‘A la—!’ She whirled around on the spot, putting her hands on her hips to glare at him and then blushing all the way from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. He was standing in the middle of the pool, his biceps bulging visibly as he pushed his hands through slicked-back, soaking wet hair. As he moved towards her water cascaded over his shoulders and the almost impossibly sculpted-looking muscles of his chest, making his skin seem to glisten. She couldn’t see any further down, but having grown up in close quarters with a younger brother, she knew what was there.
‘I...’ She felt at a momentary loss for words, wishing she
hadn’t spun around quite so fast after all. Now she felt more than a little breathless.
‘Changed your mind?’ He lifted an eyebrow.
‘Only if you look the other way.’ Somehow she forced the words out. Having turned around simply to argue with him, it was the only way she could now think of to make him turn away since her own eyes and feet seemed incapable of moving. Not to mention the fact that a cold dip suddenly seemed like a very good, very practical idea.
He turned his back obediently and she wriggled out of her gown, hesitating briefly over her undergarments before conceding that he was right and there really was no point in getting them wet. If she didn’t remove them, they’d only make her dress damp afterwards, which someone would be bound to notice...
‘Wait.’ She paused with her chemise halfway over her hips. ‘What are we going to dry ourselves on afterwards?’
‘A few laps around the garden ought to do the trick.’ There was laughter in his voice again. ‘Or you can use my shirt if you’d rather the swans didn’t watch you.’
‘Very funny.’ She tugged off her drawers and stockings, folding them neatly on the side of the pool before dipping her toes nervously into the water, keeping her eyes fixed on his back the whole time.
‘It’s best to get it over with.’ He half turned his head, causing her to drop down into a crouching position. ‘It’ll be a shock for a moment, but you’ll get used to it soon enough.’
‘I don’t want to catch a chill.’
‘You’re more likely to if you stand there dithering on the edge. Sometimes you need to stop thinking and let go, Anna.’
Somehow those words did the trick. Before she knew what she was doing she’d placed her palms down flat on the ground beside her and pushed herself over the edge, dropping quickly into the pool and spluttering with shock as ice-cold water enveloped her body.
‘Feels good, doesn’t it?’ Samuel started to turn around again.
‘Wait!’ Instinctively, she lifted her hands to cover her breasts. ‘Don’t look!
‘Why not?’ He kept turning, though he slowed his pace. ‘You’re under the water. I can barely see anything.’
‘Barely?’ Despite the cold, she dipped lower under the surface, wondering how she could still be blushing when all her extremities felt as if they were about to fall off.
‘I wasn’t sure that you’d do it.’ He grinned, looking boyish and genuinely pleased. ‘You should dip your head under, too. Now that you’ve come this far...’
‘I don’t want...’
‘Just take a deep breath like this.’ He puffed his cheeks out, making a deliberately comical expression as he ducked under the surface and then sprang up again, shaking his head like a dog.
‘Well, I might as well now.’ She covered her face with her hands as water flew in every direction. ‘Since you’ve made me wet enough already. Oh, bother, I’d better untie my hair or it’ll end up in more knots.’ She reached for the ribbon at the end of her braid, pulling it away and running her fingers through the lengths so that it unravelled in a mass of ringlets. As usual, they seemed to spring sideways, rather than downwards.
‘They’re like spirals.’ Samuel’s gaze was arrested. ‘May I?’
She nodded, and he reached for one of the curls, smoothing it gently between his fingers. ‘You’re beautiful, Anna.’
Immediately, she opened her mouth to deny it and then stopped. Something in his voice told her he meant it. He really did think she was beautiful. She’d never thought of herself as a person who needed compliments before, but now the words made her feel warm and tingly inside. Which was ironic considering how cold the rest of her felt and it was about to get colder...
She drew in a deep breath, bent her knees and then dipped under the surface, screwing her eyes shut as her ears filled with a whooshing sound.
‘Oomph!’ she exclaimed as she burst out of the water again, making a point of shaking her head at him. ‘Take that!’
‘Spoken like a true siren.’ He laughed, unperturbed. ‘Now, tell me the truth—doesn’t that feel better?’
‘Yes’ she agreed in surprise. Now that her body was getting used to the cold, it was actually invigorating.
‘I hate to say I told you so.’ He bobbed closer towards her.
‘Then don’t. Gloating doesn’t become you, Captain.’ She found herself taking another deep breath as she stared back at him. They were standing far too close together, less than an arm’s length apart, although considering the fact that they were both naked, proximity was really the least of her worries. Oddly enough, however, she wasn’t worried. The whole situation felt intimate and natural, as if the water itself was trying to sweep them together. She felt a powerful urge to reach out and touch him, to find out if his chest felt as solid as it looked.