When I surface again, I realize I've drifted closer to the platform.
And there are three pairs of eyes watching me.
Amused, I sweep my eyes from the brown-haired woman, to the bearded guy next to her, and then to the second guy... wait. The second guy is hot. Startlingly so. He's got longish, messy, dark hair, intense eyebrows, and a hint of matching black stubble.
And then I'm staring into his eyes. The most soul-searching, dark amber eyes I've ever seen.
Oh, hello.
My gaze drops to the guy's sculpted shoulders, then his biceps, which aren't massive but are definitely rock solid. Theguy's tall, tan, and sinewy, and I can see every ridge and muscle in his washboard abs. He grins, revealing dazzling white teeth.
"A real, live mermaid. Hey, beautiful! Where did you come from? I've been swimming in this spring my entire life and never saw a mermaid," he calls down in a smooth baritone and a slight southern accent.
There's a tightness in my belly, one I haven't felt in years. Or maybe ever, now that I think about it. An electric tingle goes through me, as if a current has entered the top of my head and shot down my spine. I propel myself a little closer to the platform. Even when I'd met Brent, I hadn't been this instantly captivated.
I've never been instant anything with a guy. I always need to weigh a man's pros and cons, make a list. Of course, my lists didn't do any good with Brent, and I suspect they’d be useless with this guy, too.
Insta-love is not my jam. Any brand of love is not in my lexicon right now.
I should probably swim away before I do, or say, anything stupid.
TWO
Remy
Man, it’s funny how life works.
One minute, I'm on the platform at Paradise Springs with my brother, Tate, and his fiancée, Isabella. It's Tuesday morning, the guava pastries from the bakery on Main Street are nearly gone, and I'm trying not to get cavities from the pure, extreme, too-saccharine sweetness Tate and Isabella are throwing off. Ever since he met her, he's turned into a different guy.
Today, they've been smooching and groping each other nonstop, and I feel like a third wheel. Should've stayed home.
The next thing I know? It's as if I've been struck by lightning in a summer storm.
Because there's a mermaid in the water. An actual, real-deal mermaid, swimming like she's lived in this spring for all of eternity. When I first see her, I think I'm hallucinating. But no.
It's a mermaid. One with curves for days and long, dark hair that's billowing and floating all around her in the blue water. She's wearing one of those tails you can buy online, the kind that slip over the legs, hips, and stomach, with a wide bottom fin.
I know about these contraptions because my family does an annual mermaid party for kids at our family's resort, andI usually dress up as Poseidon. Little girls wear the mermaid outfits and romp in the resort's pool.
But the creature swimming in the water here isn't a little girl. She's all woman. An aquatic Aphrodite. Her whole outfit is shimmery and blue, a slightly darker hue than the water. There might be some green streaks in there, too. Whatever it is, it's not childish.
I lean on the platform railing, captivated. It's like watching a professional ballet dancer or an Olympic athlete. She's an amazing swimmer, powerful and graceful. It doesn't even seem like she's using her arms a lot of the time, just undulating her body enough to move forward, turn, and somersault.
I feel like I'm in the presence of something magical, an experience made all the more incredible because we're at one of Florida's sacred springs and the water is so blue it almost hurts to look at. Maybe she's a mirage and only I can see her.
The way she's swimming, it's as if she's not even human. Her spine seems hyper-flexible, she's flowing so fluidly. She appears to be one with the current, her body writhing and bending as she skims the surface. Occasionally she dips below, and that's pure poetry — the water is so gin-clear that I can see her hourglass figure shooting through the water.
For a half-second, I'd swear the water around her brightens. Then I blink, and it's just sun on the surface again. Trick of the light.
Then she surfaces, and my heart practically stops.
She's gorgeous. The kind of beauty that sinks ships, with eyes the color of the Florida sky. Tanned skin. This woman can't be real. She ducks back into the water.
I glance over at my brother and Isabella to see if they've noticed her, or if I've been out in the sun too long and I'm experiencing heat stroke.
Yeah, they're staring at her, too. We're all gaping at the water.
Then she pops above the surface and looks right at me. Holy moly. Yeah, she's totally my type.
