Chapter Fourteen
It had been Izzy’s idea to have them practice lifts in her swimming pool, which was probably going to turn out to be a very bad idea. Especially if her dad was home, because Garret planned to kiss her. A lot. It would be really hard to keep his hands to himself. Last night, he had dreamed about her wearing a bikini, but surely she wouldn’t wear one today. Of course, he’d still like to see her in one, but not while they practiced lifts. Too many things could go wrong with that.
He followed the circular drive to the front of the house and parked his car off to the side. The front door opened before he’d even gotten out of his car.
Izzy rushed down the stairs. “Is that the new panel?”
“It is.” He was surprised she remembered, since it was really only a big deal to him. No one else would know if the panel was original or not unless they were into antique cars.
She frowned. “Why didn’t you get it painted?”
“Now that I finally have that panel, I’m saving up to have the whole car repainted. I have to find somebody who works on vintage cars and will use one of the original colors.”
“Wow. I didn’t realize it was that complicated. Is there actually antique paint, or do they just match the colors?”
He bit back a laugh. “They match the colors.”
She nodded and turned back to the house. “C’mon, I need to tell Anna Maria what we’re doing so she doesn’t get suspicious, then we can get to work on the lifts.”
He followed her through the front of the house and into the huge kitchen that looked out over the gigantic pool that had a built-in slide disguised as a waterfall and a diving board. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have other friends who lived on the rich side of town, but this house stood out from all of the others in size and extravagance. A part of him wondered what the heck he thought he was doing with Izzy, but the other, larger part didn’t care as long as he got to keep spending time with her.
“Garret, it’s good to see you again. I’m glad Izzy hasn’t scared you off yet,” Anna Maria said.
He laughed and Izzy made a disgusted noise. “Of course I haven’t. I have to string him along at least until we’ve performed the fall production. Duh.”
She opened one side of the built-in refrigerator and grabbed some bottles of water and a tray with fruit, vegetables, cheese, and crackers. He grabbed the tray from her and followed her toward the door.
“I’ll be watching you,” Anna Maria called after them.
“You’ll be spying on us, you mean.” Izzy shoved the door open with her hip, and he shifted the tray to his left hand so he could hold the door. They placed the food and drinks on a large table that sat on the covered patio.
“I think I came up with a solution for your costume.”
He cringed. “Will I like it?”
“We’re going to have an extra-long tunic made. It’ll have to have slits in the sides so it doesn’t restrict your movement, but is should keep your…err, keep you covered when you do lifts and leaps.”
“Why can’t I just wear my football pants? I’ll even buy a new pair so there aren’t stains on them.”
She shook her head. “No. This is a serious production and we need everyone to wear real costumes. Please.” She rested her chin on her hands and batted her eyelashes at him.
“I’m not making any promises, but we’ll see how it goes during dress rehearsal. If everything is covered then I’ll wear them, okay?”
She grinned. “Okay.”
Izzy removed her shirt and grabbed some towels off a shelf then headed toward the water. After a moment of disappointment that she wore a one-piece suit, he agreed it was a good call. A wardrobe malfunction while they were doing lifts could easily turn into an extremely awkward situation for both of them. Besides, the suit she wore showed off her curves just fine. His fingers ached to touch her.
At this time of year in Texas, most pools were usually the temperature of bath water, but this one was much larger and deeper than most, so it was only slightly warm when he stuck his hand in. “So, what’s the plan?”
She shrugged. “We’ll get into the water and then practice lifts. You can experiment with hand placement and how you’re holding me and stuff like that without having to worry about dropping me.”
That was an invitation to dump her in the pool if he’d ever heard one. He pulled his T-shirt off and jumped into the deep end. When he surfaced, Izzy was glaring down at him.
“Do you have sunscreen on?”
“Yes, Mom, but my grandfather’s Cherokee. I never burn anyway.”
“Well, I do.”
“Most people who glow in the dark do.” He dove under before she could splash him and swam underwater to the other end, then surfaced under the diving board. From this angle, he had a great view of the grotto behind the water slide. This whole setup probably cost more than his house did.
He hated that he kept thinking about how rich her dad was, but he couldn’t help it. There was such a huge difference between their situations. Izzy could have or do anything she wanted, but his only shot to leave this town was to earn a football scholarship. There were no other options for him. It still seemed a bit unreal that he was at her house. In her pool.
Izzy sat on a ledge in the shallow end. “Are you ready to get to work yet?”
“Sure.” He dove under and swam until he popped up in front of her. Goose bumps rose on his skin, not because he was cold, but because she was so close. “Are you going to wear your pants in the water?”
“They’re leggings, and trust me, it cuts down on the awkward factor if your hand slips or something.”
He tried not to picture that in his head. “So what are we doing?”
“Let’s try the arabesque lift. Remember to keep your arms in like Lauren showed you, and let me balance on your hands.”
He followed her out to where the water came up to his waist.
“This should be deep enough to keep me from hitting the bottom if you drop me, but not so deep that I’ll be too hard to lift.” She did her arabesque, or at least he thought she did, since she was mostly under water, and he lifted her up. There was a lot more resistance in the water, and he overcorrected and nearly dropped her.
“Remember your arms,” she said calmly, stretched out on his hands like a Greek goddess statue.
His skin tingled everywhere they touched. He rotated his arms slightly and suddenly it was a lot easier to support her. “How are you planning to get down?”
“You’re supposed to set me down just like you would in the studio.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
She glared at him, so he tabled his plan to dump her in the water, but didn’t entirely rule it out.
He set her down and waited for the next instruction. She had that look, like she was plotting something. Something that wouldn’t end well for him.
“What nefarious plan are you hatching?”
“I still think we need to add another lift.”
“Okay. Which one?”
“Let me think about it for a few minutes.” She climbed out and wrapped a towel around herself, then grabbed her phone. “Try doing some leaps off the diving board. It’s a great way to practice because you’ll get more height.”
She was focused on finding a new lift to do, so he took her advice. He didn’t want to look like a moron during the performance. There were so many places to get out of the pool he could hardly decide. There was a built-in concrete ladder near the diving board, so he climbed out there. Since he wouldn’t have the help of a springboard during the performance, he decided not to use the board much. The added height alone would help him sort things out.
“Hey, Harley Quinn. Are you going to watch and give me some pointers?”
He jumped off the board and tried the one where he went straight up with his legs out to the side and his feet crossed. It was easy with the extra spring of the board. He popped up and swam toward the ladder.
“Use the board to get more height,” Izzy yelled.
Since she was absorbed with whatever was up on her screen by the time he climbed out, he tiptoed over to her and shook his head, showering her with water.
“Garret!” She grabbed a towel and dried off her phone. “What was that for?”
“I’m feeling neglected. You’re supposed to be helping me with my leaps, but instead everything’s all about you over here.”
She put her hands on her hips. “That was a pretty good leap you just did. If you ask me, I don’t think you need any help from me.”
“So you’re saying you think my leg positioning and everything is perfect?”
She frowned. “Maybe not perfect, but good enough.”
He put his hands on his hips. “Good enough? Is that what you want? Coach would kill me if I ever told him something was good enough.”
“No, but it’s not like you’re a dancer. You’re just filling in. I’m the one who needs to be perfect.”
“Then get off your tushy and come do some leaps with me.”
She climbed off her lounge chair and looked him in the eyes. “Is that a challenge?”
“Yes.”
“How will we figure out who wins?”
“Whoever jumps the highest and the farthest wins.”
“Aside from bragging rights, what’s the prize?”
“If I win, I get to kiss you.”
She raised her brows. “And if I win?”
“You get to kiss me.”
She laughed, her lavender eyes sparkling. “Let’s do it.”
After a couple of practice jumps, they lined up to see who could leap the farthest. “Ladies first.”
She’d found a piece of sidewalk chalk with the floats, so he walked down the side of the pool so he could mark where she landed. Building up steam as she went, she hit the end of the board hard with one foot and did a leap where she stretched her very long legs out in a split position.
He handed the chalk to her and climbed up. The board bent under his weight and it shot him up, but not as far out as he had hoped. She beat him by about three yards. He could pretty much calculate the exact distance without measuring because yards were everything to him during a game.
“Ha. I won!”
“You have an unfair advantage.”
“How so?”
“You’re stretchier than I am.”
“That’s not even a word.”
“Are you going to kiss me or not?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
She took a step closer, then looked over her shoulder. Anna Maria wasn’t in the kitchen. He’d already checked. In one swift movement, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his. An electric jolt went through him and his skin tingled everywhere she touched him. Luckily, she ended the kiss before he had the chance to pull her tighter against him. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her away. She looked up into his eyes for a moment, hers so dark they were nearly blue. Ever so slowly, she took three backwards steps, then headed to the diving board.
She cleared her throat, then said, “It’s my turn to go first.”
He laughed. “No, it’s not. You went first last time.”
“Well, I’m not done being first yet.”
She took off and hit the edge of the board with both feet. There wasn’t any dance technique in her approach. Of course, at most she probably weighed one-fifteen, so she didn’t have much of a chance against him.
“I’m going with five feet.”
“No way!”
“Way!”
She marched over to where he was standing and shoved him in the back, but not hard enough to make him fall into the pool.
He laughed and ambled over to the board. Ever so slowly, he stretched his arms, then cracked each knuckle individually and— Boink. A ball whacked into the side of his face.
“Get on with it or you’ll be disqualified.”
“You never said anything about a time limit to jump.”
“If you argue with the judge, you’ll be disqualified.”
He put his hands on his hips. “Who made you the judge?”
“My house, my rules.”
She sounded like his dad. Without another word, he sprinted to the end of the board and hit it with both feet. When he surfaced he saw that he’d drenched Izzy with the splash from his jump.
She sputtered and spit out some pool water, then grabbed a towel and squeezed water from her hair. “I think you won.”
“Yeah, I thought so.” He swam over to her and lifted himself onto the pool deck. She dropped down next to him then scooted until her leg and side were up against him. He took her hand and kissed it, then kissed the top of her shoulder, just under her jaw, and then her lips, where he lingered for several heartbeats before pulling away. Every nerve ending in him was on alert. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he was content to sit there for as long as she wanted.
“Do you need to be anywhere?” she asked.
He glanced up at the sun. It looked to be about five o’clock. “Today is my mom’s day off, so she’ll expect me for dinner.”
“Can you stay a bit longer to practice a new lift?”
He nodded. “That is why you invited me here. I’ll text her and let her know I might be a little late.”
She popped up. “I’ll be right back. I want to change into something dry. This is one we’ll have to practice on land first.” She rushed to the house and opened the door to the kitchen. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
He watched her shoot up the stairs, then seconds later, spotted her dad moving rapidly toward the door to the patio. Not good.
He stopped at the edge of the pool and Garret stood to greet him.
“Mr. Mitchell. What are your intentions toward my daughter?”
“Good evening, sir. Izzy is a friend, and I hope maybe she’ll be something more someday.” He figured it was better to be honest from the start so he knew where he stood with Izzy’s dad.
“Do you kiss all of your friends then?”
“No, sir. Izzy is the only girl I’ve ever kissed.” The moment the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back. “Senator Oster, I have no intention of dishonoring your daughter in any way. I like her. I admire her, but I won’t hurt her. We’re both focused on our goals and neither of us is ready for a serious relationship.”
And as much as he hated it, they were headed in very different directions when they graduated. There was little chance they would see each other much after that.
“See that it stays that way.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have powerful friends, you know. I could have you killed and hide the evidence in a heartbeat.”
The blood rushed from his face.
“Whoa. Don’t pass out on me.” He held his hands up in the surrender position. “I was just messing with you. I’m kidding. Mostly.”
Izzy reappeared and frowned at the sight of her father.
“Daddy, are you harassing Garret?”
“Not at all. We were just having a little man to man conversation.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, if you’re done, we have one more lift to practice before he leaves.”
“All right. I’m going.” He managed to give Garret a warning look as he walked past.
“I’m so sorry. He’s not used to me having boys here. Except for Jeremy, but we practically grew up together, so he doesn’t view him as a threat.”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. I like that he’s protective of you, and he probably only took about ten years off my life, so we’re all good.”
“Okay, so the Giselle lift. This is one of the more difficult ones. We’ll practice on the ground first. You’ll lay on your back.”
“Why?”
“You’ll understand once we start. Here, watch this.” She handed him her phone and he pressed play. Holy crap. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. The girl ran at the guy and jumped up. He had to catch her and lift her up over his head, then hold her there, balancing on her hips. The slightest wrong move would send her tumbling to the ground.
“Izzy, I don’t think this is a good idea. I’d never forgive myself if I dropped you.”
She just gave him a look, not agreeing or disagreeing. Dang. She was easily the most stubborn person he’d ever met. The grass would be a better place to practice than the pool deck. He scouted out a spot under the shade of a tree and dropped onto his back.
This seemed doomed from the get-go, but he did what she said.
She moved toward him, then stopped, then did a weird hop and stopped again. “I can’t figure out how to make this work. I’m too heavy to just leap onto your hands.”
“You’re not too heavy. Get over here and straddle me.” That didn’t sound inappropriate at all. Hopefully her dad wasn’t hearing or watching this. Beads of sweat covered his forehead.
She moved forward, her feet on either side of his hips.
He blew out a deep breath and willed his hands to stay steady. “Move back a step toward my knees.” Keeping his arms straight, he lowered them and grasped her hips. “When you’re ready, I want you to push off, not too hard, though, so I can lift you over me. Got it?”
She nodded and pushed off, and he lifted her over him. There was a bit of a wobble, but she arched her back and lifted her shoulders and held still. The pain in his arms was worth the grin on her face.
“How do I put you down?”
“Oops. We probably should’ve talked about that before we started.”
“You think?” His arms started to shake. “I’m going to lower my arms toward you. Get your feet down.”
The moment her feet touched the ground, she grinned. “We did it!”
He sat up and she tackle-hugged him. His pulse went into overdrive. They were pressed together from shoulder to ankle. Her heart beat against him. He allowed himself to enjoy the feel of her warm skin. Her hair smelled like strawberries and coconut, and he didn’t want to let go.
His brain started working again, and it was all he could do not to tell her this was madness. It was one thing to perform it lying on the ground, but they couldn’t risk her falling from that height, even if it could be a huge accomplishment for her. He didn’t want to be the one to ruin her chances to get into that ballet company because she broke something. He held her close. It was probably okay to practice it now, and then Lauren could put the kibosh on it when she found out. Izzy couldn’t hide it from her forever.
His phone chimed from the patio. “That’ll be my mom telling me I’m late for dinner.”
The senator opened the patio door and stood there, arms crossed.
So much for kissing her good-bye.
“Until tomorrow.” He squeezed her hand then grabbed his stuff and left out one of the side gates. Man, he was getting in way too deep here. Even though he’d told himself not to get too involved, he’d fallen hard for her, and with their different goals and family issues, everything was way too complicated.