Drowning by Jassy Mackenzie Page A

washed off the bridge. If you don’t believe me I’ll—I’ll go down to the bridge and take a photo of it later, on this phone.”
    “You do that,” he said, cynicism dripping from the words.
    “I have to go now. I’m going to find out about the helicopter.”
    “Let me know when you’ve done that, too,” he said in measured tones.
    “I’ll call you back.” I stabbed the disconnect button, furious at being so distrusted and disbelieved. More than that, I was disturbed by the fact that the man I’d married was starting to show such a different side. It left me feeling upset and vulnerable and very far removed from the cheery, unflappable Erin I’d always thought myself to be.
    Turning once again to the pool, I saw Nicholas had finished his laps and was standing in the shallow end. I realized with a little skip of my heart that he’d been watching me, but as soon as he noticed me looking at him, he dropped his gaze.
    I hadn’t seen him in swimming trunks before and couldn’t help but notice the tanned perfection of his rugged body, his skin glowing bronze in the punishingly hot sun. Gleaming with water, his muscles looked taut, ripped, hard as marble. Once again, I felt assailed by conflicting emotions. What was done was done. I had remained faithful to Vince. I had refused Nicholas’s offer. But staring wasn’t a crime… was it?
    “Want a swim?” he called.
    Did I ever!
    “We switched off the pump this morning to save fuel, so there’s no water in the rooms yet. Come on in. I’m about to get out.”
    To my relief, his voice was the way he’d sounded when we had first met. Firm, authoritative, with no trace of the intimacy I’d heard the previous night.
    “I don’t have a swimsuit,” I said.
    A slight smile warmed his face at those words. When it faded, I saw he was watching me again, more intently, the way a leopard might eye out its prey.
    “Swim as you are. Your clothes will dry fast enough in this heat. There’s a towel on the table under the covered balcony.”
    I put my phone down on the towel. Then I stood in the shade by the shallow end and dipped a toe into the water, which felt refreshingly cool, but not cold.
    I sat on the tiles and looked at the lapping waves, catching a glimpse of Nicholas’s sculpted legs as he strode away to get his own towel.
    All I had to do was put my feet in. Then the rest of me. It wasn’t difficult, so why did it suddenly feel as if it was? I loved swimming, so why was I finding it such a problem to get in? Looking at the expanse of water in front of me, I felt frightened.
    “I think I’m okay, actually,” I heard myself confess in a shaky voice.
    There was a long pause. To my surprise, Nicholas discarded his towel and jogged back toward the deep end of the pool. He cut through the water in a clean, athletic dive and surfaced a few seconds later, shaking water from his tawny blond hair.
    He swam toward me and waded the last few steps into the shallows. As he came closer, I could see droplets sparkling on his broad shoulders.
    “You nearly drowned,” he said. His pale eyes met mine, his gaze hypnotic. “It’s not surprising you don’t want to get into water again.”
    He held out his hand.
    I took it.
    “Don’t be scared. There’s no need to be,” he said.
    I’d been wrong to think that my “no” of last night had changed everything. The tension I’d sensed between us was still there; an attraction hummed like an electric current, growing more powerful the closer we got.
    My legs slid into the pool, looking smooth and pale under the surface, slender in comparison to his muscular thighs. I could feel my clothing start to float around me and the cool touch of the water on my skin. I held onto Nicholas tightly and he held me. His skin was slick and wet, and under it I could sense the raw virility in every movement of his body as he buoyed me along.
    “You’ll be okay,” he told me.
    Slowly, he walked backward into the deeper water until it