And he wished, suddenly, that he could give the same to Shanna. A sliver of happiness, a sliver of satisfaction.
“So, now what?” Chris asked. “Do we dig?”
“No.” Shanna turned around. “She didn’t leave anything else here. Just her mark and a day spent in paradise with Alfie.” She gave Simon a gentle smile. “Come. Let’s go back.”
The trip back was just as quiet but felt much shorter. Alfie’s boat was not yet on the horizon when they reached the beach.
“We could go out to meet him with the dinghy,” Simon said.
“Or we could enjoy the afternoon on this lovely beach,” Shanna said.
“I vote for beach,” Chris said. “I’m gonna go find some snails.” She headed down the beach.
“Well.” Shanna swung out her arms and rocked on her heels. “The sea is nice and calm. I might go for a swim.”
“Isn’t it a bit cold?” The sun made it better, but it wouldn’t be enough to warm the water.
She shrugged. “It’s good for the skin.” And she disappeared behind the bushes next to the beach.
Simon sat down on a fallen log overlooking the cove and exhaled, letting the stress leave his body. For a second, his mind flashed back to home and whatever mess Aries might have been driven into—and then that thought was chased away by Shanna, darting from behind the bushes to the water.
Stark naked.
Simon couldn’t even comprehend it in time. He caught a glimpse of the long hair, flowing down her back in a stream of silver and gold, ending just above a set of nicely rounded buttocks—and then she was in the ocean, as swift and smooth as a mermaid.
Or a water nymph.
Of course, they didn’t bring any swimwear with them, so the most prudent decision was to go skinny dipping. No, hold on—that wasn’t a prudent decision at all. The normal thing was to stay on the beach, like he—
His wrist yanked.
“No,” Simon told the bond tattoo as if it could hear him. “Don’t do it.” He lifted his eyes to the horizon. “Shanna!”
The tattoo tugged again.
“Don’t—”
He was pulled to his feet and toward the sea. Was the damn woman practicing competitive swimming? He realized his potential doom just in time. Jumping, twisting, and hopping, he managed to shed his shoes, jacket, shirt, and pants before he plunged into the water with his underwear and, of all things, socks, still on.
It was cold, but in a refreshing way, especially after the trek they’d done. He dipped his head underwater, then shook out his hair.
Shanna had stopped about sixty feet away from him. “Nice to see you joining me!”
He shook his head, more in amusement than annoyance, and swam to her. The water was clear enough to not obscure her body, only lay a wavy filter over it, as if it was intent on teasing him, outlining the curves of her breasts and hips.
“Don’t you like it?” she asked.
Simon stuttered in confusion.
“The water. It’s just the right temperature, isn’t it?”
You idiot.Of course she wasn’t asking him if he liked staring at her body.
“It’s surprisingly pleasant,” he said, mentally giving himself the award for the lamest small talk ever produced.
Shanna swam closer, her feet accidentally brushing his legs, like a light kiss from a water creature. Wet, her eyelashes turned a shade darker and somehow made her eyes look bigger—wide and oh-so-pretty. They fluttered as she looked down, nursing a partially mysterious, partially amused smile on her lips …
And then she splashed him. “Race you to the heart rock!” she called as she swam sidestroke to the split rock they’d noticed before.
