Chapter Twenty-Four
Daphne
“Who do you think she is?” I couldn’t stop watching Jace with that woman. It was like rubber-necking a wreck on the freeway.
Carla rolled her eyes. “I thought you were going to forget about him.”
“I will…tomorrow. Who do you think she is? Maybe she’s his sister.” I was actually hoping that wasn’t true. That would just be gross.
Carla laughed at that. “Now you’re just trying to fool yourself. Come on, you know she’s not acting at all ‘sisterly.’”
Right. I knew that.
“No, but he’s not acting ‘fatherly,’ either. Look at them, laughing like two kids. She’s still touching him with every other word, too. Jeez, this is a church trip, get a grip!”
“It’s a good thing you look good in green, girl.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Yes, you are. Let it go, baby girl. You’re going to get hurt.”
“I’m letting it go. I’m just curious about the company my priest is keeping, that’s all.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
I looked back at Jace. She’s right. I am lying through my teeth. I’m so jealous of the woman with Jace I can hardly see straight.
God, I have to get over him. If he’s seducing women, it’ll come out and there will be a scandal. I don’t want to be a part of that. That’s the last thing I need. I need to put distance between myself and him before that happens… And before my heart explodes because right now, it feels like it’s going to.
“Oh my God! Daph! We’re going to hit the rocks!” Carla screamed at me, and I looked over my shoulder. There was a clump of big rocks that I hadn’t even seen. I’d been too busy mooning over Jace. Is this my punishment? I’m going to die in the Boston Harbor so God can judge me to my face?
I got a grip at last and said, “Quick! Paddle left, Carla!” She started paddling frantically, and so did I. Our screams had drawn the attention of the rest of the canoers and I saw Jace paddling furiously towards us. He’d taken the paddle away from his girl and looked frantic.
“We’re going to hit them!” Carla yelled.
“Let go of your paddles and hang on,” I told her.
“What about you?”
“Just do it!” Carla put her paddle down and grabbed onto the seat with two hands. My plan was to use my paddle to push off against the rocks and keep us from hitting them. It was a decent plan…I thought.
My paddle made contact and for just a second I thought it was going to work…right up until the paddle skimmed across the top of the stone and the boat slammed into the rocks anyways. As I was sailing through the air, I was praying that I’d at least miss the rocks.
Luckily, God was listening. I hit the water with a huge splash. My life jacket made it kind of like hitting a wall, though, and I bobbed and weaved along the surface, getting caught up in the current right away. I heard Carla yelling my name and I heard another splash, but I was too busy trying to find something to grab onto to pay much attention to it. I didn’t know that Jace had jumped in the water after me until I felt his strong arms circle my waist from behind.
“I got you, Daphne. Don’t struggle, okay?” His lips were close to my ear—and believe it or not, even in the midst of the chaos and the chilly water, I was turned on. I had to wonder what kind of spell this man had me under. If he kissed me right there, I wouldn’t protest.
“I’m going to move my legs,” he told me. His breath was warm and it almost felt like he was touching my ear with his lips on purpose. “Move yours with me, okay?”
I couldn’t speak. God, I’m a mess. I want him to kiss me right here…right before we drown. I nodded. He moved his legs, and I moved mine. As they brushed against each other under the water, it reminded me of that night and the way our legs met each time he thrust forward and buried himself inside of me. I shuddered and God help me, I pushed my body back into him a little bit tighter. I loved the way his body felt against mine. I’d been craving it.
It took a while, but we made it to the boats finally. Carla was practically hysterical. “Jeez, you just about gave me a heart attack! What if you had hit those rocks when you flew out? You could have been killed!”
She had tears in her eyes. It took a lot to get Carla that upset. I felt bad. “I’m okay, Carla. I’m sorry I scared you.”
“You’re damned right you scared me!” She realized she’d just cussed in front of a priest and looked at Jace. “Sorry, Father.”
He smiled. “It’s okay; you’re entitled to be worried about your friend.”
“Are you okay, Jace?” the woman in his boat spoke up. I’d almost forgotten about her.
“I’m good, Lily.”
“Can I help you in?” She just wanted to touch him again. I don’t like her.
“You know what? Since Daphne and I are both soaking wet, we should just take the same boat. The water will pool up in the bottom and there’s no sense in the two of you getting all wet, too. I’m not certain how many sets of extra clothes the volunteers collected to bring.”
I looked at Carla. She was trying to suppress a smile. I gave her a warning look. Then, I looked at the woman in Jace’s boat. She wasn’t smiling. That made me smile. I’m a terrible person. She was thinking Jace wanted to be with me. I was hoping for the same.
“That sounds like a smart idea,” Carla said. She stood up and while Jace held onto the other boat, she stepped into it.
He looked at his “friend” then and said, “We’ll see you ladies on the other side.”
She smiled, but it looked forced. Carla started paddling. She was still grinning. For a girl who told me I should give up on the priest, she sure was happy to give us room to be together. Jace helped me up into the canoe and then I grabbed his arm and helped pull him in, as well.
For a few seconds, we just sat there looking at each other. Finally I said, “Thank you for saving me.” My teeth were chattering together. I was cold, but I was also nervous.
Jace grinned. “You’re welcome. I’m sure you would have been okay. It’s hard to move around in these life jackets sometimes, but they’ll keep you bobbing down the harbor all day.”
“I appreciate it anyways,” I said, picking up the oars. “I didn’t really want to bob down the harbor all day.” He was giving me a strange look. I realized he was looking at the oars in my hands.
“I don’t think so.” He was grinning.
“You don’t think so, what?” He didn’t want me to row the boat. Man, you make one mistake...
“I’ll row, thanks. Not that I don’t trust you…”
I laughed. “Seriously?” He didn’t answer me with words. Instead, he reached over and plucked the oars out of my hands with a grin and began to row.
After a bit, just to break the awkward silence I said, “I’m sorry you got all soaking wet.”
“It’s really okay, Daphne. The church has a big wicker basket full of donated clothes that they told me we take to all of our functions, just in case. We can grab some of those and hang these up to dry while we have lunch. It’ll be fine.”
I was right on the verge of asking him about his friend. Thankfully, I caught myself. That would have been way too familiar. We had a one-night stand that really, really, never should have happened. I have to stop this and get him out of my head.
I shivered again as I watched him rowing the boat in his wet t-shirt and jeans. The t-shirt clung to his chest and abs, and his biceps flexed and tensed as he rowed us to shore and I was reminded of the way they’d tensed and flexed when he held himself up over me and…