“Some,” he admitted. “I wish we’d had time to catch our breath before you found Mr. Pye.”
“I thought we had caught our breath. You hauled yourself out of the water almost as quickly as you jumped in.”
“That wasn’t precisely by choice.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“You set the rules and I aimed to oblige. I needed to put some distance between us.”
“Oh. I didn’t think about that.”
“I’m realizing it now. I keep forgetting how you fail to see your own attraction.”
“Ah, yes. That flower and bee nonsense.”
Call gave her a quirky grin. “Uh-huh. You brought that up first.”
Laurel was not proof against that smile. “I liked what we did, you know,” she said impulsively. “And in the water that way, that was something I didn’t expect.”
He shrugged. “Fish do it.”
“Not like we did.”
“True.”
“And it was brave of you, seeing as how you can hardly swim.”
“As long as I had the ledge and you didn’t pull me under, I was fine.”
“Hmm.” He’d been more than fine, but Laurel did notthink he needed to hear that. “You told me at the pool that you came out there to practice swimming. Was that true?”
“Yes. Right up until the moment I saw you. I don’t regret that you inspired me.”
“Inspired,” she said, her lip curling just a tad derisively. “Sure.”
“It’s up to you whether or not you believe me, but I’m not lying.”
She wanted to believe him. It was a new experience to be desired, and certainly that’s what he was telling her. She was desired. By him. She considered saying as much, but then she suspected he’d use the opportunity to remind her about the bees, buzzing around her flower, and that she simply hadn’t noticed them. She noticed McCall Landry, though. And she’d noticed Josey Pye, too; though not in a way that made her ever want to be with him.
“What is it?” he asked when she fell silent for so long.
“Just thinking.”
“Two bits for those thoughts.”
“Isn’t it generally wise to offer only a penny?”
“Hey,” he said gently. “I threw fifty cents away for you this afternoon, and I didn’t get anything in return. I figure you owe me.”
“All right. I’m going to regret saying this, but you might’ve been right.”
“Oh? About what?”
“That I might get a taste for it.”
“But I didn’t say that. I asked you what would happen if youdidget a taste for pirooting.”
“I don’t like that word, and that’s not the point.”
