Conleth put his head in his hands. “IswearI did not put them up to this.”
“That’s pretty clear,” Paige said, amused by his mortification. “Well, I guess that sorts out which one of us is staying on the dock.”
Given the way he’d arranged to jump in the lake earlier, she hadn’t thought he’d need any encouragement to show off in the water. To her surprise, though, he hesitated. He gave her a sidelong look, brows furrowing.
“No, it doesn’t,” he said. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“What question?”
“What you want to do. Would you prefer to stay on the dock, or swim?”
“CON-LETH! CON-LETH! CON-LETH!”
“I don’t think my preferences come into it,” Paige said, having to raise her voice to carry over the increasingly loud chant coming from the water. “The girls clearly want you to swim.”
“I am aware of the girls’ true motivations. I can confidently state they have very little to do with an innate desire for my company.” He tilted his head, as though he’d just realizedsomething. “You’re very good at putting other people first. But you shouldn’t always put yourself last.”
“I don’t,” she protested, feeling obscurely defensive. “Look, it’ll make the girls happy if you swim, so you should swim. Why are you making this into such a big deal?”
“Why are you?” he countered, maddeningly. “It’s a simple question, Paige. Which wouldyouprefer to do?”
In truth, she would far rather swim than have to try not to watch his long, lean body cut through the water. Yet with the girls still calling enthusiastic—if somewhat fictitious—demands from the lake, it seemed wrong to admit it.
But she had a feeling he wasn’t going to settle for anything less than the truth. “I…I’d rather swim, actually.”
“Then I’ll watch,” he said simply. His gaze flickered down her body for the briefest instant before fixing somewhere just above her left shoulder. “Though in that case, I’ll need to get dressed.”
She blinked at him. “It’s not cold out.”
He snagged a nearby towel, wrapping it around his waist. “That’s the problem.”
Weird. Well, since he’d made such a fuss about her swimming, it was too late for him to change his mind now.
Since it didn’t seem right for a counselor to cannonball off the dock like one of the kids, she sat on the edge, letting her toes dangle into the water. She’d been braced for it to be cold, but instead it was just pleasantly cool. Small waves lapped around her calves, sparkling in the sunlight. Drawn by that inviting glimmer, she let herself slide into the lake.
Water enfolded her. It was nothing like getting into a swimming pool. No sting of chlorine in her eyes; no artificial drone of pumps and filters. She sank in a swirl of cool bubbles, some part of her mind expecting to jar her feet against a hard floor at any moment—yet her toes touched nothing.
She hadn’t expected swimming in the lake to be sodifferent. It was like finally being served a steak after a lifetime of burgers. For a moment, she let herself hang there, arms outstretched, feeling the vastness of it; the wildness.
She broke the surface laughing, breathless with amazement. Pushing back her hair, she looked up to find Conleth still on the dock, staring down at her with eyes gone dark.
There was no mistakingthatlook. Despite the cool caress of the water, heat rushed through her. Maybe he hadn’t planned that dip earlier after all.
Conleth cleared his throat again, his hand tightening on his towel. “Moira! I’ll be back in a minute.”
Moira came over, casting Conleth a curious look as he hurried past her. “Where’s he going?”
Paige watched Conleth stride toward the boat-house, still maintaining a death-grip on his towel. “I think he has an urgent need to be wearing pants.”
“Ah.” Moira’s sea-blue eyes gleamed with amusement. “I see. I suspect Conleth may not be doing much swimming this summer.”
“I guess I should get out until he comes back.” Somewhat reluctantly, Paige clambered back onto the dock, feeling heavy and clumsy after the cool freedom of the water. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on the campers.”
“I wanted to have a quiet word with you, actually.” Moira scanned the lake, checking the kids were too distracted to eavesdrop. “Conleth tells me your brother is having some issues controlling his animal?”
She supposed it was hardly a secret by now. “He shifts a lot without meaning to, when he’s upset or excited. Now that I’ve spent more time with other shifter kids, it’s clear it’s not normal. I was hoping he’d be able to learn better control from hiscounselors this year, but obviously that’s not going to happen. I’m worried about him, Moira.”
The sea dragon nodded sympathetically. “Although I’ve never had an issue with unwanted shifting myself, I do know something of what it’s like to struggle with a strong, uncontrollable power. My people have a number of techniques to master such issues. If you like, I could teach your brother some calming meditations.”
