Distance from the manor seemed to help with her inner turmoil and frustrations. Distance from Henry, rather. Indeed, she doubted that anyone could have any worries when they were so relaxed, blessed with such a beautiful view of the shimmering lake and the dancing, jewel-hued dragonflies that flitted across it.
She closed her eyes, thinking she might doze for a while, so calm she could hardly believe it.
I might stay here forev?—
Her peace shattered like a fallen glass, her heart jolting at the sound of an almighty splash. Nothing at all like the quiet, quaint splashes of the fish that lived in the lake, not unless there was an enormous one hidden in those gentle waters.
Eyes snapping open, sitting up straight, she glanced across the lake to find the source of the disturbance.
Ripples undulated outward, just past the jetty belonging to the boathouse. Thalia stared at those ringed wavelets, waiting for the cause to show themselves… but the ripples stilled and nothing moved, nothing emerging from the water.
“Oh! Oh, no!” Thalia jumped up, hitching up her skirts as she ran to the water’s edge, calling out with all her might, “I say! I say, is someone there? Are you well?”
What are you doing, you dolt?she chided herself, for if therewassomeone under the water, drowning, they were not about to answer her, were they?
Yet, she had not seen anyone at the lakeside. Then again, the fronds of the willow tree rather blocked the view of the boathouse, and blocked her from being seen by anyone who might be standing there.
Heart thundering, she had almost made it to the jetty when another splash brought her to a skidding halt on the slippery shore.
Practically in the center of the small boating lake, a spray of glittering droplets exploded into the air, revealing a head… then a neck, then broad shoulders, then the rippling upper back of a man. A man she knew, though she did not know if that made it better or worse that she could not stop staring.
He is… not wearing anything at all.
Not from the waist up, at least.
“What on earth do you think you are doing?” she cried out, scandalized.
Henry turned sharply, his hands gently swaying, treading water to keep himself from going under. “Pardon?”
“I said, what on earth do you think you are doing?” she repeated, not knowing where to look, yet incapable of diverting her attention from the smooth, defined muscle of his broad chest. Slick with water, gleaming in the beautiful sunlight as if he were made of some precious stone.
At that, he began to swim toward her, kicking his legs out like the most handsome, athletic frog she had ever seen. Startled, she hardly dared to look… and found herself half-relieved, half-disappointed to discover that he was wearing a short pair of trousers, cut off at the mid-calf.
“Actually, this is where I swim when I am in residence,” he replied. “This is my oasis.”
He slowed as the water shallowed, now able to stand up to his waist in the lake.
Thalia’s mouth fell open as she saw the full majesty of him, water running in lively rivulets over his chest and the ridges of asculpted abdomen, before dropping back into the lake. He ran a hand through his dark hair to sweep it out of his face, pinching water from his eyes.
“Well, I was here first,” Thalia argued. “I was reading rather peacefully, so you should find somewhere else to entertain yourself. A pond, perhaps.”
Henry’s expression darkened, his posture straightening to make him appear even taller than he already was. “I am a tolerant man, Thalia, but you ought to be careful how you speak to me. I do not care for your tone.”
She flushed as if she had just been scolded by a governess, agitated by the cool, calm chiding. It was worse than being shouted at.
“You disturbed me!” she protested, squeezing her eyes shut; it was the only possible course of action, considering. “Of course I am not pleased about it! I thought someone was drowning!”
“Read your book,” he replied curtly. “I have no intention of bothering you.”
Clenching her hands into fists, fighting the urge to open her eyes again, she had no response for that. How could she tell him that his very presence, as undressed as he was, was a bother? How could she admit that she would not be able to read a word of her book if he was going to continue swimming in the lake half-naked?
“But… the splashing,” she fumbled to say. “I cannot read with that noise distracting me.”
With her eyes closed, the gentle splash of the water was already playing havoc with her imagination, picturing that smooth, glistening skin and hard muscle.
“I do not like to be ordered around in my own estate,” Henry said, suddenly too close.
Thalia jumped, quickly folding her arms behind her back so she would not be tempted to reach out to figure outjusthow close he was. All those splashes had not been the sound of him in the water, but him gettingoutof the water. And now, if she was judging correctly, he was right there in front of her.
