Page 39 of Her Diamond Deal with the CEO

Until Sally had taken those photos, and he had reacted,understandably, he thought with a stab of frustration, only Ondine had got all out of shape, just as she had on the bluffs. Except this time she hadn’t come back. And he missed her—

No, not that.Never that.

He pushed back his chair and got to his feet, moving swiftly out of the room and through the quiet house, panic swelling against his solar plexus.

It was her fault.Ondine.If she hadn’t got pregnant, then all of this would have been so much more straightforward. It would have stayed transactional. But then she’d started being sick and he had tried to do the right thing, only that meant it was no longer just about the appearance of things and the money.

She had started to trust him. Worse, he’d started to trust her and he’d ended up telling her about not being able to swim and suddenly he was teaching her croquet.

His body tensed as he remembered the curve of her spine against his chest, and the sudden quickening of hunger he had felt. It had been nearly impossible to resist... His mouth thinned. And impossible to deny despite his alleged expertise in that area.

He came to an abrupt stop, his pulse jerking in his throat, somewhat surprised to find that he had made his way to the indoor pool. Gazing down, he felt a vertiginous rush of blood just as he had on the yacht. But this wasn’t the sea. The water was waveless and clear. He could see the tiles on the bottom. He had strength and stamina. How hard could it be?

‘Don’t even think about it.’

His head snapped round, and now his pulse was beating out of time for a different reason. Ondine was hovering in the doorway, still wearing the sundress from earlier. Her face was pale and wary as if she wasn’t sure of her reception, but she had said she would join him in the pool, and here she was.

‘I wasn’t going to jump,’ he said slowly. Couldn’t, not wasn’t. He wanted to beat this stupid, irrational fear but he didn’t know how on his own. Only he wasn’t on his own, he thought as Ondine walked towards him.

‘Good,’ she said quietly. ‘Because there are rules to follow around water.’ She stopped in front of him, her blue eyes resting steadily on his face. ‘And if I’m going to teach you to swim, you’re going to have to follow them. And the first rule for any beginner is that you don’t go into the water alone.’

‘Not even the shower?’ he said softly for the incomparable pleasure of watching her try and stop her mouth pulling up at the corners. But this time her mouth didn’t move. Instead, her eyes locked with his and then she pulled her dress up and over her head.

Jack felt his body fill with a kind of stillness as if every pulsing, beating part had abruptly malfunctioned. And maybe it had, he thought, gazing down, dry-mouthed, at Ondine. She was wearing what amounted to four small triangles of burnt orange-coloured fabric. To be fair, he could only see three, but he imagined—Actually he didn’t want to let his imagination into this conversation.

‘On this occasion, you’ll be going in with me and I will be in touching distance at all times. Do you think you can remember that, Jack?’

His eyes roamed over the three triangles and he nodded, then cleared his throat. ‘Yes, I can remember that.’

‘Then I suggest you get changed.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

SHEWASAgood teacher. Patient. Precise. Emphatic but not overbearing. As if she spent every waking hour teaching men in their thirties how to make star shapes in the water. Maybe that was why he was not embarrassed as he’d imagined he would be whenever he’d pictured himself learning to swim.

It also helped that, as she’d predicted, he was a quick learner so that within half an hour he was pushing off from the wall of the pool and doing a fairly competent doggy-paddle.

‘So who else have you taught to swim?’

They were in the shallow end now, sitting on the steps. It was the first time he could remember allowing himself to relax in water. Normally, he was too tense about someone pulling him for a joke, but he felt safe with Ondine.

‘Children mostly. But plenty of adults too. You’re not alone.’ Their eyes met, and she gave him one of those careful smiles.

‘Were you always a good swimmer? Like, when you were a kid?’

Earlier in the pool, he had congratulated himself for being so focused on her instructions. But then, only her head and shoulders were out of the water. Now though, as she nodded, he was suddenly intensely conscious of her almost nakedness, and of the excitement leaping inside him.

‘I did Swim Club, but I did a lot of clubs when I was younger.’ She hesitated. ‘I wasn’t very academic, you see. Not like Oli. And my parents knew that I minded.’ Her smile softened a little. ‘They enrolled me in all these different activities so that I could find something I was really good at.’

‘And that was swimming.’ He dragged his gaze up and away from a droplet of water that was zigzagging between the smooth, damp skin of her cleavage.

Her mouth twitched at the corner. ‘It wasn’t playing the violin, that’s for sure.’

‘And after Swim Club?’ He wanted her to keep talking, to keep watching her talk.

‘I got selected for the junior swim team. The coaches were amazing. Some of the people I trained with swam in international competitions. But I injured my shoulder.’

‘That was bad luck.’

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