Page 43 of Some Like It Scot
“I... I didn’t know. I... didn’t mean...”
The loch wasn’t especially deep at the water’s edge—perhaps twelve feet—but deep enough.
Katie didn’t emerge, but I could see her silhouette below the water, her arms frantically moving but not making progress to the surface. Jerking off my jacket and tugging off my shoes, I drew in a deep breath and plunged into the loch.
The cool water soaked through my T-shirt and jeans as I swam inKatie’s direction and waited for the bubbles from my dive to dissipate. A pale arm flapped toward me through the bubbles, and then her gaze met mine. So wide, so vulnerable, pleading for my response.
And my heart squeezed an answer.
She pointed below to her skirt, and I swam lower, noting the trouble.
The bottom of her dress had interwoven with an old, disposed oyster cage. I dove lower and found the tangle, ripping the knotted lace to free her. With the last tug of snagged cloth, I rose, wrapping my arm about her waist on the way to the surface.
Her arms were wrapped around my neck, her body flush against mine, as we broke above the water line. I may have freed the tangle of her dress, but the knot in my chest only tightened as she coughed against my shoulder, her cold cheek pressing into my neck.
Greer had looked at me with such fear once.
Only once.
Near the end.
And I’d been helpless to save her.
But Katie trembled against me, a mingle of breaths and coughs assuring me of her fitness, and... well, I fought rising emotions until they stung at my eyes. I was a bloomin’ fool, I was.
With a sweep of my arm, I brought us close to the rock wall lining the water’s edge and steadied us against it. She coughed once more before shivering into my side. My hold instinctively tightened around her, and with one long sigh, her head dropped against my shoulder, fully trusting me and my strength.
The pressure in my chest tightened to the hurting point.Don’t trust me to keep you safe, I wanted to say, but the words refused to form. Instead, I went completely doolally and held her a little closer.
Because... truth be told. Shewassafe now.
“Do you need help?”
I shook free from my thoughts and looked up. A gentleman about Dad’s age leaned over the edge of the rock wall, holding the handle of a nearby ladder into the loch.
“I think we’re fine,” I called back and then lowered my voice near her ear. “Are ye, lass?”
Her breath quivered warm against my skin, and then she raised her head. Those large eyes of hers so fathomless, I lost my train of thought all over again. Damp hair uncoiled in dark ginger waves around her face, highlighting those eyes, drawing me further into the madness. The same need—ache—branched out through my chest as I willed to protect this woman.
No—more than protect.
To discover who she was.
Her bottom lip trembled, and my rebel heart pulsed against my rib cage in response.
“Y... yes,” she rasped.
And my attention dropped to those trembling lips. Pale pink now.
It’d been a while since I’d kissed a woman.
Heat broke through the chill of my body. Wheesht! Ach! No!
I shouldn’t have made eye contact.
I didn’t need to start daydreaming about any lass right now. My gaze trailed skyward.
Heaven must be conspiring against me.
