Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Laughing as we halt, I lean into her so my chest is pressed against her back and grab both her hands, putting them back in place. “Gentle,” I murmur and feel her shiver as I show her how much pressure to use, then let her take over and glide us out into deeper water.
I sit back while she gets comfortable slowing down and speeding up, and I smile to myself. Just watching her, it’s obvious she is not the kind of person to take risks. She never goes too fast or tries any of the crazy maneuvers the others around us are doing. And it makes me wonder is she is cautious in all aspects of her life.
“I stopped by your house,” I cut through the silence that’s settled between us, and she jumps in surprise before her body in front of mine goes rigid.
“I was here.” She slows down. “My cousins and I have had this trip planned for weeks,” she adds, almost sounding defensive.
“I didn’t think otherwise,” I tell her quietly, and her shoulders relax ever so slightly.
“I noticed that you didn’t tell your girls what happened with the kid.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she mumbles, and I wish I could see her face; maybe then I’d have a shot at reading what she’s thinking. “I called and got the number for the officer who was the first to show up and spoke with him. He told me that they took the little boy to the hospital just to be on the safe side, but he was released a couple of hours later.” She goes quiet for a minute, then turns to look at me. “So you just moved back to Tennessee?”
“I did.”
“Do you know anyone who goes by the name of Mike who kinda looks like you?” she asks while her eyes scan mine.
“Not that I can think of. Why?” I ask, her question catching me off guard, or maybe it’s the way she’s looking at me—like she’s searching for a lie.
“Just curious.” She shrugs one shoulder, then turns away from me and starts to speed up.
“Do you know a guy named Mike who looks like me?”
“I do.” She shakes her head, then sounds disgusted when she continues. “Or I did. We don’t talk anymore.”
I open my mouth to ask her who this Mike guy was to her, but I stop when she gasps, “There’s dolphins!” She points at the water just off to our right, and sure enough, two dolphins are gliding along with us through the wake the jet ski is creating.
“They want to play,” I tell her, and she turns to look at me with wide eyes. “Speed up just a little.”
“I don’t want to scare them away.”
“You won’t. Just trust me and go a little faster,” I urge, and she bites her lip, then nods and spins around.
As she starts to speed up, both dolphins twist around each other while traveling through the water keeping up with us, and jump on occasion. I listen to her laugh, the happy sound doing something to my insides. We drive like that for a while, with both dolphins chasing us, so when we slow to a stop, I expect them to take off. But they don’t, instead hanging next to us in the water just out of reach.
“They are so beautiful.” She turns toward me, and fuck, with her lips tipped up in a bright smile and the sun shining down on her pretty face, the urge to kiss her has my gaze dropping to her full lips and my hand balling into a fist.
Like she knows what I’m thinking, her cheeks darken, and she tugs her eyes off me and leans over, putting her fingers in the water.
“Don’t fall in.” I grab hold of her hips and use my weight to keep us from tipping over.
“I’m not going to fall in,” she says as one of the dolphins nudges her fingers with its beak.
“They like you.”
“I wish I could swim with them.”
“You can,” I tell her, and she peeks over at me. “But if there are dolphins in the water, there are probably sharks.”
“Stop it,” she gasps and pulls her hand out of the water, and I laugh, then grab her wrist when she smacks my chest. “You’re so mean.”
“A little.” I smile, and she rolls her eyes, then pouts when the dolphins both take off into deeper water.
“It’s time to take the jet ski back anyway,” I tell her, pointing out that everyone is headed back to shore.
“Darn.” She turns, grabs the handles, and drives us toward the beach. When we arrive, I help her off the jet ski, then watch as the guy who was helping her earlier comes over as we take off our life vests.
“Did you have fun? I saw that you ran into Bruce and Edwina, the dolphins that are always out there.”