Worth It

“How about I just dive in, and we’ll go from there? Okay?” she suggested.



“What? No!” I waved my arms to stop that idea dead and headed toward the dock to assist her.



Damn it, I should’ve brought floaties or something. We were going to have to ease her into this if she was a beginner.



Except she’d already backed up a few steps to give herself a running start. Before I knew exactly what she was going to do, she clamped her fingers over her nose, sprinted forward, and was hurling herself full force over the water, arms and legs wind milling as she screamed out her delight.



“Felicity!”



Heart lodged in my throat, I could only gape as she torpedoed into the depths and was swallowed under the surface. The splash-back waves shoved me away, but it only took me a second to plow through them, swimming forward, desperate to reach her.



When she didn’t come up, and didn’t come up, I panicked.



“Oh, shit. Ohshit, ohshit, ohshit. Damn it, Felicity, where are you?”



I was about to dive under the surface and start search and rescue, when she said, “Right behind you.”



I whirled around to find her grinning madly and floating without any problems whatsoever.



Clutching my chest, I gaped and panted out my relief. Then I exploded. “What the hell?”



She laughed. The damn girl actually laughed. “What? Did you really think I couldn’t swim?”



“Yes! You said...” Shit, what had she said?



Smile bright and innocent and full of so much joy and sunshine that my angry fear instantly diminished, she gave me a small playful splash. “I said maybe you could teach me a thing or two, you know, in case you knew a few tricks I didn’t.”



“Oh, City Girl,” I murmured, shaking my head ominously. “You’re going to pay for this.”



I dove at her, and she screamed, lurching to the side.



No longer even remotely mad for the way she’d just shaved a year off my life, all I wanted to do was catch her so I could kiss the hell out of her.



She was slippery and fast, but I was faster. It only took me seconds to secure her into my arms from behind and rumble, “Got you,” in her ear.



Laughing hard and loud, she tried to wiggle free. But she found herself good and trapped. Finally giving up the fight, she rested her head back on my shoulder, and her spine seemed to melt against my chest as she sighed contentedly.



“Fine. Now that you’ve caught me, whatever will you do with me?”



I leaned down to press my mouth to her shoulder, my cheek brushing past hers. “Now there’s a loaded question if I ever heard one, City Girl.”



She turned slowly in my arms to face me. The look in her eyes fanned the heat inside me, making it flame through my veins.



“I don’t really like the name City Girl,” she said on a husky whisper while her eyes demanded I kiss her already.



“Just City then?” I asked, my voice gritty and clogged with desire.



Her lips spread as a smile bloomed. “Yeah. I love that.”



I loved the way she said love, especially when she was looking at me the way she was looking at me.



Once again hard, or maybe just harder than I’d been before, I pressed my forehead to hers, overwhelmed by the wave of lust pounding through me. I’d seriously never felt it this strong before. It freaked me out enough to make me hold back, afraid I was getting into something bigger than I could handle. But then she shivered, and thinking she was as swallowed up by everything as I was, I couldn’t resist her any longer.



I focused on her mouth, needing to taste it more than I needed my next breath. But what I saw had me blinking in confusion until the reality of what I was actually looking at completely set in.



“Holy shit. Your lips are totally fucking blue.”



“That’s because I’m turning into a human Popsicle.” She sent me a trembling, embarrassed smile, and I suddenly realized she wasn’t shaking from desire, but from the cold.



I shook my head, confused. “How can you still be this cold? I feel fine.”



Even her laugh sounded like it was freezing. “Well, I’m sorry if my body doesn’t adjust as quickly as yours.”



“That’s it.” I took her arm and began to swim us toward the dock. “We’re getting you out of the water. Right now.”



“I’ll be fine,” she protested even as she swam along beside me with her teeth chattering up a storm.



“Yeah, as soon as you’re dry.” Drawing her to the ladder, I added, “Up.”



“Bossy,” she muttered under her breath but climbed anyway. Once she was out of the pit with water streaming off her long lean limbs, I concentrated on climbing out myself so I couldn’t admire just how good she looked wet.