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She could see his desire for her in his clouded eyes, and she couldn’t hide her own need for him. With painstakingly slow motions, he pushed one side of her dress down her shoulder until only her thin camisole bra lay between them. Then he kissed a trail over her collarbone before his mouth enveloped her aching peak through the sheer fabric, and lights exploded behind her eyelids as she rocked into the sensations he was creating. His other hand slid up her thigh and teased the tender skin along her panty line before his thumb brushed inside.
Every inch of her body was overwhelmed with him. His scent was in her lungs, his mouth on her skin, his hand teasing her, and she was pressing herself into him without any concern for who could see them.
“You’re exquisite,” he said, moving his lips along her neck, licking a trail up to her ear.
A splash and a yelp forced her to open her eyes. Her brain was foggy as she looked past Conner’s head to see what caused that sound. A young man in a kayak was standing up and someone else was in the water.
“Help,” was all she heard, and her mind jumped into focus. She could see someone struggling in the water. Then the little boy jumped in, and their kayak tipped over.
“He’ll drown!” She stood, looped her dress back up, and dove into the water. She could hear Conner’s voice muffled from under the cool depths, but she pushed her body forward in an underwater stroke before popping up. With fast strokes, she swam fast to get closer to the overturned boat. There was only one person above water. She knew it was dangerous without a life vest to try to save someone from drowning. People panicked and could pull their rescuer under.
When she got closer she could see one boy of about ten moving in circles as another child floated just below the water. She pulled up the boy underwater—his lips were already a purplish color.
They didn’t have much time.
“Hold onto the boat,” she told the ten-year-old, who was crying.
Conner was pedaling toward them as she hauled the child’s body the rest of the way to meet him. Conner easily plucked the child out of the water and laid him on the back of the swan to begin chest compressions. Next, she swam back to the other boy. There wasn’t room for them all on the swan, so she tried to turn over the kayak. It took her several attempts, and then she tossed the boy inside before pulling herself up into the small boat. Finally, she managed to get their kayak tied to the swan and mounted the rear of the swan.
“You pedal to shore, and I’ll continue with compressions,” she told Conner, who had a look of fear in his eyes she didn’t want to acknowledge. The boy had been without air for several minutes. As Conner moved to pedal, she turned the boy’s head, used her finger to swipe at anything that could be in his mouth, and then with both hands gripped together, she struck the boy’s chest. It sometimes acted like a shock to the heart and body before restarting chest compressions. Just as they arrived at the dock, she heard a gurgle.
“Come on, kid,” she whispered as the sounds of the other little boy sobbing filled the quiet.
Two more compressions, and the boy sputtered out water and coughed.
Conner was on the dock and plucked the drowned boy’s body off the swan to lay him flat on the planks.
She pulled the kayak against the side of the dock and helped the other little boy onto the dock, then grabbed a towel to put around them both.
“What happened?” The young kid running the boat rental came charging down the dock with a life preserver.
“Call 911. Near drowning. He’ll need to go to the hospital,” Conner said as he took a deep breath and rubbed the kid’s arms to warm him. “And bring more towels.”
Hannah sat with the other child in her lap as her teeth chattered.
“If all your dates end up like this, I can see why you’re still single.”
“I demand a do-over,” Conner said.
Twenty minutes later, the dock was swarming with paramedics and the fire department. Hannah was sitting in a scratchy wool blanket to stay warm, and Conner had just finished giving his report to the responding officer. The kids were both transported to the hospital, and she was ready for another hot shower and her bed. Her entire body ached from the efforts of the day.
“Here.” Conner handed her his keys. “Go sit in the Jeep with the heat on. I’m just going to grab our stuff from the swan.”
“Oh, yeah. My bag is in there.” She yawned and walked to his Jeep, and then a familiar fire department-issued car pulled into the parking lot. It stopped short, and Parker hopped out.
“What the hell happened? All I saw was ‘Paletti involved in a drowning’ come over the computer, and I drove as fast as I could. What were you thinking?” He pulled her into a bear hug, and the stress of the day caused her eyes to mist, and her face felt hot.
“A kid was drowning, so I had to jump in after him.”
“Good grief, you know better. You could have drowned.”
“I had it under control. Besides—” She didn’t want to say Conner’s name, but it was too late. He was striding back toward them with her purse, and she could feel Parker’s body stiffen.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Parker said.
“We were checking out the boat rentals for a fundraiser when the kid started to drown.” She said.
Parker nodded. “Bullshit. Hannah, he’s making moves on you to get at me. He’s using you.”
