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“Luce. You gave the same defense of every crackhead who gets arrested with blow in his pocket. Gotta be honest, the logic doesn’t fly. You’re wearing them, they’re your pants. End of story.”
“Are you always this difficult?” She shuffled the cards again.
“You’ve got a couple of days to find out.” She let out a deep breath. “My guess is yes.”
“Your guess is probably right. My turn. Honesty this time. Why are you so afraid of water?”
She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “Don’t say sharks.”
Ugh. She didn’t like doing personal, and they’d been getting very personal.
“I confess I do pools fine. Anywhere I can see the bottom and know I can touch. When I can’t see the bottom I get panicky about what’s down there. Add to that, drowning would be the worst way to go. So I avoid the possibility.” She set the stack of cards in front of her.
“Drowning wouldn’t be so bad,” he said with confidence.
“Uh, yeah it would be awful. Your lungs burning up when you’re unable to get to the surface. The panic. Ugh. No. But, seriously, thank you for ensuring I won’t sleep tonight.”
“I’ll distract you later. You’ll forget.” He tipped his bottle to his lips and winked at her.
Warmth flooded her cheeks. She studied the wood grain of the table as though it held the answer to the meaning of life.
“Eyes on me.”
So bossy.
She didn’t want to, but she did.
He was all seriousness. “You’re under the water, and you panic. After the panic, you accept the end, and there’s only a brief fear before you breathe in the water. Peace fills your lungs, and you float to wherever you go when it’s over. They say drowning is…tranquil.”
“Tranquil?” she repeated. He was certifiable. No one thought drowning was anything but awful. “Who says? Because this isn’t something you come back from and say ‘Hey, guess what? Not so bad. This is the way to go. Totally pick drowning.’”
“Freaking adorable. You get that, right?”
“Stop.” She said it but her heart wasn’t in it.
“No.”
Damn.
“Seriously,” he continued. “One of the networks I worked at did a special about people who got brought back after a near-drowning, and they all said it wasn’t so bad. Drowning wouldn’t be fantastic, but it wouldn’t be like dying in a fire. Fire is not the way to go. Or a guillotine. Avoid both of those.”
“I guess I’m not sleeping tonight.” She spoke under her breath.
He raised an eyebrow, and a fissure of yearning skittered through her as he gave her another body scan. “Don’t mind staying up.”
“Can we play something else for a while?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned wider than the devil himself, and she knew exactly what game he wanted to play.
She stood. “I think I’ll go to sleep.”
“Not thinkin’ so. Drowning, fire, and guillotine will have you back here in five. Don’t mind waiting, though, if you want to try the sleep thing.”
Of course he was right. She flopped on the chair. “I need another beer. Mine’s warm.”
“You sure? You’ve got more label to shred on that one.” He pointed to the stack in front of her.
“Next question.” She gave a one-handed flutter of a wave.
