Page 65 of Ride the Wave

‘How were youwalkingon that?’ Leo asks, aghast before looking at me crossly. ‘You should have said something.’

I’m unfazed by his anger towards me because his face is so close to mine that it’s impossible for me to really focus on anything he’s saying or the tone in which he’s saying it. He has the perfect lips. They look so full and soft.

‘Put your arms round my neck,’ he instructs.

Mesmerised by his features so close to mine, I do what he asks, and in one swift motion, he lifts me up into his arms like I don’t weigh a fucking thing, and he carries me up the beach. I feel so safe and secure cradled up in his arms like this. And he looks so adorably worried, the creases across his forehead etched with a mixture of concern and determination.

I don’t realise I’m holding my breath until we reach Marina’s Bar and her voice cuts through the haze I’d floated into whilst admiring the sharp line of his jaw.

‘What happened to you?’ she asks.

‘She cut her foot,’ Leo says, lowering me gently into a chair before he swings another one round to prop my foot up onto.

‘I can see that, genius; I meant how.’

‘I stepped on a crab,’ I murmur dreamily, watching Leo pick up another chair to put it right by my leg, before reaching round to unzip his wetsuit, peeling it down to his waist and sitting down to inspect my foot properly.

Thank fuck I got a pedicure before I came here.

As he peers at the injury, I stare at his torso, glistening with water droplets.

‘Youwhat?’ Marina says, wrinkling her nose.

‘We don’t know what happened,’ Leo says plainly, reaching to grab cushions from other chairs to stack under my foot. ‘Can you get the first aid kit, Marina?’

‘Coming right up,’ she says, hurrying off, muttering, ‘She stepped on a crab,’ in disbelief under her breath as she goes.

‘You’re going to be okay,’ he tells me as if I give a flying fuck about my foot right now and I’m not fully distracted by the way he carried me in his strong arms. ‘We’ll get this cleaned up and then we’ll be able to tell what we’re dealing with.’

Marina returns with the kit, holding it out to Leo, who gets to work straight away, cleaning the cut. With Marina present, I try not to be too obvious when I observe the way Leo’s arms flex as he works, and how shimmering and smooth the skin of his carved bare chest looks, and how defined his abs are, even when he’s sitting down, hunched over my foot.

Marina clears her throat. ‘Iris? Did you hear me?’

I snap my head up to look at her and find her watching me, smirking.

‘S-sorry,’ I stammer, forcing my face into serious mode. ‘Did you say something?’

‘Yes, but it looked like you were in some kind of daze there,’ she says with a tone of humour swirling round her words. ‘I was asking if you were okay.’

‘Yes, thank you,’ I say crisply, sitting up a little.

‘Good, it doesn’t look very deep,’ Leo announces, as I wince when he dabs it with something that stings. ‘The blood made it look worse than it is. You’re lucky.’

‘And just when you were getting the hang of popping up on the board,’ Marina remarks, putting her hands on her hips. ‘Not sure you should surf tomorrow; you need to let that heal.’

‘That’s a shame,’ I sigh.

‘And no wearing those high heels of yours,’ she adds.

‘What?It’s not that bad,’ I protest sharply.

I notice Leo smile to himself.

‘Glad you’re feeling yourself, London,’ he mutters, still focusing on nursing my foot.

‘I’ve got to serve these customers and then I’ll go get you guys some water,’ Marina says, her eyes flickering between us. ‘If you need anything else, shout. Otherwise, I’ll be back in a bit.’ She comes over to rest a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. ‘Well done for today. You looked great out there.’

‘Thanks, Marina.’

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