“There you go.” I helped her down the first stair into the giant pool. It was one of those infinity ones; at first glance it looked like the pool ran directly into the Sound instead of off a nice little cliff leading to the hot tub.
“It’s warm.” Kiersten splashed her feet a bit and looked up at me, the brightest, sexiest smile I’d ever seen on her lips. It was hopeful and completely trusting in me, and in us. I should have told her then. Told her that I wasn’t the hero she thought I was. Nah, I was keeping something epic from her, which sort of made me the villain in this tale. But damn, I wanted to be the hero. Gabe’s words haunted me.
“Don’t tell her.” His damn voice blared in my head, reminding me that I needed to let her make her own decisions, that when the ball did drop, I allowed it to stay in her court, not mine.
“Do yourself a favor. Let her be the one to make that choice in the end, not you.”
Kiersten wasn’t like other girls; she probably wouldn’t run away from me. No, she’d cling. She’d make me feel worse about my future, and in the end she’d hate me for taking away her choice. I didn’t—
“Wes?” Kiersten’s hand cupped my cheek. “Where’d you go?”
“Sorry. Thinking.” I offered her a grin and stepped down to the second stair. “Alright, keep going.”
Kiersten’s hand tensed in mine but she stepped down.
“See?” I splashed some of the water with my hand. “No big deal, super easy. The water’s nice.”
“Nice,” she repeated with her teeth chattering. “Right, it’s nice.” She took the final stair, bringing the water level to her waist. Damn, she looked good in that suit. So maybe some of my past was coming back to haunt me. I was acting like a selfish ass, but I’d been wondering for weeks what she’d look like in a bathing suit. I’d wanted to see every inch of that glowing skin. I’d wanted to watch the sunlight reflect off her hair.
Couldn’t a dying man at least have one last wish? Even prisoners on Death Row were given a last meal — she was mine.
“Come on.” I swam backward and let the water wash over my chest. It was comfortably heated at ninety degrees, almost like a giant hot tub.
With a curse, Kiersten walked toward me, the water rising to her breasts. I knew I was acting like a complete guy, but I stared, and then was suddenly so jealous of the water touching her in spots I never could, that I swore and looked away.
“Wes?” Kiersten reached out and grabbed my arm. “I’m freaked, and like I said, I want to get this done as fast as possible.”
“Ah, stop saying that, you’ll hurt my ego.”
“Fine.” Her teeth chattered some more. “I’m excited—” She looked like she was walking to her death. “—to get started, so can we, just… swim?”
“Sure.” I grinned. “First lesson…”
“What?”
“Float.”
“I can’t.”
“Everyone floats.”
“I don’t know how.”
I sighed and looked into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded slowly.
“Okay, then lean back. Feel my hand? I won’t let you drown, and it’s not deep enough for that to happen in the first place, lean back and relax, think about something happy.”
“I’m too terrified to think.” Her body was stiff as a board as she leaned against my hand and began to float.
“Think about kissing.” My hands moved
from her back to her butt as I held her body in a plank position. “Think about my hands running slowly over your body until all you can do is think about what I’m going to do next.”
“What are you going to do next?” Her voice was quieter, her breathing labored as she lay in my arms, trusting me.
“I’m going to devour you with my eyes. I’m going to look at every inch of skin, memorize it, store it in the little box in my head labeled the most beautiful girl in the world. I’m going to hold you until you’re ready for me to let go, and then, when you float on your own, I’m going to keep staring, keep wanting, keep desiring, until I have to go jump into the Sound.”