Page 73 of Lie With Me

The weather is so perfectly warm, I know I’ll have a hard time leaving tomorrow. But even with how inviting the crystal clear turquoise water looks, I’m hesitant to dip more than my toes in it.

“Tripp, you have topromiseyou won’t let me go,” I stress.

His abs glisten with rivulets of water that dripdown his skin as he stalks closer, pushing his curls out of his face. “Valentina, I’m not going to let you go.”

There’s a double entendre there, but my nerves don’t allow me to dwell as I pull off my sunglasses and toss them on the towel with the cute black and red sundress Ginny packed for me. Tripp grabs my hand, and I let him pull me to the water’s edge. Digging my toes in the soft white sand, I pull him back as he starts to wade in. “Wait! What if there’s a rip current thing, you know, the one that pulls you in and is really dangerous?”

He laughs and pulls me into his side. “That's a valid point, but I promise you we don’t have to worry about it. I’ll teach you how to spot one when we get back home. We’re good today, though.”

His confident demeanor eases my anxiety a little, and I allow him to pull me out until the water laps at the tops of my breasts. “I don’t want to go any further.”

“It’s okay, we won’t. I want you to hold on to my shoulders and lift your feet. You can wrap your legs around my waist if you want.”

I do as he says, trusting him to keep me afloat. “See? I’ve got you. You okay with me going a little further?”

“Yeah, that’s okay.” The water is warm, and he’s right about it being calm. It ripples gently as it breaks against our skin, and next to us, I see a school of tiny, colorful fish dart by. “Tripp, look! Fish!”

He chuckles, spinning toward where I’m pointingeven though he doesn’t take his eyes off me. From my peripheral, I can tell he’s just as focused on my face as I am on trying to find more sea life below the surface. “See? It’s nice out here, isn’t it?”

His hands drop to my thighs before hooking under my knees and pushing me away from him. “Keep holding me and kick your feet gently.”

Suddenly, I’m not nervous anymore. I’m determined to tread water on my own. “I feel like a little kid. We should have brought those floaty things for my arms.”

He laughs. “I’ll be your floatation device.”

We spend nearly half an hour working at it before I feel confident enough to let him go. My chest constricts as I sharply draw in air every time my chin hits the water, but Tripp never leaves my side, his fingers skimming my waist whenever he thinks I’m about to panic.

“You did fantastic. A couple more visits and you’ll be ready to learn how to swim,” he says as we retreat to the shore.

We spend the rest of the day watching the clouds go by while we soak up the sun. As the large glowing ball of light begins to descend below the horizon, it paints the sky in swaths of oranges and yellows that gradient into pinks and purples.

Tripp lays his head on my stomach, while I run my fingers through his curls. “Do we have to leave?”

“Unfortunately, we do. Unless you can convince our friends to move their wedding here,” he jokes. “In all seriousness, though. I’m really proud of you,Valentina. Thank you for trusting me enough to take you out there today.”

Warmth floods my veins at his praise. It’s different than when he calls me a good girl. It makes me feel happy and loved and cared for. I feel like hegetsme, even though he still doesn’t know the entire story of my past.

Thinking back to when we were out in the ocean, I can’t help but liken the lesson to my life. “It’s a good metaphor. I’ve been treading water for so long, terrified of being pulled under, wondering when I will be ready to swim. Maybe all I needed was a floaty.”

Tripp looks up, the stubble on his face scratchy against my stomach as his arms tighten around me. “I told you earlier, I won’t let you go. You’ll be ready to swim soon. I’ll make sure of it.”

In that moment, I decide that I’m going to tell him the rest of my story. Once we’re back from Connecticut, I’ll tell him everything. And if he still wants me…

He already has me.

Tripp

The lady at Harry Winston recognizes me as I walk arm in arm into their store with Ginny. This trip isn’t planned, like the last one, when Lenni and I picked out her engagement ring.

She eyes Ginny warily as she greets us. “Mr. Kennedy, good to see you again so soon. What can we do for you today?”

“My gorgeous fiancée’s friend here is also tying the knot two days from now, and she wanted to get her a maid-of-honor gift,” I explain.

Ginny unlinks our arms and goes to the counter. “I can speak for myself, thanks. But yeah, what he said. Something to match her ring.”

“Of course! Are we thinking earrings? A bracelet?” She moves behind the counter to start grabbing pieces.

“I want her to sparkle! She deserves it. Plus, we chose her birthday weekend to get married. It’s the least I can do,” Ginny tells her.

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