“Easy enough. The left refuses to be helpful anyway,” she said as she stood. She had perhaps overestimated how healed it was.
He took one of her hands and put it on the back of his shoulder as he turned his back to her and bent his knees. “Hop on.”
She froze, staring at his incredibly muscular back. “What now?”
He turned his head so she could see his profile. “Hop. On.”
“What? Like piggyback?” She should be horrified, but she wasn’t. She was thinking about her legs wrapped around him… Nope. No. Not gonna happen. She shook her head free of the thought. “I can just lean on you—”
“This way, you don’t risk slipping again.”
True. But what else was she risking?
“You okay? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of piggyback.”
“I’m not afraid. I’m—are you sure you can carry me?”
“Of course I can carry you. Do you want to swim or not?” he asked, only slightly exasperated.
She did. Fine. She placed her other hand on the back of his other shoulder. He knelt so she could swing her legs around. He caught her under each knee and stood. They were skin to skin. Maybe more than simply skin to skin… Her heart thudded. Her breasts were against his back, the only thing between them the thin material of her bikini top. She swallowed.
“Okay.” Her voice sounded weak, unnatural to her ears.
“Okay.” His tone was a bit strained.
“You sure you can carry me?” she asked again.
“Carrying you is not the problem,” he murmured.
And to demonstrate, he carried her into the water to where it was deep enough for her to swim. “Okay. You can let go.” He turned a half smile toward her. “You know, if you can take your hands off me.”
“No sweat.” She swung her legs back into the water and let go of him. She shivered in the sudden coolness of the water after the heat of his back. Cocky jerk. He turned to face her as she let herself float, but not before noticing that his eyes had darkened and softened.
So it wasn’t just her.
She pursed her lips. “That’s about as much action as you’ll be getting.”
His mouth dropped open, then he laughed. “I’ll take it.”
She floated on her back a moment longer. The water was buoyant and held her beautifully. The sky was a pristine blue, the only sound the water around her ears. Heaven. She flipped over and swam a few strokes, ignoring the pain in her left ankle. She was light and free. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this way. It had been a while since she had been near the ocean. She swam a bit, aware all the while that Roshan did not drift too far from her. In fact, he remained no more than arm’s length from her at all times.
Nimita lost track of time in the water. It wasn’t until she spied the sun just starting to set that she came to a halt.
“Roshan. It’s late,” she said, swimming for the shore, Roshan beside her. “The sun has started to set. It’s too late. We need to head back.”
“I figured. It’s okay.” He seemed colossally unperturbed.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” They reached the shallow water, and Roshan stopped and faced away from her. “Why didn’t you tell me how much time had passed?”
“Hop on.”
She hesitated but only for a second. But it was long enough for Roshan to turn his side grin to her. “If you can handle it.”
She groaned. “I can handle it.” She paused as she climbed onto his back. Her mouth right next to his ear. “The question is, can you?”
She heard him grunt and chuckle as he carried her all the way to the car.
“You should have told me it was time,” she chided him.
