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‘Now?’ Her voice was an astonished squeak. ‘It’s one in the morning.’
‘Less crowded than one in the afternoon.’
She gave a strangled laugh. ‘Yes, I suppose it is. I don’t have a costume.’
He gave a wicked smile and slowly undid the buttons on his shirt. ‘The point of skinny dipping is that you don’t need clothes.’ His hands dropped to the fastening at the waistband of his trousers and her cheeks warmed as she caught a glimpse of taut, muscular stomach and dark male body hair.
‘For goodness’ sake, Conner…’
‘What? You just said “Of course I take my clothes off.” So that’s what I’m doing.’
‘Obviously, I wear a costume.’
‘Obviously.’ He grinned. ‘Because you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t. But me being me, I’m not going to bother.’ Completely unselfconscious, he stepped out of his trousers and boxer shorts and Flora gave a nervous laugh, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the horizon.
‘You’re going to get yourself arrested, Conner MacNeil.’
‘It’s dark. No one knows we’re here.’ His hands were on the hem of her T-shirt. ‘Come on, Flora. Take a risk. Live a little. Get naked with me.’
Take a risk. Live a little.
Suddenly the world opened up in front of her and her heart thundered in her chest. ‘I am not swimming naked with you.’
‘If the water is as cold as I suspect it’s going to be, you’re at no risk from me, darling, but if it makes you feel better you can leave your underwear on.’ He gently pulled the T-shirt over her head and slid her shorts down her legs.
As his fingers brushed her skin and she shivered.
She knew she should stop him, but she couldn’t, and when he closed his hand firmly over hers and dragged her down to the water’s edge, she didn’t resist.
And then the water touched her feet and she stopped dead. ‘Oh, my goodness, that’s cold.’
‘Don’t be a wimp.’ He jerked her forward. ‘This was your idea and you’re not bottling out now. Anyway, what are you complaining about?’ Conner kept walking, long steady strides that took him deeper into the sea. ‘It’s like bathwater. I can’t imagine why anyone would travel all the way to the Mediterranean when we have this on our doorstep.’ He gave her no choice but to wade in with him and she picked her way gingerly through the dark, swirling water, catching her breath as the waves licked higher and higher on her legs.
‘I’m not sure if I like doing this in the middle of the night.’ She peered towards her feet. ‘Do you think there are jellyfish?’
‘No. It’s long past their bedtime. They’re all curled up asleep with hot-water bottles.’ The water was halfway up his thighs now and as a wave washed over him at waist level, he cursed fluently. ‘I think we’ve just discovered a whole new non-surgical method of vasectomy. If any of my sperm survive this experience, it will be a miracle.’
Flora giggled helplessly and wondered what had come over her. What was she doing? She was standing in the sea at one o’clock in the morning with Conner MacNeil, the most dangerous, unsuitable man she was every likely to meet.
And she was having the time of her life.
‘This is freezing. I don’t think I can go in any further.’
‘The only way to do this is quickly. If you do this every morning then I have new respect for you, Flora. You’re twice the woman I thought you were, flat chest or no flat chest.’
‘It’s bracing. It wakes me up.’
‘No surprise there. If this didn’t wake you up, you’d have to be dead.’
‘It’s colder tonight.’ She clutched him tightly, afraid that the waves would knock her over, and he steadied her and then released her hand.
‘All right, let’s do this…’ He dived forward into the waves and she had a brief glimpse of powerful male muscle and strong legs before he vanished from sight.
She rubbed her hands down her arms, knowing that the goose-bumps had nothing to do with the cold water and everything to do with the way her body had felt next to his. How was it possible to feel hot when she was standing waist deep in freezing seawater?
She followed him into the waves, wondering why she’d never swum in the moonlight before. In all the years she’d lived here and swum here, she’d never done this. And it was fabulous. Magical. The stars and the moon shone in the clear sky and the water glistened.
And she felt daring and more alive than she’d ever felt.
