He didn’t look anywhere but at his destination.
“You issued a challenge,” he murmured, low enough only she could hear. “I’m responding.”
He carried her toward the pool, unhurried, as if this were perfectly reasonable behavior.
Nadia’s pulse skidded. “I didn’t. You’re insane.”
“Quite possibly.” His gaze flicked to her parted lips.
Luc stopped at the edge, and for a heartbeat, she thought he might reconsider.
He didn’t.
She shrieked as water swallowed her whole, but her self-preservation instinct was sharp, and she pushed off the bottom. She emerged sputtering, lungs burning, and kicked her legs to stay afloat. Slicking the hair from her eyes, she glared up at him.
The patio occupants were awkwardly still, and a few feet away, Katie stood frozen with a drink halfway to her mouth.
“What the hell?” Nadia snapped.
Luc squatted in front of her, smug, unruffled, and provoking.
He tilted his head. “Next time you retaliate, you should aim higher.”
“I didn’t realize we were in the midst of battle,” Nadia retorted with a glare. “It was a stupid ice cube.”
“Precisely.”
“You threw me in the pool over an ice cube?”
Challenge lit his contemplative gaze. “You’ve heard the phrase, all is fair in love and war, yes?” He waited until she nodded. “I coined it.”
“Bullshit.”
He pushed her back in when she would’ve climbed out. For the longest minute, she tread water and considered the best way to exit the pool.
His expression softened, and he held a hand out.
Ignoring his offer, she hauled herself up onto the ledge and rose.
“Oh, you are so dead,” she growled.
“There you go,” he replied approvingly.
Water streamed from Nadia’s hair, down her body, pooling at her feet. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t planned to swim, but being the center of attention in her current state flustered her. His lips twitched, leaving her no doubt as to how horrible she must look. Drowned Rat was not all the fashion.
She fixed Luc with a stare meant to convey both threat and promise.
He remained crouched, watching her with quiet interest, as if weighing or even testing what she might do. Her irritation shifted to recklessness and a need to respond to his silent dare. The spark was fed by adrenaline and attraction in equal measure.
Why did he provoke her to such a degree? Why did she feel electrified around him?
Luc rose with an easy grace, leaving himself exposed to attack. Before she could talk herself out of it, she lunged and slammed her hands into his chest with the full force of her momentum. Her plan was to even the score. Juvenile, yes, but satisfying if she could pull it off.
His reaction was instantaneous. He didn’t stumble or attempt to save himself. Instead, he pivoted, catching her forward drive. His unyielding arms slid around her waist as he guided the fall. And for a brief, disorienting second, their bodies were perfectly aligned, with her breasts brushing his muscled chest.
Nadia’s breath caught at the heat radiating from him as they hung suspended.
He was pure fire.
