He laughed, his face lighting up with boyish charm. “Next time you should really establish those rules before we start the bet.”
My nose wrinkled. “Double or nothing?”
“Nope.”
I gave a laughing Duke a light push before moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Fine. You go first,” I said, peering down into the cloudy water with some degree of apprehension.
He sat down on the swing and pushed off. “For the record, if I break my arm again, you’re in big trouble.”
I made a face. “Please don’t break your arm again. Then I’d feel bad.”
He sighed and turned to face me. “This is for you, Kiss Cam.”
A smile broke out across my face as he saluted me before pouring his concentration into gaining momentum, his weight and movement causing the tree branch holding the swing to sway dangerously. I moved out of his way and prayed he cleared the dock. At the peak height, he swung out over the water, readied his hands, leaned back, and flipped. I let out a breath when he cleared the dock, landing in the water with a large splash.
I walked to the edge, waiting for him to resurface, hoping that whatever lived in there didn’t eat him. Finally, he emerged from the water, like Colin Firth in Pemberley. He had forgotten to take off his white shirt before he jumped, and I watched as he did so now, seemingly in slow motion, before tossing it to the edge of the bank. Then he sunk back into the water, but not before flashing me a clear shot of abs and muscles. I swallowed, second-guessing this whole plan.
“You’re up!” he called out. When I hesitated, he added, “What’s that look on your face?”
“It’s not nerves, that’s for sure,” I yelled. “Because I’m not scared to get in the water with you. Not one bit.”
“Stop thinking. We have rules here, remember?”
Rules. That’s right. I had to live in the moment with a scorching hot Duke in the water, staring up at me like I was definitelynothis employee. I’d lived my entire life trying not to get attached to guys and here I was, about to offer myself up to one on a silver platter—or more like a rickety swing with splinters. I sat down and pushed off gently, taking my time going higher, enjoying the view. It really was beautiful up here. Duke liked to tease, but he was a gentleman. I knew that. I wasn’t nervous to get in the water with him for any safety concerns. But I seemed to be all heart here, and I’d have to face that sooner or later. I had a feeling the water meant sooner. Duke seemed much smaller and less intimidating from this distance. And hey, feeling shy was also living in the moment. I kept swinging.
“Get in here, chicken! Quit stalling.”
“I guess you should have waited to jump in until after I did.”
A dangerous gleam crossed his face as he made a sudden beeline toward me, his arms slicing effortlessly through the water. Before I realized what was happening, he was hoisting himself up onto the dock. I squealed, legs kicking and waiting until the swing was at its peak height before launching myself off and into the murky depths.
Cool water enveloped me as I landed, surprised when I lightly touched the bottom of the pond. Ferns and weeds swished around my body, brushing against my skin in such a creepy way that I burst out of the water, shuddering deeply.
Duke resurfaced next to me, drops of water covering his face, the light from the sun highlighting his strong jaw and cheekbones.
Something swished against my leg again, and I yelped, slapping at the water and shooting a pleading look at Duke.
“Come here.” Duke moved toward me, and in a series of movements, he pulled me onto his back, my arms around his neck and his hands clutching my thighs at his waist as he moved us toward the bank.
“We need to be able to touch the ground to do the lift,” he said, his hands on my legs making me forget about anything unpleasant in the water. Even now, his body radiated warmth. Heat. Which was a total unfair advantage, with my lips now quivering.
We moved exactly four more feet before he released his hold on me and stood, the water reaching the height of my collarbone and the bottom of his ribs. My eyes drifted down from his face to the droplets of water now scattering over his chest.
Boundaries, my brain spat out. We needed a reminder of the boundaries. The amount of touching this little bucket list item would require of us demanded it. Duke’s baggy gym shirt floated around me in the water, and his shorts felt like they weighed a ton of bricks. Maybe I could lead with that. It would take a miracle for him to be able to lift me out of the water and over his head, let alone with me acting like some graceful nymph from the sea.
“It’s not too late to change your mind, you know,“ I said kindly, tying my shirt in a knot at my waist. “These shorts alone are going to weigh a ton.”
“No backing out now, Kiss Cam,” Duke said, his hands coming to rest on my arms. “If you bend at your knees, I’ll put my hands on your hips, and we’ll count it off.”
Romantic comedies were full of skinny dipping and swimming in ponds and lakes. It never seemed like that big of a deal on the big screen. Duke’s hands fell to my hips and I sucked in a ragged breath. He counted us off.
“Go!”
Without thinking, I bent down and made my best effort to jump up while he tried lifting my hips above water. Our first attempt gave the impression of a sick dolphin, getting halfway out of the water before losing its energy and collapsing back down again.
I landed on top of Duke as we both went under. When we came up, he was laughing, wiping the water from his eyes. As for me, the water had shot up my nose, and I came up sputtering. We moved into position again. This time, I tried to be more focused, but we had the same result. We only made it halfway up before we tumbled once more.
