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“I got you, Daphne. Don’t struggle, okay?” His lips were close to my ear—and believe it or not, even in the midst of the chaos and the chilly water, I was turned on. I had to wonder what kind of spell this man had me under. If he kissed me right there, I wouldn’t protest.
“I’m going to move my legs,” he told me. His breath was warm and it almost felt like he was touching my ear with his lips on purpose. “Move yours with me, okay?”
I couldn’t speak. God, I’m a mess. I want him to kiss me right here…right before we drown. I nodded. He moved his legs, and I moved mine. As they brushed against each other under the water, it reminded me of that night and the way our legs met each time he thrust forward and buried himself inside of me. I shuddered and God help me, I pushed my body back into him a little bit tighter. I loved the way his body felt against mine. I’d been craving it.
It took a while, but we made it to the boats finally. Carla was practically hysterical. “Jeez, you just about gave me a heart attack! What if you had hit those rocks when you flew out? You could have been killed!”
She had tears in her eyes. It took a lot to get Carla that upset. I felt bad. “I’m okay, Carla. I’m sorry I scared you.”
“You’re damned right you scared me!” She realized she’d just cussed in front of a priest and looked at Jace. “Sorry, Father.”
He smiled. “It’s okay; you’re entitled to be worried about your friend.”
“Are you okay, Jace?” the woman in his boat spoke up. I’d almost forgotten about her.
“I’m good, Lily.”
“Can I help you in?” She just wanted to touch him again. I don’t like her.
“You know what? Since Daphne and I are both soaking wet, we should just take the same boat. The water will pool up in the bottom and there’s no sense in the two of you getting all wet, too. I’m not certain how many sets of extra clothes the volunteers collected to bring.”
I looked at Carla. She was trying to suppress a smile. I gave her a warning look. Then, I looked at the woman in Jace’s boat. She wasn’t smiling. That made me smile. I’m a terrible person. She was thinking Jace wanted to be with me. I was hoping for the same.
“That sounds like a smart idea,” Carla said. She stood up and while Jace held onto the other boat, she stepped into it.
He looked at his “friend” then and said, “We’ll see you ladies on the other side.”
She smiled, but it looked forced. Carla started paddling. She was still grinning. For a girl who told me I should give up on the priest, she sure was happy to give us room to be together. Jace helped me up into the canoe and then I grabbed his arm and helped pull him in, as well.
For a few seconds, we just sat there looking at each other. Finally I said, “Thank you for saving me.” My teeth were chattering together. I was cold, but I was also nervous.
Jace grinned. “You’re welcome. I’m sure you would have been okay. It’s hard to move around in these life jackets sometimes, but they’ll keep you bobbing down the harbor all day.”
“I appreciate it anyways,” I said, picking up the oars. “I didn’t really want to bob down the harbor all day.” He was giving me a strange look. I realized he was looking at the oars in my hands.
“I don’t think so.” He was grinning.
“You don’t think so, what?” He didn’t want me to row the boat. Man, you make one mistake...
“I’ll row, thanks. Not that I don’t trust you…”
I laughed. “Seriously?” He didn’t answer me with words. Instead, he reached over and plucked the oars out of my hands with a grin and began to row.
After a bit, just to break the awkward silence I said, “I’m sorry you got all soaking wet.”
“It’s really okay, Daphne. The church has a big wicker basket full of donated clothes that they told me we take to all of our functions, just in case. We can grab some of those and hang these up to dry while we have lunch. It’ll be fine.”
I was right on the verge of asking him about his friend. Thankfully, I caught myself. That would have been way too familiar. We had a one-night stand that really, really, never should have happened. I have to stop this and get him out of my head.
I shivered again as I watched him rowing the boat in his wet t-shirt and jeans. The t-shirt clung to his chest and abs, and his biceps flexed and tensed as he rowed us to shore and I was reminded of the way they’d tensed and flexed when he held himself up over me and…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jace
“Jace!” Lily was waving at me from shore as we rowed in. Daphne’s friend Carla was standing next to her and looking at Lily like she was crazy. Lily was waving like she hadn’t seen me in weeks. It had literally only been minutes. I guessed that’s why she was getting the look from Carla.
I waved back as I waded out of the boat into the water and started to pull it the rest of the way up to shore. Suddenly, Daphne was beside me.
