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“Except yours,” Liv said.

“That, I can cope with,” Maya replied, sipping her tea and renewing her determination to ignore the situation. In the same manner she’d been avoiding her parents after Omar’s barbed comment about Sam the other night. “Ooh, this is tasty. I might buy a packet to take home to Mum.” She ignored the look that passed between Liv and Elise, and focused on her cup.

Sinking deeper into the warm water, Maya relished the feel of the bubbles soothing her tired muscles. She closed her eyes and let her arms float up to the surface, imagining that the bubbles were lifting away all of her cares.

The ambient lighting and background hum of the hydrotherapy pool was calming, quieting her mind until she arrived at the edge of a sleeplike trance. Echoes of the day played through her thoughts—the kids in her class having fun as they honed their technique. Having a laugh with her new colleagues in the café . . .

She became aware of someone climbing into the pool at the opposite side, and wondered if Rowan, one of the other instructors and a new friend, had come to join her. But before she could open her eyes to find out, a familiar, pulse-kicking piney-fresh scent infused her nostrils.

Sam.

She peeked through one eye. It was indeed him, and his eyes were on her. Oh fuck.

Heat rose in her face as she remembered the mortification of their most recent encounter, when she’d been sent flying and had ended up in a heap on top of him. She had been acutely aware of the hardness of his body under hers and couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Although, in terms of silver linings, Maya was grateful that on this occasion, her body was fully submerged rather than being on display like when she’d walked in on him in the steam room.

He gave her a wry smile. “I considered turning around and leaving again when I saw you were in the pool.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

He nodded. “But then I figured that we need to talk.”

She sank even lower into the water. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

Sam let out a low chuckle that stirred something deep in her belly. “Don’t worry. All I wanted to say was thanks.”

Maya brought her head out of the water to assess him, like a suspicious meerkat popping up to nose at its surroundings. “Thanks? What for?”

He lifted his arms onto the sides of the pool, muscles on display as the bubbles washed over his chest, and she worked hard not to stare. “For arranging my car to get towed to the garage. You saved me a big headache.”

She watched him for a moment, absorbing the sincerity in his voice.

It was difficult to work him out. They’d seemed to get along pretty well at the pub the other night, at least until he’d tried to compare her with bloody Cat. Not what she wanted to hear, especially after her last comparison with Catriona had left her unable to compete. Maya had never had an overt problem with self-confidence, but growing up, she had been aware that the definition of Scottish beauty didn’t appear to include her tawny skin tone and dark features. There were never any women of a similar mixed-race heritage to her in magazines or on TV.

She’d never thought she’d have a chance with Sam. His previous girlfriends had fitted the kind of aesthetic that Cat exuded, with fair hair and skin. So when he’d reversed course with Maya and gone for Cat instead, she’d realized that she should’ve expected it.

She glanced down at the pool surface, sitting straighter so that her shoulders came above the waterline and trying to hide the blush that she could feel heating her cheeks.

“I know that your motivation was to get the sanctity of your commute back,” he told her. “But I still appreciate it.”

Maya looked up, and he was wearing a sort of wistful expression. “Well,” she said reluctantly. “I suppose I kind of did it for you too.” She paused. “A tiny bit.”

He smiled, and she admired the way it lit up his amber eyes. “How tiny?”

She lifted her hand and indicated about a millimeter between thumb and forefinger, making him laugh. He had the most amazing, deep, rumbling laugh that made her soul hum. She realized that she’d missed hearing it over the past few days, since experiencing it multiple times that evening they’d shared in the pub.

“I’ll take that,” he told her with a smile.

Whenever they had a conversation rather than a mere exchange of snippy remarks, he came across as empathetic, like his sister. That was incongruent with the manner in which he’d shattered her heart when she was an impressionable teen. At the pub he’d listened and taken on board what she’d said about her dad, and Hana. Plus, he organized this charity race every year and undertook the community work that Liv had mentioned. There was also the naked-butler thing. She’d assumed it was an extension of his ego, but he was doing it in order to help someone else out.

All in all, despite their most recent tense exchange, he seemed more like the Sam she’d worked alongside and gotten cozy with. The one who’d paid attention to their conversations and had arranged a really thoughtful gift for her eighteenth birthday, rather than the man who’d sent her friend over to shatter her heart, then bedded that same friend, all in a single evening. Though she was unsure if it could be called bedded, when they’d done it in the foliage of the nook. Bushed? Shrubbed?

“You’re welcome,” she told him, opting to accept his sentiment as sincere. “Glad to help.”

His demeanor seemed to relax, and she got the feeling he might have been building up to saying all of that. Deciding that this time it was her turn to make a swift exit, especially since she was struggling not to ogle him in the water, she pushed herself to standing. “I’ll leave you in peace to enjoy the pool. See you later.”

He nodded, his gaze trailing down her body for a second, and then on a slow blink coming back up to her face.