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Paulo nods gratefully and starts up the boat As we head back to shore Jenny is silent and I look at her to see that her skin is pale underneath her tan, and her eyes ith shock

“Are you okay?”

She shakes herself as though to snap herself out of it

“Yes, it just freaked et any air…I just panicked Silly really”

“It’s not silly at all,” I correct her “It’s a perfectly normal human response, I would say”

She looks at ratefully

“I think I’o home now,” she says “I just want to curl up on the couch, eat ice cream and watch crappy movies”

She looks at me expectantly and I sense that she doesn’t want to be on her own, but doesn’t want to ask

“Would you like reat to me”

“Thank you,” she s her a favor I can’t actually think of anything I would like to do more than spend time on the couch with her, but I don’t dare tell her that After all I’vecan happen between us, so why did it feel so natural, out there in the ocean, to have her in my arms?

I tip Paulo handsoh the money is now pretty soaked from my impromptu swim He waves at us as alk towards the ice cream kiosk

“So, here we are again,” Jenny murmurs as we line up to order This is where we kissed yesterday, and she isn’t the only one thinking about it I pretend I haven’t heard her, even though the look of disappointment on her face wrenches at ive it to her like nothing on earth

I buy two cones for us to eat on the way back and also a huge tub of raspberry ripple cheesecake flavor I’ll regret the sugar overload later, but right now I just don’t care Besides, sugar is good for shock, and asto hide it, I can see that Jenny is trying to hide how shaken up she is by the incident on the boat

We’re both quiet on the way back, but it isn’t a wholly uncooes beyond sih she was alwaysthe inner turmoil it will provoke as I wrestle with my desire with her in the face of the fact that she isintiht it all to the forefront

Because when I saw her take that tumble my first instinct was to dive in, and while I would like to think I would do that for anyone in trouble, the instant thought that acco was, my woman is in trouble

My woman