Breathless

by Dakota Harrison

  Their heads broke the surface of the lake amid loud peals of laughter all around.

  “You might want to release your death grip a little, honey. You’re gonna choke me.” Ryan’s voice breathed against her ear, his observation spurring her anger.

  “Let me go, you brute! Who do you think you are, grabbing me like that?”

  Ryan’s eyes clouded over in confusion at her tone. “I didn’t think you’d mind. I was just having a little fun. Here, let me—”

  Emma struggled and squirmed in his strong arms, water lapping at and splashing on her face. Fear had made her sharper with him than she’d intended but, heck, he’d scared the pants off her!

  “No, just put me down. I don’t need your help.”

  Emma pulled her arms from his neck and shoved herself away from him, backward into the waiting water. She reached down with a toe to touch bottom, her head slipping under for the second time when there was no bottom.

  She floundered, kicking and struggling to get her head above the surface. Panic rose in a wave. She couldn’t get her head above the water.

  A hand brushed along her bare back, stopping when it reached her suit-covered bottom. The hand grabbed a fistful of swimsuit and heaved. Her head broke through. Her mouth opened to gulp precious air into her lungs.

  Her arms snaked out and snagged around the neck of her rescuer, pulling him close. Her legs kicked furiously and wrapped around firm, lean hips.

  Emma blinked and shook her head, trying to clear the water from her eyes, hacking coughs forcing her wet breasts into contact with the rock-hard, naked chest in front of her. She pressed her face into the warm, sun-drenched skin of his neck and breathed deeply, feeling like a total fool. Her arms shook with the effect of first the fright, then the whole debacle that followed.

  She owed Ryan an apology, even though it was his fault she was in the water in the first place. It wasn’t Ryan’s fault she’d acted like such a ninny, nearly drowning herself in the process.

  “That was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen you do. You could’ve found out if the girl could swim first.”

  Gabe’s husky voice rumbled in her ear, the low timbre washing over her, turning her frazzled nerve endings to mush.

  Relief, that’s what it was.

  She was just relieved to have her head out of the water and to be breathing.

  “I’m sorry, Emma, really. I didn’t think. Can’t all Aussies swim?” His question sounded flat and lame, even to a waterlogged Emma.

  She coughed again and turned her face against Gabe’s neck to look under his chin at the shamefaced Ryan.

  “No, obviously they can’t. I was only going to paddle around on the edge, until you hijacked me.”

  Ryan had the grace to look genuinely sorry.

  “It’s okay. You weren’t to know,” Emma allowed. The poor guy looked like he’d just lost a winning lottery ticket.

  He held out a hand to her. “I can take you back to shore. I promise I won’t let you go.”

  Emma’s arms tightened involuntarily around Gabe’s neck.

  “No thanks. I’m fine.” She looked up at Gabe. “Gabe might be nice enough to take me back.”

  A wide grin split his mouth, inches from hers. His grey eyes sparkled with the reflection off the water. “You’d better hope so, considering you’re stuck on me like a burr.”

  Instantly, Emma was acutely aware that her thighs were wrapped tightly around his hips, and that it was Gabe’s chest that her breasts were pushed so hard against. Each breath rasped her sensitive nipples against the drenched material, the thin barrier the only thing between them. She hoped to God he didn’t notice her body’s traitorous reaction, clinging to him as she was.

  Gabe looked down and his expression tightened, the smile disappearing. His gaze jumped away from her as his hands loosened her legs on his hips.

  “You might want to rethink that swimsuit.”

  Emma stared at him, thankful but confused. That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. “What do you mean?”

  Gabe moved backward in the water as he spoke, his strong legs thrusting through the water in a lazy kick. He glanced at her again, his stormy gaze impaling her. “Have you ever worn that thing before?”

  Emma shook her head. “No, it’s new. I bought it just before moving here. I haven’t had a chance to wear it before now. Why?”

  Gabe pulled the side of his bottom lip into his mouth, the action incredibly sensual, taking Emma’s attention.

  “It’s see-through.”

  “What!” Her outburst had several people turning to look at them. She gritted her teeth and glared up at him. “It is not! I would have noticed that when I tried it on. I would never have bought it.”

  Gabe turned back to her, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Was it wet when you tried it on?”

  Emma opened her mouth for a sharp retort, but then looked down.

  He was right!

  She yanked her arms from around his neck and crossed them over her chest. Her legs she couldn’t do much about, not if she wanted to breathe at the same time.

  “Bit late for that.”

  His low-pitched comment had her skin flaming again and her knees turning to jelly. Why, oh why, was she there, glued to him like a leech? God sure did have one hell of a sense of humor.

  The one thing that saved her sanity was that they’d agreed to be friends, nothing more. It made it easier to ignore the feelings he stirred with one sexy look.

  At least, that’s what she told herself.

  “What will I do?” she whispered, horrified that someone might overhear.

  Gabe brought them up close to the jetty, where the pylons went deep down into the water and soil below. He moved them closer to the shore and faced her. She couldn’t tell what he might be thinking. His whole face was shuttered, giving nothing away.

  “Put your legs down, you can touch bottom here. The water should only come up to your underarms. Stay here and hold on to the post there.” He motioned to the pylon beside them. “I’ll be right back.”

  Emma put one hand on the post, keeping one on his shoulder as she gingerly slid off his hips. She grimaced as mud squelched between her toes and over her foot.

  Yuck. She hoped there weren’t any critters with claws resting around here. It was almost enough for her to grab hold of Gabe again and demand he carry her out, despite the state of her swimsuit.

  With incredible self-control, Emma placed her other foot beside the first. It was okay. He was leaving her, but she could still breathe.

  “Are you all right there for a minute?”

  Emma nodded and sent him a tentative grin, one arm wrapped possessively in front of her, the other clinging to the post.

  Gabe turned and waded the rest of the way out of the water, his incredible physique appearing bit by bit with each step he took toward land. Water sluiced down his shoulders, over defined back and arm muscles, down over his lean hips. His shorts drenched and molded to his delicious butt.

  Emma found herself wishing his shorts would slip and reveal that ass as he walked.

  “Are you all right? Heck, Emma! Why didn’t you mention you couldn’t swim!”

  Darby’s worried voice brought Emma around to face her. She shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t think I would need to. It’s no big deal. I’m okay.”

  Darby’s eyes narrowed and jumped from Emma to Gabe’s retreating back. “Why is he leaving you here? What’s going on?”

  “Shh!” Emma brought her finger to her lips. “Gabe’s getting me a towel, or something. My suit’s see-through.”

  Darby’s eyes widened in shock, then a huge, wicked grin blazed over her mouth. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Let me see!” Darby grabbed Emma’s arm before she could react, pulling it away from her body. Darby’s eyes flew to Emma’s. “And Gabe saw this? Told you?”

  Emma nodded, embarrassed beyond comprehension.

  Darby slapped her hand over her mouth to stop her laughter from alerting
everyone within earshot that something was up. Her shoulders shook with the effort of keeping it all in, tears rolling down her face.

  “This is just too good. Do you have any idea how see-through that thing is? And there you were, hanging on to my brother like your life depended on it. I’m so impressed. I can’t believe he didn’t just keep hold of you and carry you off to his pickup.”

  Emma buried her face in both hands. “How am I going to face him now? He’s seen it all.”

  Darby’s chuckles faded as she got herself under control. “No, not all. Just down to your navel. The water’s too dark past there.”

  Emma groaned and laid her head against the pylon, never wanting to show her face in public again. The last couple of weeks had been one gaff after another. These people must think her the biggest twit, or just completely insane.

  “Here he is, the big hero.”

  Darby’s teasing made it even harder to look at Gabe, knowing what he’d seen. She may as well just strip and walk out naked. It would save the hassle.

  “Very funny, Darb. Why don’t you make yourself useful and find her some clothes?”

  “Can’t. Don’t have any.”

  Gabe held a huge beach towel high above the waterline, standing a few feet in front of her. “Come this way, and I’ll wrap this around you before it’s obvious what’s wrong.”

  Emma dropped her hands from her face, expecting to see amusement on his face. Instead, the open awareness on his face caught her off guard. She blinked and it was gone, replaced with a studied passivity that threw her.

  Had she really seen interest on his face? Desire?

  It had disappeared so fast, she couldn’t be sure. She threw him a grateful smile and moved toward him, holding her arms crossed over her chest. Gabe moved backward with her, keeping an eye on the waterline, stopping her a few yards from the shore. He draped the towel around her shoulders and held the ends up as she continued walking ashore.

  The warm outline of his hand imprinted on her mid-back as they walked toward where he’d parked his pickup. She could feel the line of every finger, down to the curve of the palm of his hand. Its heat outstripped that of the late-afternoon sun beating down on them.

  No one took much notice as they reached his truck, the towel reaching almost to her knees and doing a wonderful job of hiding her in its massive folds.

  Emma bit her lip, sucking the edge into her mouth as she glanced up at him.

  “Thanks, Gabe. I’m sorry I’m such a bother.”

  At her words, one eyebrow disappeared into the messed-up wet hair hanging over his forehead. “A bother? Why would you say that?”

  She shrugged, embarrassed. “Since I’ve known you—a whole two weeks—I’ve been nothing but a problem for you.” At his continued confusion, Emma felt the need to elaborate. She ticked the points on her fingers. “First, I call you gay in front of half the town. Second, I drag you away from your ranch and business to come play handyman. Third, I nearly drown myself, and you have to haul my wet ass out of the water. My useless swimsuit is like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae of poor decisions. Not the best impression I’ve ever made on anyone.”

  Gabe bit back his initial reply to that.

  The validity of her statement depended on where you were standing, and from where he was standing, it was a perfect viewing platform.

  He hid his grin behind the pickup’s door and dug around for his shirt.

  “Hauling your so-called ‘wet ass’ out of the lake wasn’t a problem. I offered to help with your renovations, so you can’t worry about that. And your swimsuit? Well, your swimsuit wasn’t your fault and is neither here nor there.”

  His mind threw up a perfect image of the moment he’d realized he could see straight through her suit—her gorgeous breasts straining against the translucent material, hard pink nipples visible, her smooth thighs clamped tightly around his hips. If she’d been even an inch closer, she would’ve realized how impressed he’d really been. He wasn’t taking a chance that any of the other guys, especially the ones on that stupid list, might have noticed. And notice they would have, as soon as she stepped out of the water.

  “How can you say that? I’m a disaster waiting to happen. Who knows what will happen next.”

  Gabe didn’t want to admit it, but he wanted to be around to see it. Friends were allowed to do that, weren’t they? Just like friends were allowed to save the sexy ass of another from humiliation.

  He found the edge of a discarded work shirt and pulled it out from under the pile of things littering the cab of his pickup. He held it up in both hands and gave it a shake. Satisfied it was clean, he passed it to Emma.

  “Here. It’s way too big, but that’s a good thing. It’ll come down over your butt and will button right up to your chin if you want it to.”

  Emma just stared at it, and at him, confused.

  Gabe jiggled the shirt a little in front of her face. “Don’t you want it? Would you prefer to walk around in your swimsuit?”

  Emma blinked and a flush stained her cheeks a sexy pink. “Thank you. You really are a good friend.”

  Gabe inclined his head to her and sent her a wry grin, wishing he’d never heard of that word. “Yes, ma’am!”

  Emma took the picnic basket from Gabe’s hands and packed it into the back seat of Darby’s car. She looked at her watch, frowning.

  “I need to get back. Ralph will be hungry by now.” She shut the car door and sent a smirk in Darby’s direction. Emma’s eyes glittered with humor as she looked at Gabe’s sister. “So, Darby. Will you help me pick out a dress for my date on Friday night?”

  Gabe caught Darby’s startled glance, knowing his own echoed the sentiment.

  A date. Had he heard correctly?

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this? I thought you weren’t going to get involved in all that? I thought we were friends!” Darby’s accusing words tugged a larger smile from the corners of Emma’s lips. She was teasing Darby. That realization cut through some of the shock her words had created.

  Emma shrugged a shoulder and slid into the car. The soft click of the door latching launched Darby into action. She sprinted around to the other side of the car and jumped in, slamming her door behind herself.

  Gabe stood watching as the car peeled out of the parking area and beetled down the road, disappearing around the bend toward town.

  Emma might have a date.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Darby pulled up in Emma’s driveway and turned off the key. The faint ticking of the cooling engine was loud in the silence of the cabin.

  “Well?”

  Emma bit down on her lip to keep her amusement to herself. This was fun. “Well what?”

  The soft leather of the car seat creaked under Darby’s wet behind as she turned to glare at Emma. “Who is it? Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

  The giggle she’d been holding on to slipped free, filling the car’s interior. She faced Darby, grinning widely. “You should see your face! It’s priceless. That’s why. It was too much fun seeing you like this.”

  Darby’s mouth worked, but nothing came out. She huffed and closed her eyes. “Fine.”

  Emma tapped Darby on her arm, her humor tamping down a notch. “I was only playing with you. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

  Darby cracked an eye and glared at her. “Really? Well, I do.”

  Emma opened the door and paused before stepping out. “That’s a shame. I was hoping you’d help me eat those custard Danish I got at the bakery this morning while I tell you all about it. Looks like I’ll have to eat them all by myself.”

  She got out and climbed her front steps, only to hear the car door open and close behind her. She held back a smile as Darby spoke.

  “It’d better be an apple-custard Danish.”

  A caramel-colored nose pressed against the back screen door when Emma walked into the kitchen. How had he gotten out? She was sure she’d shut the door to his small barn before she left. An inv
oluntary smile widened her mouth as she hurried over to open it and let him into the kitchen.

  “Hello, baby.”

  She kneeled down and reached out a hand to stroke the top of Ralph’s head as he bounced to the side, excited to see her. Ralph jumped forward and butted his blunt head into her arm, grabbing the sleeve of Gabe’s borrowed shirt in his mouth and tugging. Her laughter filled the kitchen, drowning out the sound of Darby’s feet on the exposed floorboards.

  “Looks like he’s settled in fine.”

  Emma patted his soft, downy head and glanced over her shoulder at Darby. “He’s just so darn cute.” She scrubbed behind the calf’s ear. “I’m not so hot on the poop factor though. For a little fellow, he sure can make a mess.”

  Darby’s warm smile proved her earlier gripe was forgotten. “I hope you aren’t keeping him in the house. That’s just asking for trouble.”

  Emma shook her head. “No, but he does come in every now and then, just for a pat. He follows me everywhere. I keep the doors shut, so he can only go in the hall and in here.”

  Darby’s soft chuckle said it all. “You are so spoiling that animal. You do realize it’s an animal, right? One that’s going to grow taller than you?”

  Emma grinned up at her friend. “But he’s so little now. He won’t be big for ages, and he’s so lonely out there by himself.”

  “Hmm.” Darby’s amused expression soured. “Where’s that Danish? You owe me.”

  Emma stood and moved over to the sink, washing the baby-cow smell from her hands. “Over there in the pantry.”

  She grabbed a couple of plates while she flicked on the kettle, before moving over to the table to wait for Darby.

  Darby flopped into the chair opposite Emma and cut into the pastry. A large chunk fell off onto the tabletop between them. Darby speared it with the knife and popped it into her mouth. A raised eyebrow told Emma it was time.

  “Oh all right! Steal all my fun, why don’t you?” Emma groused playfully.

  Darby pointed the knife at her. “I won’t be held responsible for what I’ll do to you if you don’t hurry up and spit it out.”