Page 13 of Legal Attraction

“I don’t know.” He glanced at her twice, but she wasn’t looking into his face. “Would you be happy if I did?”

Then she had his full attention. She swam a little closer. “Would I be happy to see more of you?” She studied him, her face half shaded and half lit from the moon. “Yeah, I think I would. But I’m not here very much.”

He reached for her hand and tugged her closer. “I’d be happy to see a little more of you too.” She stood close, near enough he could pull her up against his chest if he wanted to. And he wanted to. But something held him back. Instead. He raised her hand to his lips. The salty water felt sharp on his tongue as he kissed her knuckle.

Then something bumped his leg. “What the…” He stepped aside, looking all around him in the water.

She sucked in a breath. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.” She gripped his arm. “There’s a whole school of them.”

“Uh…what exactly?” He could see nothing in the dark water and nothing on the surface.

But she pointed and a few feet from them, in the light of the moon, a view into the water showed a huge amount of darker shapes swimming underneath.

“Do you think they’re all around us here?”

“Or they will be soon. We should head in.”

“Why? What is it?”

“Oh, nothing, not sure. But we should move in.”

Then movement picked up. He could see puckers and rolling on the surface of the water and feel something rushing around his legs. Then a whole line of fish leapt into the air.

“Now! We should get to shore now!” She started running toward the sand.

He leapt beside her, put an arm around her waist and pushed them through the water, keeping her as close as possible.

The fish leapt and moved around them, their bodies hitting his legs, their fins cutting him as his thighs began to burn.

Something larger splashed behind them. “Run!” She screamed and he glanced back over his shoulder to see a dorsal fin way too close. And then another a little further away.

“Sharks?” He swallowed. Hungry, feeding sharks? He stepped with longer strides and they both leapt out onto the sand. He whipped around, looking at the water behind them. More than just two dorsal fins circled, and the fish were going crazy. He tried to catch his breath as he stared in half horror. “Were we almost shark dinner?” he turned to her.

A stunning Coral stared back with wide eyes. She looked amazing, her skin glistening in the moonlight. Her body was tight and curvy and he forced his eyes to stay glued to her face.

“I don’t know. I mean, they prefer fish. So it’s likely they would keep eating the fish?” She shrugged and then turned her attention back to the water.

They watched fish leaping in the air, sharks circling in the moonlight until the water became still once again.

Coral wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

“You’re cold. I’m sorry. I should have offered my shirt immediately. I’m just sitting here not knowing what to do about what just happened.” He stood, brushing the sand from his hands. Then he reached for his shirt. “Wear this.” He turned away while he handed it to her. It seemed better than watching her dress.

She patted the sand. “Here, sit a moment. The sand is still warm.”

He joined her and it was. His skin had dried and so the extra sand was falling off and it all felt nice against the growing chill.

“Today has been the strangest day of my life.”

He nodded, then laid back in the sand, staring up at the stars. “For me too. But it’s ending pretty great.” He side eyed her and she looked back over her shoulder for a moment before joining him, staring up into the sky.

He could think of a lot worse days.

ChapterSeven

“Thank you for doing what you did today.” She snorted. “And for following me into shark infested waters. I had no idea. I swear.”

“Mm. Hmm.” He shook his head. And then he started to laugh, his body shaking on the inside.

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