Page 49 of Fool Me

“Julia Menlo is doing it,” she said.

He walked them both backwards a few steps so they could get a running start, then waited for an empty space to appear in the deep end. “On three!” he commanded, but as soon as he yelled, “One!” he started them running.

Their happy screams flew toward the darkening sky as together they abandoned solid ground. Grant’s push off from the edge was stronger than hers, but he never let go of her hand. She felt a tug and flew forward on his momentum, splashing in right next to him.

Chlorine stung her nostrils as her feet scrabbled uselessly for the bottom of the pool. She grabbed for Grant’s shoulders, but his strong hands soon wrapped around her waist, holding her afloat. Water dripped steadily from a sodden curl sticking to her forehead, but enjoying the curve of his body under her palms was so much more important than wiping it away. “I can’t touch,” she said, a little out of breath from the water and her closeness to Grant.

“But I can.” He let go of her waist with one hand and pushed the curl back into place, stopping the drips but leaving a trail of electricity in its wake on her skin. He brushed a finger down her cheek, releasing a new set of sparks. “You’ve got fresh scratches. Did you really hide in the bushes?”

“Twice! Underneath this coverall, my arms and legs must look like I lost a battle to a horde of kittens.”

Grant laughed. “Well, thanks for sticking around to clue me in on just how bad Julia is. I mean, I knew she wasn’t great, but I didn’t know I was dealing with Cruella’s evil twin.”

Sadie looked into the undulating water, remembering. “For a minute there, I thought you were making a different choice.”

His face turned serious as he focused his ocean blues on her. “I could never do that. You’re the truest dream I’ve ever had.”

The band eased into “Don’t Worry Baby,” but Sadie barely registered the tune. The happy people bobbing and splashing all around, the lanterns swaying and casting their hues into the water—it all paled in comparison to the long-suppressed joy bursting from her soul. She couldn’t believe she was this close to him, finally, and had no reason to push him away.

Grant’s eyebrows bunched in the middle as if stuck there, as if he’d been about to say something but had stopped himself.

“What is it?” she asked, a red light of worry flickering in her head and threatening to douse her happiness.

“Back at the fountain, you said that when we first met, you had to hate me ‘or else.’ What was that else?”

No words could do justice to that question, and she was barely keeping her lips off his as it was. Now that her emotional walls were gone, desire for him consumed her. “This else,” she said, and went for it. Slipping her hands around the back of his neck, she wriggled upward and pressed her mouth against his for a long-overdue kiss. He didn't immediately return it, and she panicked for a moment. Had she taken liberties? But then his arms wrapped all the way up her back, and he pulled her into him so tightly the zippers on her coveralls must be leaving dents. She deepened the kiss, and he responded in a way that left her both breathless and never wanting to come up for air. He tasted of pool water and champagne, and she felt as light-headed as if she’d drunk an entire swimming pool of the bubbly wine. She was in the deep end in more ways than one.

“Whoa,” he said when their lips finally unlocked. “Really?”

She smiled. “As Neptune is my witness!”

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, his eyes searching hers. “Well, it’s just that…six years I’ve imagined this. How do I know I’m not dreaming?”

“That’s easy,” she said after a moment’s thought. Kicking her legs wildly, she pushed up off his shoulders before pressing down on the top of his head with both hands till he submerged in the choppy blue water. She knew he was indulging her, but he let her hold him under for a good, long dunking.

“I might keep you down there forever, Mister Grant Mason,” she said when he surfaced, sputtering.

“And I might let you,” he said back, before spinning them both around in the waves and kissing her again, his lips sending a delicious shudder down her spine.

But before she could settle fully into the kiss, Grant yanked her to the left, barely saving her from being squashed by an over-enthusiastic guest cannonballing in the pool.

“This is getting a little crazy,” she said, noticing a giant game of chicken forming in the shallow end of the pool.

“Climb on,” he said, motioning toward his back. She wrapped her hands around his neck and held on tight as he swam them both to the nearest steps.

They climbed out, but Sadie instantly missed the water. Not only had it created the perfect excuse to linger in Grant’s arms, but her cotton duck coveralls were lugging half the pool with them.

“Here, let me help you out of that thing,” Grant said, noticing her predicament. He began to unzip her suit.

Releasing the coverall from her shoulders, the sodden fabric landed in a pile around her ankles. Underneath, her ancient white cotton blouse and skort looked like they’d been painted onto her. She felt herself blush as Grant’s eyes raked her body.

“Have I lost my mind or are those the exact same clothes you had on when you stumbled into my dorm room on move-in day?” he asked. “I recognized them when we met at the fountain, but I was too upset at that point to ask.”

Sadie’s eyebrows pulled together in thought as she gave her outfit the once-over. “You know,” she said finally, “I believe they are. I always think I’ve thrown them away, but somehow, they’re always still there in the bottom of my dresser drawer.”

Grant shook his head, a look of happy wonder softening his chiseled jaw. He nodded to himself. “Well, that settles it.”

“Settles what?”

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