It seemed easy once she’d done it.
Of course it was. She had a buoyancy device strapped around her. But she could still feel how the water went on and on beneath her. There was nothing dragging her down though. She kicked her legs and moved closer to him, their orange jackets bumping, and he smiled at her.
‘It does feel freeing,’ she said.
‘Try this.’ He let go of her hand, then tipped himself back so he was floating on the surface.
She did the same, struggling a little at first with the jacket, but when she got there it was amazing. Just acres of sky above her and sea below. ‘It’s like flying.’
They stayed in the water for a while, not straying far from the boat and Lila loved seeing things from the different perspective, everything huge but somehow not distant or intimidating. She climbed out first and went to grab a towel from the bag she’d brought with her.
‘You’ll dry quicker with the life preserver off,’ he commented, as he emerged in one easy lunge. She felt like she suddenly weighed two tonnes after being weightless in the water, but he was as lithe and graceful as ever.
‘Is it safe?’
‘We should be okay. We’re not moving, and it won’t take long in this heat.’ He ran a hand back through his hair and unzipped his own life jacket. ‘I’ll grab lunch now.’
‘D’you need any help?’
‘No, it’s easy enough.’
She nodded and they both went up to the forward deck, after she grabbed a few things from her handbag, and he got out the hamper he’d clearly bought from a deli. She took off the life preserver when she sat down on the cushioned area and wrapped the towel around her in its place. The padded material was hot beneath her bare feet, the sun high up in the sky now.
Lila grabbed her phone and took a couple of photos of the view of the island while Rowan spread out some of the food he’d brought. She asked Rowan to hold still for a second so he wasn’t in them.
‘Any particular reason I can’t be in the photos?’ he teased, pulling the lid off a pot of sundried tomatoes.
‘I’m going to send them to Stephen.’ She’d replied to her brother again and they’d been sending messages to one another throughout the week. Nothing deep and meaningful, just little snapshots of each other’s life that was slowly building a picture in her mind. A picture she was being invited to be a part of when she was ready.
‘Messaging another man while on a date with me, are you? That explains it.’
‘He’s my brother,’ she said, pushing his shoulder playfully and sending them off via the messenger app with a brief description of what she was doing that day – though obviously she didn’t mention Rowan by name. A quick reply came back from him that made her laugh.
Stephen: That looks like paradise. I hope you don’t end up in the water unexpectedly like I did on one of my first dates with Noelle. Actually, I think it was our first official date.
Lila: I’ve already been in the water, but it was voluntarily. Your experience doesn’t sound like it was!
Stephen: She’s just warned me that I’m not to tell you all about it unless she’s present too because apparently: “There are two sides to the story.” Enjoy, Lila, that sea looks a lot warmer than the Hudson was!
Maybe that had been last summer when he was in New York. She put her phone away and imagined a time when she might sit down with Stephen and Noelle, chatting about their first date and maybe she’d tell them about hers with Rowan.
She looked up to find Rowan watching her, a smile on his lips. ‘You’re happy you contacted him.’
‘Yeah. Your encouragement really helped.’ Like it helped with getting in the water.
He shrugged one shoulder and handed her a bottle of flavoured water. They made short work of the food he’d brought, swimming somehow making them both starving even though they hadn’t exerted themselves particularly and then Rowan packed it away, clearing the space between them and resting back on his elbows and making her go nearly cross-eyed at the sight of his biceps…and his bare chest…and his flat stomach glistening…
As they chatted she tried to keep her focus above the neck and the heat began to make her drowsy like a cat. The sun on her skin was heavenly, the salt drying under the sun’s rays. Stephen was right – it was the closest thing to paradise she’d ever experienced, but if she wasn’t careful, she would burn.
She reached to get her hat and some suntan lotion and untucked her towel, trying to be brave, even as she noticed Rowan’s eyes quickly take her in.
‘Would you like some help applying that?’
She pressed her lips together on all the excuses to push back on his offer, because God yes, she wanted his hands on her skin. He sat up and took the bottle and she turned her back towards him, tucking her hair up in her hat and hugging her knees. Her pulse was thrumming everywhere, waiting for the moment he would touch her.
She stifled a noise – she wasn’t sure what it would have been, a squeak, a moan? – when his hands smoothed the cool lotion around her neck. His hands moved across her shoulders in long, sure strokes, firm but gentle. By the time he started on her lower back, the heat between her legs was throbbing. But he wasn’t doing anything except what he’d offered – applying her lotion. His fingertips slipped beneath the strap of her bikini top, running along, and she held her breath, but he stopped just shy of the sides, when he might have carried on around and copped a sneaky feel. She was going to explode if he touched her. She was going to explode if he didn’t.
She let out a shaky breath. ‘You’re such a gentleman.’ She dropped her forehead onto her knees, weak with her desire.
