by Snow, Nicole
It’s bad enough when she’s the main reason I’ve never had a real boyfriend.
The only guy I ever introduced to her before Miller freaked out and ran, scared he’d end up in one of her books. I worried too, based on her reaction to him, that she’d kill him off by chapter ten. Or maybe even in real life.
Ugh. There’s a reason that didn’t work out.
“Gwen, Gwen! Watch me do a somersault!” Shane shouts from where he’s bouncing on the diving board.
“I’m watching, dude,” I say, waving at him.
Part of me flinches as he springs off the board, wondering if he’ll hit the end of it.
But he doesn’t, and I clap my hands raw, even though his flip was more of a half twist than a somersault, and the splash that blasts water droplets in all directions says he hit belly first.
“Are you all right?” I ask once his head pops out of the water.
His smile tells me that’s an affirmative. “Did you see that?”
“I saw, big guy. Nice ninja moves, maybe you could be a SEAL someday.”
He grins. “That’d be cool. I’m gonna do it again.”
“Wait!” I lift my feet out of the water and stand. “I’ll meet you at the diving board.” I walk around the pool as he swims to the edge so he can climb out. “Just want to make sure you’re getting enough height to make a full somersault. You aren’t standing close enough to the edge of the diving board.”
He shakes the water out of his spiky hair and wipes his face with one hand. “Huh? What do you mean?”
I step onto the diving board. “Here, let me show you. I used to do this all the time in high school. See how my toes are right on the edge of the board?”
I wiggle them for effect. He nods.
Yes, it’s been awhile, but this is like riding a bike. You never forget.
I count each time my toes touch the board, using each practice bounce to propel me higher into the air. Then, on the count of three, I spring up high and tuck myself into a ball, making a full circle in the air.
This is the part that’s not as easy as it was at fifteen. I’m taller and older now.
But I stretch, hands pointing downward, and slice through the water flawlessly.
Their shouts are muffled by the water, alongside the clapping, but once my head emerges, I hear both Shane and Lauren clearly.
“Awesome, Gwen!” he shouts. “Why didn’t you say you were part mermaid?”
“I’ve never seen anyone dive like that except on TV,” Lauren chimes in from where she’s floating on a blow-up chair in the shallow end. “You looked so graceful!”
“Do it again,” Shane says, pumping his hands. “I wanna see everything.”
Small victories, right? It’s nice to be admired for something.
Smiling, I swim to the edge of the pool. “You try it first, Shane. You have to hug the edge of the board with your toes and shoot as high into the air as possible. I’m right here.”
“Okay.” He jumps up on the board, finding his footing a little more carefully. “Watch and see how I’m doing?”
“I’m watching.” I point two fingers at my eyes, then at him.
Aaaand he flies.
Definitely an improvement this time, but he still does a belly flop.
“You’re getting it,” I say. “A few more tries and you’ll have it down pat.”
“Can you show me again?” he asks. “I’ll pay more attention this time, honest.”
“I want to see it, too,” Lauren calls, sitting up in her float-chair and watching closer. “Please, Gwen.”
“Sure.” I use the ladder to climb out of the pool. “Just watch how I tuck into the somersault as soon as I leave the board. It’s all fluid, one motion, like you’re becoming the ball.”
“Do two?” he begs. “Just two more!”
How can I say no?
“All right.” I step onto the board and walk to the end. “Eyes on me. Ready?”
“Yeah!” Shane yips.
“Me too!” Lauren adds.
I give myself three harder bounces this time, giving more momentum to spring higher into the air, then tuck tighter and roll twice before straightening out to glide seamlessly into the water.
Their flurry of muffled shouts and clapping echoes again, but as my head emerges, I realize it’s more than just Shane and Lauren congratulating me.
My cheeks ignite like an instant sunburn when I see Mother standing there, but she’s not the reason I’m blushing.
It’s him. Miller, right there at the edge of the pool with his eyes pinned on me.
“See? The girl’s a natural. She’s the real reason I had this pool put in,” Mother tells him. “From the time she could walk, she loved to swim. Even won several awards on her high school team. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she’s part dolphin.”
“I thought you said you didn’t grow up in this house?” Miller says, his blue eyes aimed down at me. They catch the sun and shine just as bright, but I wonder...is it just the light or does he like what he sees?
My hands move self-consciously over my chest, wishing I could hide. But there’s nowhere to run here.
So I swim to the edge of the pool instead, trying to pretend I’m not half naked in front of a man so tall and muscular and gorgeous it hurts. “Right. I didn’t. It was public pools before. Mother bought this house a few years ago and made some additions.”
“Because I knew it’d get you over here to use the pool.” She glances at Miller. “Swimming is the one thing where her height is an advantage.”
“Don’t forget reaching the cupboards above the fridge,” I say. That’s the other thing she always points out.
Miller smiles, never taking his eyes off me. “Always a plus.”
Goosebumps everywhere.
“Over there.” Mother points toward the small changing room attached to the house, but it looks like it’s not because of the lattice and hanging plants. “You’ll find some freshly laundered swimming trunks if you’d like to join in the fun.”
“Yeah, Dad, come on in!” Shane shouts.
“Hurry up,” Lauren squeaks. “So I can swim, too.”
“You can swim now,” I say, studying her timid expression. “Do you want some help with the diving board?”
She shakes her head vigorously. “No, I–”
“She’s afraid,” Shane says quietly. “Dad always lets her ride on his back. That’s what we always did back home when he’d take us swimming.”
“She doesn’t know how to swim?” I ask him.
“She knows. We both took lessons, but she’s still nervous.”
I’ve heard of that before, but it’s so foreign to me because water might be the one thing I’ve never been afraid of. I truly can’t comprehend the revulsion. But that doesn’t mean I don’t try.
Swimming over to her, I duck down under the string line of small, glittery buoys that separates the deep end from the shallows. “I’ll swim with you, Lauren.”
She shakes her head, biting her lip. “No, thank you, I’ll just...I want to wait for Daddy.”
Fair.
Still, I want to help, so I ask her, “What scares you the most about the water?”
Her face scrunches up, and she shrugs. “I don’t really know. It just scares me. Not being able to touch the floor, floating around...that’s why I like the shallow end, where I can still touch something when I stand up.”
“Then let’s swim right here,” I say with a smile. “We’ll stay on the shallow side so you’ve got nothing to worry about. You can still practice your moves there. I’ll be right beside you.”
She glances around nervously. “You won’t leave me?”
“No way! We’ll swim from side to side, right here, where you can touch the floor anytime.” I nod at the changing house. “I can even get you a life jacket, if you’d like?”
Something akin to fear flashes in her eyes. She grabs the sides of the floating chair tighter. “No, thanks. I don’t want
a life jacket.”
“No worries. I’ve got you, all the time, I promise.”
Mother sits down in one of the long lounge chairs nearby. “Gwen was a lifeguard for years, Lauren. Almost every summer. You’re in very capable hands.”
Nibbling on her bottom lip, Lauren looks at me. “You were?”
I nod and smile. Not wanting her to be forced into doing anything she doesn’t want to, I add, “But you don’t have to swim with us. You can stay right there enjoying the chair if you want.”
“No, I want to swim, it just...it scares me.”
“I’ll be right here, honey,” I whisper. “The whole time. Just me and you and Shane. And your Dad, if he decides to–” I look up and notice Miller’s disappeared.
After another hesitant moment, she nods. “Well...okay.”
I hold the chair as she slides off it.
Once she’s standing, I push the chair over near the steps leading in and out of the pool. “Let’s start slow by floating, getting used to the motion. The water can make your body as light as a beach ball if you’ll let it.”
She stares at me for a moment. Then her little head nods slowly.
“That’s it! You just have to relax. You can float around as easily as that chair you were sitting on.”
“Really?”
“I’ll show you. Here, let me hold you up a little. Just lay back like you’re on a bed, nice and flat. Lay your head on one of my hands and I’ll put the other one under your legs so you know you won’t sink. I won’t let you, honey. Cross my heart.”
She struggles to relax, but finally, with enough coaxing, her body goes limp in my arms. The water instantly supports her weight.
“See? Once you give in, the water helps you stay on top.”
“Kinda nice.” She nods slightly, a little confidence entering her eyes. “I remember this part from swimming lessons.”
“Good.” I start slow-walking through the pool with her, real gradually. “Just imagine yourself floating like the chair does, that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re just flesh instead of nice foamy, squishy stuff. I’m right here beside you.” I keep talking softly to her, reminding her to relax, as I walk from one side of the shallow end to the other.
When I think she’s ready for more, I ask, “What else do you remember from your lessons?”
“Hmm...I’m not sure.” She blinks nervously.
“Let’s try something then, okay? I’ll help you roll over on your stomach. You’ll just hold your breath and put your face in the water, but you’ll keep floating just like you are now.”
“But you’ll still hold on to me, Gwen?”
“Wouldn’t dream of letting go.”
Satisfied, she rolls over and soon floats up on her stomach.
“Go ahead. Turn your face sideways and take a big breath of air,” I say.
She gives me a sweet smile and does it perfectly.
“There, just keep doing that. Turn, breathe, turn.” I pause, watching her. “Again. Turn, breathe, turn.”
Once she’s got a rhythm going, I loosen my hold ever-so-slightly. “Now, start kicking your feet. That’s it. Good girl.”
I guide her, turning around across the pool again before encouraging her to start paddling. That’s when I notice Miller, wearing a pair of red, white, and blue swim trunks, stepping into the pool.
Oh, wow.
I’m suddenly not sure who’s more jittery – Lauren or me?
Very different reasons, obviously.
My toes curl against the bottom of the pool. He’s all huge, rippled chest, bearish muscle covered with dark curls and several tattoos. Then I see how well those muscles move without a shirt, biceps and triceps and some man-ceps I’m pretty sure are new to me.
You remember the slow, sexy runs that would happen on Baywatch? Yeah, I thought it was cheesy too, but this...
Holy hell.
Smiling, he holds up a hand, waving. I stop walking beside Lauren and let her swim to him on her own. She kicks away, adding her own hand paddles, totally focused on her goal.
“Great job, baby,” he says as her hands reach the sidewall.
She drops her feet into the water and spins upright again.
A twinge of guilt pinches my stomach. I’d promised not to leave her side. Too bad I’d gotten horribly distracted by big daddy and his chiseled abs. A manly washboard if there ever was one, made for far wickeder things than pressing clothes.
Frowning slightly, Lauren asks, “Hey, I swam over here all by myself?”
I nod, breaking into a grin. “Sorry, honey, I had an itch.”
Feigning scratching my neck, I hope no one notices what kind of itch I really mean.
“Sure did, Lauren,” Miller tells her. “We watched you do it all by yourself. Knew you could, me and Gwen both.”
“Wow,” Lauren whispers, this time more excited. “I did it! I really swam all by myself.”
“You did amazing,” I say, moving a little closer to them.
“Can I maybe try again?” Lauren asks.
“Anytime.” Miller lays a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Swim to Gwen, then back to me. You’ll have it down in no time.”
Lauren pushes off the floor, back into the position I taught her. I see her trying to count.
She does it perfectly, and again a few more times.
When she stops and drops her feet to the bottom of the pool next to her father, those little eyes are shining brighter than her wet skin glistening in the sunlight.
Shane starts clapping first, but the rest of us aren’t far behind.
“I did it, Daddy. I can swim again!” She leaps up, splashing her hands in the water.
He pulls her in, wrapping her in a hug and lifting her out of the water.
Somewhere on the scale of ugly cry to adorable father-daughter moment, I know where this is.
Heat stings my eyes, watching how happy they both are.
I glance at Mother, finally, who’s removed her sunglasses and looks on with a face that says she’s touched. Even Shane is quiet, respectful, smiling at his dad and sister.
Miller lowers Lauren back to her feet. “Try it again. As many times as you want, Lauren.”
“Okay!”
She glides onto her stomach without a shred of fear and swims to me, then flips around and swims back to Miller.
Shane swims over and stops in the water next to her. “Let me swim next to you, Lauren. We can do laps, and once you’ve got that down, races!”
I move out of the way, heading for the center of the pool so they have more room.
Soon, they’re swimming back and forth between the walls of the shallow end.
Miller paddles over to me.
“Thanks for helping. She’s been scared for a few years now. Didn’t know if she’d ever get over it.”
“Why?”
“I wasn’t there, but one time, Heather took the kids to a pool. Guess Lauren was still in there when Shane and Heather’s kids ran to change their clothes. While she was swimming to the edge, trying to catch up, a bigger kid jumped in and landed right on her. She went all the way to the bottom of the pool. He felt bad and pulled her out right away, but she’s been afraid to even try it since.”
“Poor thing!” I say, hands sliding down my cheeks. “God. That’s plenty to scare anyone.”
He nods. “I saw everything. The way you did that, had her float first, relax, and stayed by her side, was exactly what she needed.” He reaches over and takes my hand, his grip strong and grateful. “Thanks. I mean it, Gwen.”
The heat of his palm against mine, and the way he squeezes my hand, sends a rush flaring up my arm. The way he’s looking at me so intensely makes my knees go weak.
Good thing we’re in the pool. Where, supposedly, I should have plenty supporting my weight.
But I shift my feet nervously, and, suddenly, lose my footing.
I’d been standing next to the buoys, where the steep slope to the deep end starts. There’s no sa
ving me from going under, so I suck in air, hold it, and sink beneath the water.
I swim to the far end of the pool before resurfacing. Miller pops up next to me there.
Not wanting him to think I was trying to escape him that obviously, I say, “Sorry. Lost my footing back there.”
He gives his head a shake exactly like Shane did earlier, spewing water droplets. “Funny how that happens.”
There’s that smile, Mr. Irresistible incarnate, making me wonder if I’ll melt right into the pool.
We’re both holding on to the edge, shoulder to shoulder, my fingers gripping it so tight my nails ache. I can’t even begin to describe this sensation winding through my body, or the desire curling through my nerves like a lit fuse.
I can’t stop staring at his lips, firm and full and smug, hooked on imagining him kissing me again. It’s been a long time since I had a boyfriend. An even longer time since I’ve had sex.
But now? With him? I think I’d give up my right leg and still do it with a freaking cane.
“Dad, catch!” Shane shouts from nowhere.
Miller flips around just in time to catch the beach ball right before it would’ve smacked me in the head.
I try not to laugh too hard. Or wonder if it’s what I need to stop thinking stuff I really, really shouldn’t.
Miller tosses the ball in the air with a low growl and gives it a good punch like a volleyball, serving it right back to the other end of the pool.
“Sorry,” he says, turning to me again.
“No harm, no foul.” I dive into the water and surface near the buoys, waiting for the kids to send the ball my way.
Maybe it’ll help distract me from this outrageous need to do the horizontal mambo with Miller right here in the pool.
Wish granted – well, one of them.
Soon, there’s a game of beach ball volleyball happening between the four of us. It’s fun, but the most rewarding part is watching Lauren chase after the ball through the water with comfort and ease. She’s even laughing.
This time, my heart does a somersault.
The game ends when Mother calls us for lunch.
Barbecue, right. I’d totally forgotten.
She hands us towels as we climb out and says there’s no reason to get dressed because we’ll eat outside, at the table past the far end of the pool.