Page 4 of Hot Water

“Damn right, I’m not. Love you, kid.”

“I love you, too. Love you, Mom.”

“We love you.”

I disconnect, dropping the phone into my lap with a big smile. I swear, I have the best parents. I don’t know what I would do without them.

I pick up my glass, taking a sip of my cocktail as I scan the beach, looking at all the people. It’s still early, but it’s already getting crowded.

A man with a large back tattoo striding toward the water catches my attention. Even from a distance, he’s beautiful. His tattoo, however, is… well, it’s something. My dad is one of the best tattoo artists in San Diego. I’ve never seen anything like this tattoo. It’s a sinister-looking clown with creepy eyes that seem to follow you.

It doesn’t exactly fit the gorgeous hunk striding toward the waves like Poseidon. His messy dark hair falls over his forehead, and his penetrating blue eyes blaze in the sunlight. Not even his beard hides the perfection of that jawline. He’s big—massive, honestly. Like a freaking linebacker.

He moves with quiet authority and grace that’s fascinating to watch. I press my thighs together, wondering what it would feel like to have that much power between them—to feel his beard chafing my skin.

My womb clenches at the thought.

“Jeez, Amelia,” I mumble to myself, my face blazing with heat. I glance from him to my glass and quickly set it aside. Maybe I shouldn’t be drinking. It’s clearly messing with my head.

I’m a freaking virgin. I don’t look at strange men and wonder what they’d feel like between my thighs. Good grief! I don’t look at strange men and wonder anything at all. I don’t date. Period. I’ve never had time.

Well, okay, maybe that’s a lie. I could have made time. I just never had the desire. The men who’ve been interested in me were never the type of men I was interested in. They wouldn’t have given me a second look if it weren’t for my mom. She’s a billionaire, which makes me an heiress. When people find that out, they suddenly don’t care so much that I’m not their type. I’m instantly more attractive to men when they know that I come with a hefty bank account. It’s not flattering. So, I never date.

Back home, everyone knows who I am. My dad does everything he can to protect me and my older sisters, but people know who we are. They try to get close for the wrong reasons, and it never ends well for them.

Catherine and Coraline don’t date either.

I glance back up, watching as the hunk wades deeper into the water, wishing that, just once, things were different.

A wave knocks him off his feet. I laugh to myself as he gets dunked under the water. He really should have seen that coming. I wait for him to pop back up, spluttering and offended, but laughter fades to concern after a moment.

He doesn’t pop back up.

I stand up from my lounger, watching the spot where he went under.

Where is he?

My stomach twists in knots when I don’t see him. Seconds tick by. I hurry to the water, not taking my eyes off the spot where he went under.

He still doesn’t come up.

No. Oh no.

“Someone get the lifeguard!” I shout, ripping my t-shirt off over my head as instinct kicks in. My heart races as I plunge into the cool water, running as fast as I can.

Salt water splashes against me as I run. The ocean swallows the confused cries of the beach-goers, their shouts vanishing in a roar of white noise. My muscles burn with each step, and my feet sink into the soft sand beneath. Adrenaline surges through me as my mind runs rampant with terrifying images of what could be happening under the deceptively calm waves.

My lungs scream for air as I dive beneath the water, closing my eyes to shield them from the sting of the sea. I reach out, grasping for anything. But I find only cold, empty water.

Panic blooms as precious seconds pass by. The hunk with a beard and those alluring blue eyes lies somewhere beneath me, and if I don't reach him soon… oh, God.

The thought propels me deeper beneath the surface, past my pain, past my fear.

My fingertips graze against something.

It’s him!

I reach deeper, wrapping my arm securely around him as my lungs burn for air. I kick upward, hauling us both toward the surface, praying he doesn’t fight me. He’s a lot bigger than I am. If he fights, he’s going to drown us both.

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