Page 80 of Veil of Death and Shadow

“Trying to get my clothes off already, are we?” He winked, kicked off his shoes, then peeled off his socks. “Have to admit, I honestly thought you were fucking with me. But I came prepared in case you weren’t.”

When he started to unbutton his jeans, I shifted my focus to the other side of the dock, suddenly deeply interested in the colorful, sun-bleached houseboats lining the water.

“So why the water?” Levi asked. “Thought today was supposed to be a tour day?”

“Best place to see the city, in my opinion.” I glanced back at him, finding myself very thankful that my sunglasses were oversized. Hopefully that meant they hid some of the blush on my cheeks, or the fact that I couldn’t tear my stare from him.

Not only did Levi have a pair of swim shorts under his pants—black, his signature color, of course—but he was also now shirtless.

And, unfortunately, it was as perfect a sight as I’d imagined it would be the day I first saw him at Frank’s. Smooth, lean muscle, every inch carved to perfection. It was honestly ridiculous.

He smirked, no doubt fully aware of how hot he was, and lifted his bag. “Er, what am I supposed to do with this?”

Right. I could do this. It took me a moment to unfluster myself and lift my dry bag up to him. “Put anything essential in here, and then just hide your bag behind that bush over there.” I nodded towards the main ramp, which had a bush and small cove underneath, a few feet above the waterline. “Should be safe until we get back. Probably.”

“You really know how to set a guy at ease, don’t you?” Still, he did as I suggested and hid his bag under cover of the bush. It, like everything else he owned, was black, so it would blend in well enough. When he made his way back to me, I had one leg dangling over one side of the board and used the paddle to anchor me to the dock.

I’d gone with a one-piece and pair of shorts, so that I wouldn’t feel too exposed. Still, when his gaze dipped over me, it felt like I might as well have been wearing nothing.

Some of his cocky expression waned when he stared at the paddleboard. I wouldn’t call it outright fear, but he was eyeing it with the sort of suspicion I’d be eyeing every beer dudes tried offering me in the future.

Should I have warned him?

While I often felt more in control on the water than I did on land, that didn’t necessarily translate for others.

“Sorry, I should have checked with you first. If you’re not comfortable, you don’t have to get on. Do you know how to swim?”

“I’ll manage.” He grinned. “Hopefully. I mean, how hard could it be?”

Then without warning, he took a running jump and leapt over me and into the water, clearly unconcerned about the wave he sent splashing up in his wake.

He stayed under longer than I anticipated, and when I glanced around, expecting rippling rings to signal his emergence, I saw only still water.

“Levi?” Leaning over, I tried to see through the murky depths of the water, but all I saw was my own reflection staring back at me. “Levi!”

Before panic had the chance to fully settle over me, my board tipped, sending me plunging into the water.

Ice surged through my veins. While the water was safe to swim in, it was still cold. The Pacific Ocean was always frigid, no matter how hot the temperature on land was—and even though this lake was freshwater, not salt, the two still connected. Now that fall was ushering in, it wouldn’t be until next summer that a swim in this lake didn’t send a bolt of cold through my bones.

When my face broke the surface, I found Levi, his head resting on his arms, which were folded over the board to keep him effortlessly afloat. “Whoops.”

I brushed my hair back and grabbed my sunglasses before they disappeared into the lake, never to be seen again. I’d lost three pairs, two shirts, and a book to these depths over the years. “Dick.”

He shrugged, a wicked grin on his face. The sun made the water droplets on his face sparkle, like they were laughing too. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

As much as I fought to keep it there, my scowl twisted into a laugh. “Whatever, you’re paddling. Get on.”

He slid himself over the board with more grace than I’d anticipated and leveraged his weight while I climbed up myself.

Once I steadied us both, I handed him the second ankle leash. “Put this on.”

“Yes, mam.”

When I glanced at him, my breath caught in my lungs. If he was hot dry and on land, then wet Levi was two stages past scorching.

Water glistened over his skin. The dark curls that were always half in his eyes were pushed back now—the gray pools clear and filled with a mirth that the sun gravitated towards and only seemed to accentuate more, like it was his own personal ring light.

I cleared my throat, and glanced down at the board, realizing how very little room there was between us. “Right. Safety first. Let’s teach you how to stand.”

---