Chapter Nine
Glynnis could hearyelling, which seemed uncalled for since she was close to the shore. It wasn’t as if she were out on the ocean in a tiny boat, capsizing to her imminent demise.
However, an especially large wave crashed against her bathing machine. More slowly than she thought possible, it began to tip farther and farther, causing her to scramble up the slanting floor. She watched as all her clothing fell into the water, along with her boots and her bonnet from the shelf.
“Dammit!” It felt good to swear aloud, knowing no one could hear her.
Water flowed in from the corner of the hut and under the door. The gathering weight of it snapped the smaller front wheel until the bathing machine went completely over onto its side, and Glynnis along with it. Worse than that, she was plunged into darkness as the hole in the roof was now underwater allowing the rest of the sea to rush in.
The horse — still attached as she could hear while her head was above water — was frantically pulling and dragging but going nowhere. And then somehow, it had gone, perhaps cut free so it didn’t drown.
Drown!
Panic sliced through her as the chilly water, seeming even colder in the darkness, rose swiftly higher. On its side, the seven-foot-long cabin was only as high as its width. Five feet she would guess, maybe four. And it was filling with water, even with both doors closed.
Scrambling toward the wall which was playing the part of a ceiling, she feared the hut would be completely underwater in another few seconds.
***
JAMES HAD NEVER CAREDfor bathing in the sea, at least not with others splashing around. If he were going to have a hearty swim, he liked doing so in a clear lake, stretching out over the yards at a good clip and back again.
He also most assuredly didn’t like the feel of his suit becoming soaked with salt water, but that was precisely what would have to happen as he watched Miss Talbot’s infernal bathing machine tip over. No one else was rushing to her rescue. All the dippers seemed more concerned with the blasted horse, which was undoubtedly an expensive part of their daily endeavor.
For his part, he could not imagine a world in which the saucy chit didn’t return from her little ocean adventure to smile at him and twinkle those deep-brown eyes.
Tossing his hat up the beach, he rushed the few yards into the cool water where the submerged hut rested on its side. Both the sea and the hut came up to his shoulders. The front door had floated open by his knees, and it was easy enough to take a deep breath, dive down, and swim inside.
Almost at once, he collided with Miss Talbot’s figure and grabbed hold.By God, she was bare as a needle!
Hauling her against him and dragging her upward, they were both bobbing above the water, catching their breath in the small, dark space.
“Don’t panic,” he told her.
“I assure you, I am not, but my clothing has all floated away,” Miss Talbot said, and plainly her teeth were chattering. More than that, where his fingers touched her slippery-smooth skin, he could feel her shivering.
“I hope that hideous bathing costume has disappeared, too,” he said, trying to make light of a somewhat frightening situation.
“That is not at all amusing,” she hissed. “I shall owe the woman money for it!”
“Can you be serious? That hardly seems important.”
Suddenly, the entire contraption moved, and he knew they were being dragged closer to shore. Light was even then coming in, meaning the water was below the level of the open door.
So close, she glanced at him, water dripping off her lashes and her hair, which was floating all round her. Unfortunately, her lips, usually a pretty shade of pink, were turning a little blue.
His hands ran up and down her arms to warm her before his fingers skimmed her waist, drawing her closer. Somehow, her body was curling toward him, and he clasped each cheek of her round bottom, tucking her hips against his.
“It’s like I’ve caught my own mermaid,” he quipped.
They stared at one another in silence. Then before he let himself think better of it, he leaned forward and kissed her.
The salty kiss didn’t last long as they were jarred by the hut’s movement across the pebbled seabed, and he didn’t know if it helped her to feel any warmer, but heat had certainly shot through him. Holding her bare, silken body, he was fiercely aroused at a plainly inconvenient time.
Drawing back, he opened his eyes as she did, bobbing before him, and then, to his amazement — and gratitude — her breasts became visible above the lowering seawater, showing him her nipples like ripe cherries, pert and dark.
“Hargrove,” she warned, but her tone was breathless, and she didn’t release the hold she had on his arms.
