helped them. You were right too, about the swim challenge. This was too dangerous. We shouldn’t have planned it.”

“Wait. What are you saying? I was right?” He drew back in mock shock as he joked, “You definitely have a head injury.” Then he sobered. “I should have been there for you, Shell. Helping you get back safely onto shore should have been my only priority. You getting hurt is my fault.”

“No. I should have waited for you. That’s what swim buddies do. Right?” she asked.

“You’re right.” He smiled and in it she thought she saw respect. Maybe even admiration.

The dynamic between them seemed to have shifted. Was this change temporary, brought about by his guilt over not being there when she’d crashed onto the rocks?

She didn’t know and didn’t have time to figure it out as Clay and Tasha and the camera crew started to set up.

“Shit. They’re back,” Stefan grumbled.

“You know no day ends without the elimination ceremony and the announcement of tomorrow’s challenge.”

“I can’t wait to hear what fun we’ll have tomorrow.” He scowled.

“Fucking land navigation,” she mumbled.

The schedule was ingrained in her brain. The land nav in particular because it was the last challenge on the island before they moved back to civilization.

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