And instantly regretted it.
“Oh my God, oh my God!” She floundered, her arms pumping to keep her as far out of the water as she could get. “It’s freezing! Why the hell do you do this?”
Levi sighed. He kicked off his socks and shoes, tore off his jacket, and jumped in after her. He emerged gracefully and wiped the water from his face. “You do know how to swim, don’t you?”
“Not when the temperature is below zero!” She immediately swam over and clung to him, wrapping her arms and legs around his body.
He was her boss…Whatever!He had hang-ups about them as a couple? Too darn bad! She needed heat, andnow.
“It’s about sixty. Plenty warm,” he said, but wrapped his arm around her protectively.
“Sure, when you’re a heater. Why are you so warm?” She pressed her face to his cheek, then climbed higher up his body so that her chest was out of the water. “Don’t move, and don’t you dare leave me. I might die of hypothermia.” She clung tighter, and a vicious shiver racked her body. She might be cutting off his air supply, but he was a big guy—he could deal.
“I appreciate the view,” he said from the vicinity of her breasts. Which might have been smashed against his face. Again—not her concern. There was cold, and then there wasthis. And she was a Popsicle. “However, I told you that you shouldn’t jump in.” He swam slowly to the side, with her in his arms.
He was giving her a lecture? Now? “Where are you going? We’re in survival mode. No swimming around.”
His large arm was secured around her back, holding her to him, but he wasn’t changing course. “I’m not swimming around. I’m taking you to the shore.”
Her teeth chattered against the top of his head. “Good plan.”
Emily was still clinging to Levi, legs and arms wrapped around him as he walked out of the water. And it wasn’t any warmer outside with the sun down. “I’m serious. I really might die of hypothermia.”
A rumble like a low chuckle came from his chest. “Can’t have that.”
He was walking across the sand. “Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere to get you warm.”
“Please tell me you’re not going to walk through the party with me like this, or my humiliation will be complete tonight.”
His second arm came up around her—yes, he’d been carrying her entire body weight with one arm. The man had been afireman. “There’s no way in hell I’m taking you through a group of people dressed the way you are and…wet.”
“That makes it sound so dirty.”
He tipped his head back and flashed her a grin.
See now, this was the Levi she’d fallen in love with. The man beneath the responsibility that weighed him down like a stone. This was the man capable of laughing and teasing. The one who was gentle with his elderly dog and gentle when it came to her. Except when it came to letting her inside his heart.
Levi stopped in front of a small building near the pool area, which, thankfully, was empty of guests, and punched in a code on the keypad. He entered a room that was some kind of changing area with windows along the ceiling that let in light. White Club Tahoe towels were stacked on shelving in the corner and there were hooks with fresh terrycloth bathrobes.
This room was new to her. She’d worked at Club Tahoe for over a month and had yet to visit all the outbuildings. Too busy helping Levi.
He set her on the tile floor, and she wrapped her arms around her body. Levi handed her a towel, then scanned the robes. He grabbed a small one and draped it over her shoulders.
She quickly pulled her arms through the sleeves and stared up at him, her teeth chattering.
Levi shook his head and tugged his wet dress shirt off. His pants came off next.
Delirious as she was from the cold, the view of his near-naked body wasn’t helping her wooziness.
He wiped down with a dry towel and sat on the long padded bench along the wall. Draping a new towel over his midsection, he lay back lengthwise. “Hop on top.”
She didn’t even hesitate. She crawled on him and plastered her body to his warm skin, shivering.
“Better?”
“A little,” she managed between the shivers. “There’s a draft.”
