Page 82 of This Heart Of Mine (Chicago Stars 5)

He swam farther in before he loosened his grip and stood. She dropped her feet.

The water came to her chin, but it was below his shoulders. Wet strands of hair plastered his forehead, and he looked grumpy. “You could be a tad more grateful, you know. I just saved your annoying life.”

At least he didn’t looked bored any longer. “Thank you.”

He still had her arm, and he began moving toward the shore. “Have you ever had a cramp like this before?”

“Never. It took me completely by surprise.”

“Why are you dragging your feet?”

“I’m cold. Probably a little shocky. Would you lend me your T-shirt?”

“Sure.” He kept heading toward the beach.

She dragged her heels. “Could I have it now, please?”

“Now?” He stopped. The water lapped at her breasts. The red top had pushed them up quite nicely, and his gaze lingered. She noticed that his lashes had formed aggressive little spikes over those sharp green eyes, and she fought a sudden wobbliness in her knees.

“I’d like to put it on before we get out of the water,” she said as pleasantly as she could.

He pulled his gaze from her breasts and started moving again. “It’ll be easier to get you warm on the beach.”

“Stop! Will you just stop!”

He did, but he was looking at her as if she’d sprung a fresh leak in the head.

She took a nibble out of her bottom lip. No good deed went unpunished, and she was going to have to tell him. “I have a slight problem…”

“I’ll say. You don’t have any sense. That Northwestern diploma you’re so proud of should have read ‘summa cum loony.’“

“Just give me your T-shirt. Please.”

He made no move to take it off. Instead, he grew suspicious. “What kind of problem?”

“I seem to have… I’m really cold. Aren’t you cold?”

He waited, that stubborn expression clearly indicating he wasn’t going anywhere until she’d ‘fessed up. She mustered her dignity. “I seem to have…” She cleared her throat. “Left the bottom half of my swimsuit… on the bottom.”

Naturally, the first thing he did was stare straight down into the murky water.

“Stop that!”

As he gazed back up at her, his eyes looked less like jade daggers and more like happy green jelly beans. “How did you do that?”

“I didn’t do it. You did. When you rescued me.”

“I pulled off your suit?”

“You did.”

He grinned. “I’ve always been damn good with women.”

“Never mind. Just give me your stupid T-shirt!”

Was it accidental that his thigh brushed her hip? He gazed down into the water again, and she was possessed with a sudden crazy wish for all the murkiness to clear away. She heard something husky and seductive in his voice.

“So what you’re telling me is that you’re bare-ass naked under the water.”

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