“Are you kidding? I think this is perfect. Is what she brought me back in your room?” When I nod, she turns away and heads down into the cabin of the boat.
I’m paralyzed as she leaves. Completely and utterly unable to move from the spot I’m standing in. When we’d first met, she told me that, aside from parties the teacher threw at school, she’d never celebrated her birthday. I’d made it a point to do something every single year for her.
Even after she went missing, I’d come out here with a cupcake and wish her a happy birthday. It was my way of being close to the woman I thought I’d lost forever. And now I find out that, this whole time, she’d been out there, surviving, not even taking the time to celebrate the day she was born?
Emotion burns my throat, and I force myself to turn away so I’m not standing in the same spot when she comes out. I strip out of my shirt and kick off my shoes. I’ve just finished lowering the ladder on the sundeck when she clears her throat behind me.
I turn, and my mouth dries.
I’d specifically told Anastasia to make sure she grabbed something modest for her. Mainly because I have a feeling the sight of Tessa in a bathing suit will be enough to drive me wild.
But when I get my first look at her in a pair of swim shorts and a rash guard t-shirt, the punch to my gut is enough to knock me overboard.
She’s stunning.
Dark hair braided down her back, feet bare, it’s all I can do not to close the distance between us and pull her against me. Would she shove me aside? Or is there a part of her that misses what was between us, too?
“Look okay?” she asks, arching a brow.
I clear my throat. If by ‘okay’ you mean perfect. “Yeah. Great. Fit okay?”
“Like a glove.”
I’ll agree with that. Holding out a hand, I wait for her to cross over and slide hers into mine. The feel of it is so right, so perfect, that it momentarily transports me back in time to when the whole world hadn’t been between us.
When it was just her and me.
I lead her toward the back of the boat, then release her long enough to climb onto the tiny sun deck off the back.
“You ready for this?” I ask her once she’s joined me.
Her dark eyes are wide with excitement, her cheeks flush with color. “It’s been a long time since I went swimming. Last week’s stormy dip aside,” she adds with a laugh.
I lean in closer, desperate to erase at least some of the distance between us. “I won’t let you drown.”
Her gaze locks on mine. “I know you won’t.”
The tension between us increases tenfold, and I have to clench both hands into fists at my sides to keep from giving in and crushing her against me.
Get it together, Knox. I grin at her, then dive into the cold water. It envelopes me, ripping away all unwelcome thoughts about a gorgeous brunette and how desperately I want to make things work, even though they never will.
It shoves aside the constant stress I carry, and offers me the rare opportunity to focus only on the feel of my body moving through the water as I swim. I come up to the surface and take a deep breath before grinning up at her.
Tessa’s expression steals my breath. Unguarded. For the first time since she came crashing back into my life, she looks free.
“You coming in?” I ask.
With one final, heart-stopping grin, Tessa leaps into the water.
When she doesn’t immediately surface, though, worry pushes through the joy. I start to dive down to look for her when a hand grips my ankle. The contact sends a spike of heat through me, and I still haven’t pulled myself together when she surfaces with a laugh, her eyes bright with joy.
“Did I scare you, Navy man?”
I’m unable to tear my gaze away from her. “Something like that. Wanna race to the island?”
“I think you have an unfair advantage over me,” she replies.
“You used to win.”
