"First thing I did when I saw you was notice how pretty the peach flecks in your eyes are," he said, letting his breath feather against her cheek. "Sorry I didn’t check out your girls." Not something he ever thought he’d admit. "But I promise you, when you were walking in front of me, I checked you out everywhere. But I didn’t make a scene about it because I wanted you to be comfortable." He pulled his head away, allowing her to take that in.
She gasped in surprise, her lips parting into a little O.
"You can stop worrying about if I like your body, Darla." He grinned what he knew was a wicked grin. "I promise, it’s fine."
"Fine?" she asked, glancing at her chest. "It’s fine."
If she looked worked up before that he hadn’t checked her out, now she was positively in a tizzy. She had the look of a woman ready to kill him, right there in that swimming pool.
"Darla, whatever rating system you’ve put on the world, stop. That’s not a game you want to play with me," he said with a pointed glance that held her gaze steady with his. "Maybe instead let’s play something where we can both win."
"It’s not that I don’t want to play this game with you." The hungry glance at his mouth and the way her lips parted told that story for her. "It’s that I can’t."
"Why not?"
She gulped. Then she pressed her lips together and wished she could cross her arms over her chest without sinking. "Because that’s not how my life works."
Chapter Eight
DARLA
Peoplein high school used to call her Dippy Darla since she worked in an ice cream shop on the 16thStreet Mall. Now she was straight-up Drenched Darla. The water gently swirled around them, tiny currents winding around their bodies. Her legs moved as she treaded water because he’d released his grip on her.
She looked up at the blue sky again because there was more chance of her catching the sun than finding her happy with Mach. Mach, who didn’t take things seriously and who was everything she shouldn’t want.
She looked at him, ready to tell him that exact thing. But his gaze snagged with hers and his expression went blank, then puzzled, then puzzled with a side of amusement.
Which was ridiculous since there was nothing to be amused about.
Instead of saying more, or waiting for him to say something else, she did a quick underwater roll, followed by a back stroke, before she came to rest near the edge of the pool.
"This has been fun, but now can we talk outside of the pool?" Darla asked, breathless. She flopped a chunk of hair out of her face.
"I don’t know. I’m kind of enjoying this wet conversation." He moved to a back float, his arms and legs wide like a starfish.
She smacked the surface of the water. "Oh, my God. You are impossible."
Mach thought on that entirely too long. "Are you always this worked up?"
It was only a question. That’s all it was. And yet, her entire soul seemed to tumble into itself with his words.
"I’m not worked up. I’m happy." She was a cheerful person, dammit.
"I am not afraid to admit that my understanding of emotions is stunted." He shrugged, but this was a pretty big thing to admit, so he should probably take it more seriously.
She couldn’t help but wonder what the angle was this time in his statement.
He swam closer again and dammit all, she liked it! She enjoyed being stalked by him so much that she didn’t even try to escape. Instead, she allowed their chests to brush again. Only the lightest of touches. But given his admission that he liked her body, she was feeling the power of that admission.
"You were talking about your emotional immaturity?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and tossing up the only defense she could grasp. A defense with a side of sassy.
He chuckled. "You want to know what I like best about you, Darla?"
She shook her head. "No idea."
"I like the fire." His hand barely brushed hers under the water. Probably an accident. Yet it left pricks of awareness that should have been dulled by the chill of the water.
Often Darla fought for things that had nothing to do with her. Patient rights, and attention for them. She’d burn down the world if it meant her friends got a fair shake. But…
