His eyes focused on mine, liquid pools of dark brown, rich and warm as chestnuts in color, as bright and deep as emeralds or rubies. The black of his pupils exercised as much gravity as a black hole.
I didn’t have the energy—or the desire—to fight this anymore. Maybe it would be a mess. But I didn’t care. God, I didn’t care.
He swallowed, then sat up so quickly I half fell off him. “Do you want to go for a swim?”
A swim. When I’d been about to throw myself at him. Well, my entire body blazed like I’d been scalded by fire, so I could probably use a cooldown. Did we depict Cupid with a bow and arrow because infatuation felt as painful as being shot?
Good lord, liking Noah had turned me into the kind of person with worse analogies than eleven-year-old Ginny Weasley.
“Swimming. Yes.” Maybe he’d attribute the red of my cheeks to the sun. “It’s pretty hot.”
Now all I had to do was remove my clothes and bare the tiny bikini.
Avoiding Noah’s gaze, I peeled my shirt over my head and dropped it lightly on the bench. Then I unbuttoned my shorts and slowly stepped out of them.
Raising my gaze to his took all my willpower. My cheeks felt like miniature suns had embedded themselves. Good lord, I was practically naked. Thank god the bikini top had enough lining I didn’t need to worry about other troublesome situations.
Noah’s eyes were dark, his body still. The breeze ruffled his curls,but the space between us felt thick and weighty. I could feel my heart slowing down and thumping hard against my rib cage. I could feel the very flow of my blood in my chest.
We were surrounded by all the air in the world and I couldn’t breathe.
He swallowed. “Do you need any sunscreen?”
If he touched me, I would spontaneously combust. “I put some on already.”
“Cool.” He turned away and dived off the side of the boat.
I gaped after him. Wait! What if I changed my mind? What if Ididwant his help with sunscreen? What if I decided to be brave? To take the risk?
Oh god, I couldn’t.
But didn’t he even want tolook? Wasn’t he interested in this teeny-tiny bikini?
Or maybe he wastoointerested.
Okay, no, I was getting ahead of myself. I didn’t need to read every little detail as Noah secretly being wild with lust/love for me.
(Though maybe hewas??)
He surfaced, water sluicing over him, dragging his curls flat against his head. “Come in. It’s great.”
I stepped up onto the boat’s edge, raised my arms into a bow, bent my knees, and launched myself skyward. My body curved through the air, then dove beneath the surface. Cold water submerged my body in one clean, satisfying sweep.
And the ocean peeled my bikini bottoms down and away.
Shit.
Shit shit shit shit.
My eyelids flung open, then immediately shut at the sting of the ocean. I’d never been able to open my eyes underwater. Kickingupward, I broke the surface, sputtering and coughing, salt everywhere. “I lost my bottoms!”
“What?” Noah treaded water, eyes wide.
“My bikini bottoms! They came off. They—they weren’t very secure.”
He started, honest to god,cackling.
“Don’t laugh!” I would have shoved him if we were closer, but you couldn’t pay me to go within ten feet of him, despite the opacity of the water. “This is terrible!”
