Page 47 of The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday
‘Great.’ She pushed herself up. ‘Is Scooter coming in?’
He grinned. ‘No, would you believe that he hates the water? He can stay and guard our stuff, can’t you Scoot?’
The dog barked, and the moment Ben was off his towel, moved to lie the full length of it.
‘Typical.’ Ben rolled his eyes. ‘Come on, then. Let’s go and see how cold this water is.’ He held out his hand, and Thea only had a moment’s hesitation before she took it, and let him lead her down to the shoreline.
Despite the sun, the water was freezing. They coaxed each other to get past the breakers, Thea shivering as first her calves, then her knees, then her thighs were submerged in the frigid sea, and then Ben said she had to dive, fully, under the water.
‘No way,’ she said, shaking her head. Her ‘no’ had about five Ns at the beginning.
‘I’ll go first,’ Ben offered.
‘Be my guest.’ She gestured expansively, and so he did, taking a deep breath and then disappearing under the water, popping up only a few seconds later, closer to Thea so she got sprayed with water. She yelped.
‘F-fucking hell,’ he stammered, wiping his hand over his face and blinking.
‘Like that’s encouraged me to do it,’ Thea said, trying not to notice how his eyelashes were even darker, how they enhanced the colours in his eyes.
‘You have to now I’ve done it.’
‘I can see goose pimples over your whole torso,’ Thea said.
‘And you want some too,’ Ben replied. ‘Admit it.’ He grinned, and he looked so carefree, all of a sudden, despite the obvious chattering of his teeth, that she couldn’t bear to disappoint him.
‘Fine.’ She took a deep breath, like he’d done, and plunged beneath the surface. She needed even less time than Ben to realise what a bad idea it was.
‘Oh-oh my God,’ she said, bouncing up again, realisingshewas closer tohim, now. ‘That is r-ridiculously cold. God.’
‘It’s like an ice bath,’ Ben said, his voice steadier now as he bobbed closer to her. ‘How can it be so hot, and the water be so cold?’
‘I don’t know,’ Thea replied, closing the gap even more. ‘I guess it’s the Atlantic, so it’s … it comes from all around.’
Ben grinned, and she huffed in frustration.
‘What Imeanis that it’s not a sheltered cove, where the water sort-of stays put, in a little eddy, and gets baked bythe sun. This water flows in from hundreds of miles away. Cold currents, undertows, all that stuff. I’m not an oceanography expert, but—’
‘I get it,’ Ben said, his eyes bright. ‘I know what you mean.’
‘Stop pretending you don’t, then.’ She flicked water at him.
He blinked again, startled, then flicked some back.
Thea let out an involuntary squeak, then pushed her palms along the surface, sending a whole wave of water right into his chest.
‘Fucking hell!’ Ben looked around him, as if checking no small ears were nearby. ‘That was a low blow, Thea.’
‘Had enough?’ she asked, smiling.
‘Yes, I have.’ He gave an exaggerated wince. ‘I can feel things beginning to turn blue.’
‘And we don’t want our Pimm’s to get warm,’ Thea added.
‘Strange how we’re complaining about the water being cold, but if our drink is anything but, we’re going to be annoyed.’ He held out his arm and Thea moved towards it, until she was in front of him. He put his hands loosely on her waist, steering her as they bobbed in towards shore. She was thinking how good it felt, that simple touch: how it was starting to turn her insides to liquid, when Ben’s grip tightened and he pulled her under the water with him. It was just for a second, but she was unprepared so she came up spluttering.
She whirled to face him, but couldn’t help softening at the grin on his face. ‘Y-you sod,’ she gasped. ‘You absolute—’
‘Sorry.’ This time when he took hold of her waist, he pulled her forward, not down, until they were pressed together. Thea didn’t know what to do with her hands, but after a moment she put them on his shoulders. She couldn’tlook away from him: from the intense look in his eyes. ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’
