Alice’s laugh drifted over. “She’s got you there, Rog.”
Nico turned the canoe around with a few powerful strokes and Valerie, twisted around from her position at the front, felt her eyes physically expand to take in the sight. She’d always assured Jake that she wasn’t into muscles, and that was true enough. There were far more important things in life. A sense of humor. Kindness. Loyalty. Muscles and good looks faded as the years passed but trustworthiness would last until the grave. She stood by that, but at the same time, hoped there was enough time between this moment and death’s sweet embrace to admire both Nico’s personality and his pectorals.
“Can you reach it?” he asked as they drew alongside the paddle.
“Sure,” she said confidently, not wanting to make a fuss. She leaned over and her fingers brushed the grip. One more centimeter and…
Roger’s warning shout came from the dock. “Valerie, no!”
Too late.
Valerie had learned that in moments of physical crisis, her mind snapped into one of two modes. In the first, it slowed to about ten thousand frames per second, so she could witness every millisecond, withthe added bonus of being unable to stop the inevitable. In mode two, she simply seemed to blink into the aftermath. She would be standing, then on the sidewalk after tripping over a curb. Cooking, then staring at spaghetti sauce spreading over the floor.
Falling out of the canoe put her in mode one. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nico’s hand stretching toward her as if he was fighting through glue. But the main spectacle was happening directly in front of her. Her fingers made contact with the floating paddle and immediately slipped off and dipped into the water. She could see them wavering under the surface, the water turning her skin a sickly green up to the wrist, then the forearm. The canoe rocked under her, and she clutched the side to try to steady herself.
That was the final mistake. Valerie held her breath, shut her eyes and tried not to gasp at the shock of tumbling into the cold lake. The water swirled as she froze for a moment. Then her life jacket and basic survival skills kicked in and she bobbed up to the surface, snorting and wiping her eyes.
“Valerie!” Nico appeared in front of her, wet hair slicked back from his face. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” She felt horrible. “I’m sorry.”
Nico looked astonished. “For what?”
“For dumping you in the water! For breaking the canoe!” She was so upset she felt the tears coming. She was here to help, and she’d done this.
Nico laughed hard enough to swallow some water. When he was done coughing, he said, “It happens. The canoe is fine. You can swim back to the dock while I set it straight.”
“Let me help,” she insisted, treading water.
Nico glanced over. “Okay. Swim under and make sure you put a hand on the edge so you don’t hit your head.”
They ducked beneath and poked their heads up in the space of the flipped canoe. She swung around to face Nico, who was bobbing closerthan she anticipated. In the dark, all she could hear was the sound of the water splashing and Nico’s steady breathing. It was secret, intimate, and calm, and if it wasn’t for the fact that she was kind of chilly in the water, she could have stayed here for hours.
Nico, however, seemed immune to the potential romance. She supposed she didn’t blame him, as being dropped in the lake wasn’t a fun surprise for anyone. He gave her brisk instructions for where to put her hands. “On the count of three, we’re going to lift the canoe up and to your left so it’s upright,” he said.
“Got it.”
Four seconds later, the canoe was sloshing right side up. “Good job,” he said and she beamed. He was close enough for her to see that his shirt had gone transparent in the water and for their legs to tangle if she misjudged her kicks. Valerie nearly forgot to keep moving as he reached out to her face. She closed her eyes and waited for his touch.
Nico handed over one of her huge earrings. “It was about to fall out.”
She took it, a little embarrassed and disappointed, although what she thought could happen in broad daylight, after being dumped from a canoe fully dressed and with Roger and Alice watching, was another question. She tried to neutralize the fantasies that insisted on marching through her mind with boring counterarguments. Making out in the water would be tiring, even with a life jacket, since it was too deep to touch the bottom. Not to mention the cold water would make her skin clammy. Sex in a canoe, assuming she could get back into it, seemed dangerous, but in a legitimately life-threatening and not sexy way.
Hold on, all he did was save her earring. It was hardly an invitation. Valerie heroically reined in her imagination despite catching sight of the swing hanging off a tree branch near the water. Nico waved her ahead and started towing the canoe back in, correctly judging it was easier for Valerie to swim to the dock than try to get back inside.
Roger and Alice greeted her with cheers when she climbed up, her clothes dripping and giving more drowned cat than sex kitten. “You passed a cottage rite of passage,” said Alice, tossing her a luxurious blanket of a towel from the selection that had been rolled and tucked into a woven basket. “Falling in the water happens to everyone.”
“My last time out, I sent us into the lake because of a water snake and then I couldn’t get the canoe back upright,” Roger said. “David was furious, plus I was face-to-face with a nope rope.”
“Sorry, a what?” She must have misheard.
“Water snake.” Roger pointed to the lake. “They’re excellent swimmers.”
“Snakes swim?” There was a new fear unlocked.
“They’re not poisonous.”
“Do they bite?”
