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I gaped, awestruck, and my grip on the hammer faltered. Panic seized me as I scrabbled to catch it. There was a terrible moment when I knew that I was going to fall, but I also knew that there was nothing I could do about it.
I think I might have shouted something. I think I might have cursed.
I stayed on the ground, groaning. The last thing I wanted was for her to see me up the ladder again, so I just lay on the grass, rubbing my sore shins and trying not to die of shame.
"Cole!”
Oh shit.
She was calling me now, and her voice was getting louder. I looked up to see her running up the coastal path toward me. Her modesty was covered by a towel, but nothing could be done to hide the ferocious beauty of her sun-kissed cheeks and her emerald eyes.
"Cole? Are you all right?"
Holding the towel tightly with one hand, she reached toward me with the other, helping me up. "I'm fine. Just took a tumble."
That's when she must have seen the ladder because her cheeks instantly reddened.
"Don't worry!” I said, my palms raised. “I didn't see anything."
Why the hell did I say that?
"What do you mean? What didn't you see?"
"I just mean—" I trailed off. It was no use. Never been able to tell a lie. "I'm sorry. I saw you on the beach. I wasn't spying or anything! I was just trying to fix a leak and—"
Her blush deepened. God, she was stunning. And I was a prize asshole.
"No, it's okay," she said. "It's my fault, really. Shouldn't be prancing about naked in broad daylight if I don't want to get seen."
"Well, to be fair, it’s evening. And you weren't exactly prancing."
She bit her lip. "So, you were looking for long enough to notice whether or not I was prancing."
"I . . . Christ, I keep digging this hole deeper for myself, don't I? Can we just pretend this never happened? I’m mortified."
"Deal." She held out her hand. "We’ll never speak of this again. And I'll keep the skinny-dipping to a minimum." A beat. "Before nightfall, at least."
I shook it, trying and failing not to imagine what her body might look like under the silvery light of the moon.
Elara's eyes sparkled with impish mirth. "Wait a second. Did seeing me down there make you fall off the ladder?"
I inhaled sharply. "I guess so."
"Well. I'm going to take that as a compliment." And with that, she turned and walked away, straight into my dreams for the night.
CHAPTER FIVE
Elara
What the hell was I thinking?
After jumping out at Cole in a fancy-dress costume, I’d needed to ground myself. When I was a kid, ocean swimming always made me feel peaceful, so I figured I’d try it, but I wanted to do it in a more grown-up way.
And how had I done that?
Just in the most childish way imaginable. By stripping down to my literal birthday suit.
Then, to make matters worse, I'd thrown in that silly line about him falling off the ladder being a compliment! I might as well have rolled around, babbling, “Goo-goo, ga-ga, baby Elara's got a crush on big, strong, grown-up Cole!"
