AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you,” she said softly. “I-I can’t swim.”
Rage like I’d never known filled me. My father had always warned me that a quick temper led to bad judgment. Fortunately, I didn’t have a short fuse.
But in this instant, I understood exactly what he meant.
“Who is that bastard?” My jaw locked.
“He didn’t know.”
“Don’ttake up for him. He almost killed you.”
She recoiled at my shout but still didn’t let go of me. In the slightest motion, her fingers stroked a soothing rhythm on my neck. “You saved me. I’m okay. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” I deflated a notch. But I still wanted to bury that son of a bitch. “Promise me you won’t see him again.”
“I’m not see—”
“Promise.” What did I care? Who she chose to take moonlit strolls on the beach with was none of my business. But I hated that guy for what he’d done to her.
“Promise,” she said softly.
I made a satisfied grunt as I brushed back some of the hair stuck to her face. She’d lost the scarf she’d had tied in it somewhere in the sea.
I dropped my gaze. The saturated dress was glued to her skin. The V of the neckline dipped lower than it had when it was dry. Her nipples pebbled against the fabric. No bra.
Did she wear one under the barn dresses?
I balled my fists. That was none of my concern either. This was my girlfriend’s sister. I wasn’t a man with a wandering eye. When I was committed, there were no other women as far as I was concerned.
I shook my head. JoJo and I had been through a traumatic ordeal. It was natural all my senses were heightened.
I pried her fingers from the back of my neck, far too aware of her touch now.
“Are there any towels in here?” For the second time tonight, I sounded unrecognizable to myself.
She pointed behind me.
I tossed her one and kept my back to her as I unbuttoned my shirt and shrugged it off.
Instinct had me wanting to help her out of her wet clothes, to make sureshewas okay first. But I couldn’t touch her.
I unbuckled my belt and let my pants fall to the floor with a clatter. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen me in my boxers before.
As I heard movement behind me, my senses prickled with awareness. I shoved the thought of her delicate skin out of my head, but it was replaced with those eyes. And her touch as she’d held on to me.
I’d kept some of the most hardened criminals out of jail. Which tragically disappointed my family, who had spent generations prosecuting the bad guys. Sometimes it was like my father could hardly stand to look at me because of my career path choice.
But I’d never felt as needed as I had in the last half hour. I was almost drunk on the feeling of it.
I’d had other women touch me in far more intimate ways, but none had affected me like JoJo’s arms cutting off my airways with her death grip around my neck.
And that little snicker as she’d volleyed my bullshit right back at me.
I wanted more of that. But it was like a bolt of lightning. Once it was gone, it was gone.
I shoved my boxers to the floor, then dried off before tucking the towel around my waist.
When I turned around, JoJo’s dress pooled at her feet. She squeaked, dropping the towel she used to rub her soaking wet hair. Her naked body glistened in the fluorescent light. She had faint tan lines from the sun she’d caught today.
