Page 13 of In Dangerous Water

“Did you?” he asked. “Have you ever done magick on me without my permission?”

I opened my mouth to deny it and found that I couldn’t. Because I had literally just worked a healing on him without his permission.

His scowl deepened. “Your silence is not very comforting to me, Cordelia.”

“It’s not what you think!” I insisted.

Tim’s eyebrows went straight to his hairline. “So you have worked magick on me?”

“Formally? No,” I said as I began to panic. “It was more of a spontaneous sort of working. Nothing premeditated. It was only to help you feel better—”

“Feel better?” he demanded. “What have you done, Cordelia? Did you use some sort of magickal roofie on me?”

My jaw dropped in shock at his accusation.

“You do realize,” he said quietly, “that if our roles were reversed what you admitted to would be criminal, right?”

“I admitted nothing of the sort!” I reached out, stepping toward him. “I’ve workedhealing magickfor you, to help you with tension headaches, and that’s all!”

He stepped away from me. “What are you talking about?”

“How’s that migraine you had brewing only a couple of minutes ago?” I tossed out. “Is it still there?”

He jolted and paled.

Before he could speak, I continued. “Your headache is gone because when I kissed your temple, I drew out the pain. With my psychic empathy, I could feel that you were hurting, and I only wanted to—”

“That’s manipulation,” he said cutting me off. “You used your magick—without my permission—to get the response you wanted from me.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I simply used my gifts to help ease the pain of the man I love.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Do youuseyour gifts often to get your way?”

“Tim!” I gasped, shocked at the cheap shot.

“I think we need to take a break for a while,” Tim said as he opened the door and stepped out. “Goodbye, Cordelia.”

He shut the door firmly behind himself and walked away without a backward glance. I stood there, mutely staring after him. A few moments later, when the far door that led to the main hall of the aquatic center swung closed behind him too, I pressed my hand to my mouth to muffle a sob.

Tim had gone. He’d ended things between us.

CHAPTER THREE

I lowered myself to the edge of my desk before my knees gave out. My face was hot, and blood was pounding in my ears. For a few moments, my body warred between trying to decide whether I should faint, throw up, have a heart attack, or drop down to the floor and cry.

How had things spun out of control so quickly and turned out so spectacularly bad? Staggering around my desk, I went over to my chair and dropped into it. I sobbed once and covered my face with my hands.

There was a part of me, the detached, clinical part, that told me to pull myself together.I’m at work, anyone could walk by my office and see me.

The other part of me didn’t give a rat’s ass...because trying to hold everything in right now would surely make me ill. Eventually though, I forced myself to sit up straight. Wiping my eyes, I tried to pull myself together.

Without plan, my bleary gaze landed on the soothing waters of the lane pool. The water beckoned to me, offering solace and much-needed comfort. Shoving up to my feet I stepped out of my crocs. Silently, I tugged my leggings down and unzipped my jacket, revealing the royal blue one-piece suit I wore beneath. Tossing the outerwear towards my desk, I stalked to the door and moved across the pool deck.

Taking a deep breath, I headed straight for the starting blocks. Ignoring my swimmer’s cap and goggles, I climbed up on the first block and dove right in. Pushing myself to a punishing pace, I swam four laps freestyle.

Finally, I came to the end of the lane, slapped the wall and stopped. Alone for the moment, I leaned my head against theside of the pool and tried to slow my breathing down. The brutal swim had helped me clear my head;andit kept me from spiraling into a full-blown anxiety attack.

Checking the clock on the wall, I saw that I still had plenty of time before the children’s swimming class. Pushing off from the side of the pool, I began my cool down laps. Falling back on my training, I focused only on my breathing and my strokes.

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