AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oliver, Oliver!” Her voice is panicked, and I can hear it even from my watery purgatory.
I rise up and get a breath of air. My skin already aches from the cold. I doggie paddle, whipping my head around for any sign of her bracelet.
“I’m. Fine. Just. Cold.” I try to reassure her. We’re in a shallow part near the shore opposite of the resort. I can easily swim ashore if I need to. No sign of the bracelet, though.
“You didn’t. Tell. Me.” I pause to breathe and try not to think about how I could have dived into a vat of snow and been warmer than I am right now. “What color. Your bracelet is.”
“You didn’t give me a chance.” She’s squeezing her cheeks with both palms, her eyes like saucers.
I plunge under again, opening my eyes. Nothing. I can make out some of the shapes at the bottom, and although it’s dark, I see a mass of seaweed. Nothing resembles jewelry.
“Oliver, wait. Wait!” I hear her muffled voice and come up to the surface. She reaches out a hand to stop me from going under again. I try to smile, but I’m so paralyzed by the cold that it probably looks like the time my dad had Bell’s Palsy for a little while.
“It was—” She holds up a gold bangle with one hand, and wraps her other hand over her middle, her shoulders slumping. “It was at the bottom of the boat.” She bites her lip, her forehead crinkling. “I’m so sorry…”
You’ve got to be freaking kidding me. I feel like swearing. Not at Sophie, but at myself. If I’d been trying to impress her or win her over, at least I’d look like some kind of hero. But I’m not. I just feel like a fool who’s going to die of frostbite to the lungs.
I nod, but again, the Bell’s Palsy effect I’ve got going on makes it hard. Should I climb back in or just pull the boat to the shore?
“Remember that time we got stranded out here on the jet ski when it ran out of gas? I remember the crazy seaweed over here.” She’s leaning so far over the side of the boat, that I worry for her safety.
“Be careful there,” I manage through the cold. “Don’t want you to fall in.”
She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes. “I’m not going to fall in. This is not my first rodeo.”
I hold up my hands in surrender as best as I can while trying to stay afloat.
She leans over again, but this time a wave catches the boat up just enough. She wobbles and goes right in the water, headfirst. I lunge for her, my heart stopping at the surprise of seeing her go overboard.
Instantly, she bobs up and takes a breath like she’d been holding it forever. Sheer pain fills her features. “Oliver!” Her hands are pushing through the water. “You. Didn’t. Tell. Me—” she uses the back of her hand to move her wet hair out of her eyes. “It. Was. This. Cold.” The last word was a shriek and her hand slaps the water so that I get sprayed in the face.
“I did!” I breathe heavily, my body’s natural reaction to warm itself. My teeth are chattering. I don’t remember it being this cold when I was a kid. Suddenly I’m rethinking Sebastian’s brilliant idea to build a resort here. Who in their right mind would ever want to visit here and come within a mile of the forsaken, watery tundra?
“I didn’t. Think. I was being. Unsafe.” She pauses, a shiver going through her entire body. “I’m sorry.” Deep breath and a shake. “…about the bracelet. It was. Just at. My feet the whole time.”
Yes. I’m an idiot and now we’re going to drown following the paralysis of our limbs.
“Let’s get back in.” I motion to the boat.
“And ruin.” Her breathing is labored. “Your nice seats?”
Except, even though her face and skin are pink and her breathing is shallow, she’s smiling. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful sight. Forget Capri’s lemon trees. Sophie’s wet hair, matted and crazy, her eye makeup smeared…that’s what fills me up. Unbidden, my arm reaches around her at the waist. I can’t help myself from protecting her. She shudders and moves closer to me, her body trembling and her gaze never leaving mine.
I tighten my grip around her waist. The cold is fading, all the reasons I can’t pursue a relationship with her a distant memory.
Then, without a word, she takes a deep breath, goes under, and breaks away, swimming away from me. She resurfaces several feet away and freestyles in the direction of the shore. If I don’t hurry, she’ll leave me bobbing along, alone.
If I don’t get my act together, I’ll lose her forever. I cannot let that happen. I will not lose Sophie Lawson.
Chapter 11
Sophie
Well, at least if I die here in this lake, the last thing I see will be Oliver. The only semblance of life or warmth I feel at this moment is where his arm was around my waist. As I swim to shore, I think of how his touch burned me there. This is unchartered territory—he’s never held me so tightly around my waist before. He’s never held me anywhere so tightly before.
I was glad I’d packed a responsible lunch of soup and salad today instead of that giant cinnamon roll that was tempting me. Claire went to a boutique bakery in town and left one out for me this morning. But like an actual adult, I took the nutritious option instead. If I’d had a cinnamon roll food baby, it would have sunk me like a stone for sure.
I shudder at the memory of his arm around my waist, saving me, branding me. I guess I’m glad I avoided the cinnamon roll baby since his fingers and palms spanned my middle so…intimately.
