“Ohh, it’s warm. Fancy.”
“Fancy’s my middle name.” They reached the bottom of the stairs, where the water came up to the top of Lily-Grace’s thighs. Jesse turned and took both of her hands. “How’s that?”
“Okay.” She smiled. “Not bad. I don’t hate it. Do not let go of my hands.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Slowly, Jesse walked her deeper into the water until it came up right to her belly button. Then deeper, until the water was just below her breasts. Her large, perfectly round breasts that he definitely hadn’t tried to steal a glance at. “How does that feel?”
“Strange, but I don’t hate it. I can’t believe I’ve never done this before. It’s not as scary as I expected it to be.”
“You want to try floating?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
“Okay, so I’m going to support your back and you’re gonna lean back. Like a slow motion trust fall. I won’t let you go underwater.”
“Okay.” Lily-Grace was a little less confident this time, but that didn’t stop her from gripping Jesse’s arm as she slowly leaned back. Her feet left the bottom of the pool and of course she started panicking. “Don’t drop me!” she screeched.
“I’m right here.” He pressed his fingers more firmly against her back. “Just relax. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay.” She was tense as hell, but eventually Jesse got her flat on her back, floating on the surface of the water. One hand braced in the middle of her back and the other under her thighs, he watched her face carefully as she stared up at the wispy clouds in the sky above them. Her thick curls were still up in a bun, but Jesse took a mental picture of the way wet strands fanned around her face in a black halo, streaked in two spots with white. She closed her eyes and sighed. Jesse waited a few minutes more before he slowly started to move around the pool, carrying Lily-Grace in the water, in the palms of his hands.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been close to a woman like this, touching in a way that didn’t make him nervous. His eyes traveled over her face, down the smooth lines of her neck and the swells of her breasts. Never, he realized. He’d never touched a woman like this. He thought about how any level of intimacy he’d taken a shot at had left his hands literally shaking. How if it hadn’t been for Miss Leona, who dealt in the currency of hugs, or Evie, who had always treated him with sisterly affection, he wouldn’t know how to picture any kind of closeness.
But this was different. The whole day had been different. His hands weren’t shaking.
“Okay,” she said, her voice quivering, part nerves, part laughter. “I’m ready to come up now.”
“Okay.” Jesse lowered his left arm, letting her legs down into the water. They were near the shallow end and Jesse absolutely had her, but that didn’t stop Lily-Grace from flailing as she struggled to find the bottom of the pool. Jesse stood her up and pulled her close to his chest.
“You’re fine. I got you.”
She gripped on to his shoulders, eyes wild as she peered down at the water. “This isn’t as easy as I thought,” she said.
“No. Learning to swim can be hard and scary, but I won’t let anything happen to you. Here.” Jesse reached up and placed her arms tighter around his neck, before he placed a firm hand on the small of her back. “Just hold on to me.”
Her legs went around his waist and she gripped him even tighter, eyes still glued to the surface of the water.
“We can get out if you want to. Last night was—just last night. We didn’t have to rush into this.”
“No, I—I’m trying to figure out what I’m so afraid of. You’re literally holding me and this water isn’t even deep.”
“Because you’re programmed to be on land, but we started out in the water. You’re battling against a lot of instinct and nurture.”
She glanced up at him with a sarcastic smile before the look of terror returned to her face. “Don’t get all philosophical on me, Pleasant.”
“I meant the womb. We come out knowing how to swim and then we lose it if we don’t keep it up.”
“Oh, got it. I don’t want to get out. The water feels nice. I just need to take it slow. Do not put me down.”
“I won’t. Hold on.” He walked them into deeper water again, so the surface was up to his shoulders, but his feet were still touching the bottom. Jesse couldn’t see Lily-Grace’s face but he could feel the way she was breathing, feel her chest rising and falling against his. This wasn’t the swim lesson he’d had in mind, but he was in no hurry to let her go. He moved back to the shallow end again, her body still clutched to his as he sat down on a lower step. The water was still up to their chests but he could rest there, still holding her weight.
“This is better,” she practically moaned in his ear. At that moment they both realized their mistake. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so horny.” She laughed as she pulled back and looked him in the eye. Jesse tried to think the unsexiest of thoughts to quiet his rising erection, but the way Lily-Grace shifted against him made it a lost cause. Her crotch was pressed firmly against his lap and her perfect plump ass rested against his thighs. He held still, knowing his natural instinct to toss Lily-Grace on the pool deck so he could run and hide wouldn’t help the situation. He watched her face as she swallowed, her gaze dropping down to his lips and back up to his eyes again.
“Should I get up?”
“No,” Jesse replied a little too quickly. He had no idea what to do, but moving seemed like a bad idea. “I’m not sure what to do here.”
“Well. You’re hard. We both know it and it’s no big deal.”
