First Time in Forever (Puffin Island 1)

Her confidence rose. “Can I try it without the float?”

“I think you’ve done enough for one day.”

“I think it would help my confidence to try.”

“It won’t help your confidence if you go under and never want to get back in the water again.”

“You could stay close by. Grab me if I look as if I’m going under.”

If other people could swim without a float, then so could she.

Determined to do this, she put her float on the edge of the pool.

She pushed forward, and instantly her body felt heavy and strange. Without the float she no longer felt buoyant. Starting to sink, panic fluttered inside her, and then she felt his hand on her stomach, lifting her, giving her that extra support.

“You’re doing fine.” His voice was calm. “It feels different without the float, but the movements are the same. Keep kicking. Keep using your arms. You won’t go under, I promise. I won’t let you.”

And suddenly instead of thinking about drowning, she was thinking about that hand on her stomach. About how it would feel if he moved it a little lower. It made her feel safe from drowning but unsafe in every other way.

She didn’t dare look at him, so she focused on the side of the pool instead, kicked and used her arms, and suddenly she was swimming, really swimming, not elegantly but staying afloat without help. She kept kicking and moving her arms, spurred on by his encouragement, until finally she reached the side and grabbed it.

“Good job.” Ryan was right next to her, and at last, now that the possibility of drowning seemed to have passed, she allowed herself to look at him.

His dark hair was slick, and droplets of water clung to the powerful muscles of his shoulders.

He was the sexiest man she’d laid eyes on.

And he wasn’t interested in her.

She gave a bright smile. “Thank you. That was brilliant.”

He didn’t smile back. Instead, he eyed the changing room door, as if judging how fast he could get out of here. “You did well. Do you always work that hard at things?”

“If it’s something important.”

His gaze slid back to hers. “I think that’s enough for one day. I need to get back to work.”

“Of course. Thank you for taking the time to teach me. I can do it by myself from now on.”

He frowned. “You can’t do that.”

“I’ll stay in the shallow end, but I need to practice.”

“Tell me when you’re going to practice. I’ll make sure I’m here.”

“You’re busy. You don’t want to—”

“Damn it, Emily! The purpose of this exercise is to increase your confidence around water, and that’s not going to happen if you’re on your own, so just say yes.”

“Yes. Tomorrow,” she murmured. “Same time. But you don’t seem very happy about it.”

“I’m happy.”

“Ryan, you’re speaking through your teeth, and you can’t wait to get out of this pool.”

“Because you’re standing next to me in a swimsuit that looks like something from a porn movie.”

She stared at him, her heart pounding. “You said—I thought—”