Page 6 of Stolen Summer

Everything in me froze, thinking I was about to be murdered, and a flash of the Fallen Oaks Press headline for tomorrow glowed behind my eyes. Dead Girl Found Floating in Pool. No Witnesses.

The word dead kicked my instinct to live into overdrive. I fought, hands and legs flailing, to get away from my attacker. I was a fucking good swimmer. If I could break the hold he had on my ankle?—

I was free. I began to swim, using the wall behind me to shove off and increase my momentum. I got halfway across the pool when a pair of hands attached to my waist, and we broke the surface together, a tangle of dark hair and limbs.

Breathing heavily, I whirled on my attacker, my view of him obstructed by the long strands of hair on my face. “Are you trying to kill me?” I demanded harshly, shoving at the wet pieces of hair.

My eyes went to his lips first. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because the prick wore a twisted smirk, the kind that sent warning bells through me. He had a glorious, full mouth that under a different circumstance I might have appreciated. “If I was trying to kill you, you wouldn’t be breathing right now,” he retorted.

Not comforting in the slightest. This guy was a psychopath. A gorgeous one, but even a lunatic could be handsome if you were into guys covered in ink, which I definitely was. He had many tattoos, but I didn’t have time to appreciate the art gracing his very defined and well-toned body. I blinked, trying to keep my wits about me. He could still kill me. I wasn’t out of danger yet. My brows rose as my eyes roamed over his face with a more thorough inspection. I was still afraid for my life, just slightly less so. “Is that your plan?” I asked.

“To murder you?” he mocked. “I don’t make a habit of killing pretty girls even if they are trespassing.” His voice edged a sharp line between sexy and dangerous so I couldn’t distinguish which side weighed heavier. Not that it mattered.

We were drifting to the edge of the pool, his fingers still lingering at my hips as if he thought I might try to escape again, which I should be doing. And yet, I wasn’t. Logical, I know. “You just thought it would be fun to scare the shit out of me instead?” I snapped, fear invoking a healthy dose of anger within me.

Wet, black hair was slicked back from his face making it hard to discern how long or short it was. “Maybe it was you who scared me,” he countered with an irritating lift of his brow.

I scoffed. “You have a funny way of showing it.”

His eyes lowered, moving down my neck, to where the water hit my chest just above my nipples. Holy shit. My nipples. I wasn’t wearing any clothes. Not even my bra or underwear.

Fucking hell.

Color jumped into my face as I groaned internally, cursing myself out for jumping into the pool naked.

I wanted to hit the heel of my palm against my forehead. Why, Arie? Just why?

Instinct made me want to cross my arms over my chest. My chin lifted. I refused to cower in front of a stranger. “What are you doing here? Are you here to rob the place?” I shot back. I glanced at his too-handsome-for-his-own-damn-good face with cheekbones carved by the gods. Since when did I compare guys to gods?

“Do I look like a robber?” he asked, appearing genuinely interested and amused.

Now that I was self-aware of my nakedness, he was too damn close. What if my nipples accidentally brushed against his… I glanced down for the first time, unsure what he was wearing. I would die of mortification if he was naked too. On second thought, I’d panic. Somehow being naked in a pool with a stranger automatically made my brain leap to rape. Hurting me had been my top concern before, but now…

My eyes dipped past his broad shoulders and golden chest. I let out an audible exhale of relief at the dark shorts floating around him. “Uh, kind of,” I admitted, lifting my gaze with narrowed eyes. “If you’re not breaking in, then what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

My chin lifted in that lofty way the rich women in town were so fond of doing when they looked down at someone. I did my best to imitate them. “This is my house,” I lied.

He chuckled, gold-flecked eyes raking over my glistening body as the pad of his thumbs brushed along my hip bones under the water.

Do not shiver. Don’t you dare think about responding to this asshole’s stare, I scolded my body.

As usual, it didn’t listen, and a shiver rolled through me that had nothing to do with being wet.

“Funny, seeing as I’m pretty sure I don’t have a sister. Unless you’re my father’s illegitimate child, which would be a fucking shame. Not really surprising, but awkward considering I’ve seen you naked.” His lips twisted.

Oh, this one thinks he’s fucking clever.

I swallowed, bouncing up and down on my toes that just reached the floor of the pool. I strategically moved my body closer to the edge. “You’re a decent liar, I’ll give you that.”

“You still don’t believe me?” he replied with a darkness to it that sounded sinister.

“I’ve lived here my entire life.” That wasn’t a lie. I’d been born in Fallen Oaks. I hadn’t specified that I grew up in the house next door.

He pursed his lips. “Hmm. Maybe I should call the cops and let them sort this out.”

My eyes flashed. I’d had enough dealings with the police, and the idea of seeing any of the deputies, whom I knew by name, or Sheriff Carter churned my stomach. “Fine. You got me. I live next door. What’s your excuse?”

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