backward well.'
'You don't say.'
'No, really. I was all-state with my backstroke. Anyway, Hank was about five-eight, with shoulders like I beams. I've always been a sucker for shoulders.' She opened her eyes briefly to study him. Without a shirt, his body seemed tougher and more disciplined than she had expected. 'Yours are very nice.'
'Thanks.' He discovered it was both relaxing and invigorating to float beside her.
'Also, Hank had the greatest blue eyes. Like lanterns. I wove some wonderful fantasies around those eyes.'
Irrationally he began to detest Hank. 'But he was only interested in your backstroke.'
'Exactly. To get him to notice me, I pretended I was drowning. I imagined him pulling me out and doing mouth-to-mouth until he realized he was madly in love and couldn't live without me. How was I supposed to know that my father had picked that day to come in and watch practice?'
'No one could have.'
'I knew you'd understand. So there's my father jumping into the pool in his three-piece wool suit and Swiss watch. Neither were ever quite the same again, by the way. By the time he dragged me to the side he was hysterical. Some of my teammates thought it was a reaction from shock, but my father knew me too well. Before I could blink, I was off the swim team and on the tennis courts. With a female pro.'
'Your father sounds like a very wise man.'
'Oh he's as sharp as they come, J. D. MacNamara. No one's ever been able to put anything over on him for long. God knows I've tried.' She sighed and let the water lap around her. 'He'll get a tremendous charge out of it when I tell him about the sting I pulled on Fred.'
'You're close to your family?'
Jackie thought, but couldn't be sure, that his voice sounded wistful. 'Very. Sometimes almost too much, which may be why I'm always pulling myself off somewhere to try something new. If Daddy had his way, I'd be safely housed in Newport with the man of his choice, raising his grandchildren and keeping out of trouble. Do you have any family here in Florida?'
'No.'
She didn't have any doubts about it this time. The subject was definitely on posted ground. Not wanting to irritate him again so soon, Jackie let it pass. 'Want to race?'
'Where?' He nearly yawned as he said it. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so completely relaxed.
'To one end and back to the other. I'll give you a three-stroke lead.'
He opened his eyes at that. Jackie was treading water now, her face only inches from his. As he looked at her, Nathan realized he could yank her to him and have his mouth on hers in a heartbeat. Racing, he decided, was a much better idea.
'Fine.' He took three easy strokes, then saw the bullet pass him. Amused, and challenged, he kicked in.
It might have been a few years since she'd been on a swim team, but after five yards Nathan saw that she'd retained her competitive spirit. With some women, with most women, he'd have been inclined to lose, knowing that the woman involved would know he'd done so purposely.
He didn't feel inclined to lose to Jackie.
When they touched the wall and rolled into a turn, they were head-to-head. He couldn't, as he'd expected, sprint ahead of her. Her long legs propelled her forward, and her slim arms cut through the water in quick, smooth strokes. Gradually he inched ahead, one stroke, then two, with the advantage of his longer reach. When they came to the side he touched only half a body length ahead.
'I must be slipping.' A little breathless, Jackie leaned her forearms on the edge, pillowed her cheek on them and studied him. His skin was shiny with water now, drops running off of and clinging to muscular forearms and shoulders. The kind of arms and shoulders, Jackie thought, that a woman could depend on. 'You're in good shape, Nathan.'
'You too.' He was out of breath himself.
'No handicap next time.'
He grinned. 'I'll still beat you.'
'Maybe.' Jackie dragged a hand through her hair so that it curled, wet and charming, around her face. 'How's your tennis?'
'Not bad.'
'Weil, that's a possibility.' She pulled herself up and out, then sat on the edge, legs dangling. 'How about Latin?'
'What about Latin?'
'We could have a Latin tournament.'
With a shake of his head, he pulled himself up to sit beside her. 'I don't know any Latin.'
'Everyone knows some Latin. Corpus delicti or magna cum laude.' She leaned back on her elbows. 'I can never understand why they call it a dead language when it's used every day.'
'That's certainly something to think about.'
She laughed. She couldn't help it. He had such a droll way of telling her he thought she was crazy. When his eyes were light and friendly and the smile was beginning to play around his mouth, he seemed like someone she'd known all her life. Or wished she had.
'I like you, Nathan. I really do.'
'I like you, too. I think.' It wasn't possible not to smile back at her, just as it wasn't possible not to look at her if she was anywhere nearby. She drew you in. Being with her was like plunging into a cold lake on a sultry day. It was a shock to the system, but a welcome one.
Before he realized what he was doing, Nathan reached over to tuck a dripping curl behind her ear. It wasn't like him; he didn't touch casually. The moment his fingers brushed her cheek he knew it was just one more mistake. How could you want more when you weren't even certain what it was you were taking?
As he started to draw away, she leaned up just a little and took his hand in hers. She brought his fingers to her lips in a gesture that stunned him with the naturalness of it.
'Nathan, is there some woman I should be concerned about?'
He didn't pull away, though he knew he should. Somehow his fingers had curled with hers and were holding on. 'What do you mean?'
'I mean, you said you weren't involved, but I wondered if there was someone. I don't mind competing, I just like to know.'
There was no one. Even if there had been, her memory would have vanished like a puff of smoke. That was what worried him. 'Jack, you're taking two steps to my one.'
'Am I?' She shifted. It only took a small movement to have her lips whisper against his. She didn't press, content for now with only a taste. 'How long do you think it'll take you to catch up?'
He didn't remember moving, but somehow his hands were framing her face. He could feel the water turning to steam on his skin. It should have been easy, uncomplicated. She was willing, he was desirous. They were adults who understood the rules and the risks. There were no promises between them, and no demands for any.
But even as her lips parted beneath his, even as he took what she offered and ached for more, he knew there would be nothing simple about it.
'I don't think I'm ready for you,' he murmured, but lowered her onto the concrete apron of the pool.
'Then don't think.' Her arms went around him. She'd been waiting. There was no way she could explain to him that she'd been waiting for him, just for him, all her life. It was so easy, so natural, to want him and to give in to that wanting.
Somehow, even as a girl, she'd known there would only be one man for her. She hadn't known how or when she'd find him, or even if she would. Without him, she would have been content to live on her own, satisfying herself with the love of family and friends. Jackie had never believed in settling for second best.
But now he was here, his mouth on her mouth, his body warming hers. She didn't have to think about tomorrow or the day after that when she was holding a lifelong dream in her arms.
What she wanted was here and now. Turning into him, Jackie murmured his name and cherished the
