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“Maddie?” Sawyer pulled her into him.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She laughed at herself. “I’m an idiot, but I’m fine.”
“You’re not an idiot.” He flicked a damp strand of hair from her face. “You’re the smartest person I know.”
“I don’t see you throwing yourself in the sea.” He grinned. “Not unintentionally anyway.”
He released her and hauled himself up onto the rocks before holding out a hand to her. She gulped at the sight of wet muscle. If only it was just a little bit lighter. Then she’d have something to fantasise over forever.
Helping her out of the water and to her feet, he released her hand and began tugging at his wet jeans.
“What are you do...”
The words vanished when he pushed off his trousers and kicked them aside, leaving him only in briefs. God, why wasn’t it a brighter night? Couldn’t the lighthouse light swing just a little farther around and highlight him? She wished she had a better view.
Then he held up his arms and stepped to the edge. “Push me.”
“What?” She blinked at him several times.
“Push me.” He folded his arms across his chest. “You want to see me going into the sea unintentionally so push me.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Yeah, we covered that one before.”
Maddie laughed. He grinned. Her chest filled with indescribable warmth. Here was the Sawyer she remembered. He had that self-depreciating air to him. It saidI don’t take myself seriously and nor should you. In a world that was too serious, he was such a refreshing relief.
With one large shove, she pushed him over the edge. He went fully under and for a moment, she panicked she’d done the wrong thing. What if he hurt himself? She’d never be able to rescue him. But he surfaced, the wide grin still in place. His hair stuck to his face until he raked a hand through it, making it stick up in a way that made her want to thrust her fingers through it.
“You coming in?”
“I think I’m wet enough already. And cold. Cornish sea isn’t exactly warm in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Really?” He moved onto his back and did a leisurely backstroke past her. “I hadn’t noticed at all. Perhaps you should get rid of those wet clothes.”
Eyes wide, she considered his words. Get practically naked in front of him? She couldn’t. What if someone saw? What if he thought her bum was too big or he noticed her love-handles?
But his bold stare dared her and the daring Maddie she’d always longed to be urged her on. With shaking hands, she unbuttoned her shirt and flung it aside, not brave enough to look at him. She shucked out of her shorts, dropped them onto the stone with a slap and jumped.
Coming up with a gasp, she was greeted by a set of strong, warm arms wrapping about her body. He grinned at her. It was infectious. She grinned back and laughed when he threatened to dunk her under. Relenting, Sawyer drew them over to where the rocks sloped into the sea, enabling her to find footing.
There, under the waning light of day, he held her close and kissed her.
Chapter Ten
Maddie paused to eye the scaffolding going up on the front of the house. She smiled to herself. Things were progressing nicely and she had found she really enjoyed project managing. The shop hardly took much work and Nikki was always on hand so it didn’t add much to her plate even if Sawyer was concerned she was working too hard.
Her smile expanded. Sawyer. Her heart thudded even when she uttered his name in her mind. She hadn’t felt like this since... Well, since they’d dated all those years ago.
As she went around the side of the house, the decorator gave her a wave.
“How’s it going, David?”
He swiped a hand over his shirt. “We’re nearly done with downstairs. Obviously we can’t touch the kitchen until that’s finished but we can begin work on the rooms that have been plastered upstairs. Although we got the paint for the outside of the house today and it’s the wrong colour.”
“Oh damn, what a pain. Okay, I’ll look into it.”
“Sawyer said not to worry about it. He said to go ahead and use it.”
