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The icy water enveloped him, cold prickles stinging every inch of his skin.
Nolan burst out of the water and gasped for air. Madeline surfaced beside him.
“Cold!” she cried out.
Everyone laughed and cheered.
Nolan wrapped his arm around her waist and swam with quick strokes with his free arm and kicking hard with his legs. He touched the bottom and lifted her against his chest, cradling her close. “I’ll warm you up.”
He heard a low whistle from Tristan and a mutter from Chad to Hope, “I guess this is more serious than she led us to believe.”
The look in Madeline’s emerald eyes warmed him up, but Chad’s comment was sobering. Madeline might not appreciate her son and daughter-in-law seeing how besotted Nolan was with her.
Nolan slogged through the water and then carried her up onto the shore. He had no intention of setting her down. Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck, and she leaned into him, her warm breath on his cheek deepening his awareness and yearning for her. Water dripped from his hair and his clothes, pooling in his shoes.
“That was amazing,” Tristan crowed, escorting Jennifer out of the water. “Now we slosh home in wet shoes and clothes and then use the spa to warm up.”
Everyone cheered at that.
“We could’ve slowed down long enough to take our shoes and socks off,” Ray muttered.
“Buck up, tough General,” Macey teased. “If you had slowed down, you wouldn’t have gotten me in there.”
They all continued to laugh and tease.
Nolan was focused on Madeline’s beautiful face, her blonde hair darker and plastered to her head. He didn’t want to release her. He could easily carry her home. She was substantial and perfect in his arms, and he prayed the torture of holding himself away from her was finished.
Madeline slid to her feet. He let her, no matter how he didn’t want to. He slid his hand down her arm and clasped their hands together. She glanced up at him with a question in her gaze. He hoped his answering look reassured her. This was no quick burn for him. He was fully invested in her. He wanted her, all of her, by his side and in his life permanently.
Nolan didn’t know when or how he’d tell her all of this, but it needed to happen soon. He couldn’t let her finish her ‘emissary mission’ without knowing how deeply he’d fallen for her. If it wouldn’t scare her away, he’d admit the truth … he loved her.
Chapter Nine
Madeline smiled to herself as she slid into a comfortable tank top and shorts and brushed her hair. Tonight had been fabulous. The drive in the Lamborghini, feeling the power in the vehicle and seeing how powerful and alluring Nolan was. The dinner and hike with their families. The crazy jump into the lake and the connection she’d felt to him. The warmth and tingle of being in Nolan’s arms. Holding hands as they walked back and staying close throughout the spa therapy as if they were a true couple. She savored laughing and teasing with his children and hers, and she felt closer to him than she ever had to any man.
Nolan had listened to her and respectfully taken things slow, just as she’d requested. The past month, she’d fallen for him. He valued her opinion, treated her with the utmost respect, was the closest friend she’d ever had, and made her laugh and smile often.
Would she have to be the one to make a move? Since she was the one who’d asked him to slow down, the ball was in her court now. They’d teased about her being ready for some speed on the drive. He’d almost kissed her in the garage earlier. Hopefully he’d try again soon.
Madeline didn’t know how to proceed from here, but she felt like a teenager. She longed to have Nolan hold her close and kiss her. It was time to express all these feelings that wanted to burst out of her. Was it too fast? Was he only driven by his passion and need for her? It seemed much deeper than that. Maybe it always had been and she’d wrongly assigned those emotions to his actions earlier, but she appreciated him going slow and proving she was special to him.
If only she could be as special as his wife had been.
That was a selfish and unrealistic thought, and she pushed it away. It wasn’t Nolan’s fault that he’d loved and lost his wife to a tragic death. She needed to focus on now and the future, not a past neither of them could control.
A rap sounded on her door. Madeline straightened in surprise and set the brush down on a side table. That rap was familiar. She heard it every morning before their hike, every evening before he escorted her to dinner.
Nolan had come for her.
Heart racing, she bit her lip to stop a cry of anticipation. Had he come for exactly what she had been fantasizing about? Would they kiss and talk and hold each other close?
She hurried to the door, stopping with her hand on the handle and calling out, “Yes?”
“Madeline.” Nolan’s deep voice came through the door. “I need … you.”
Oh my. Madeline clung to the handle with suddenly slick fingers. He needed her? He needed her.
He could need her for something with parliament. He could need her as his partner for gin rummy. He could need her to brew up the perfect tea for whatever Jennifer needed for her pregnancy.
