“I didn’t think you ever came out of your house,” I replied and then wanted to kick myself.
He lifted his eyebrows. “You’ve been watching for me?”
I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. Idiot, I told myself. “Of course not,” I snapped. “I was just noticing how peaceful the last couple days had been and the fact that you weren’t in them.”
“I’m out here every morning to surf. You’ve just not noticed me until today.”
“So you’ve been watching me?” I said, smug.
He grinned and didn’t bother to deny it. My entire body flushed. The fact that he watched me meant he liked what he saw… right?
“That hat of yours is like a neon sign. It’s kind of hard not to notice.”
So much for thinking he might like the way I looked. Bummer. Yes, I know. I said I wasn’t going to worry about a guy. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want him to enjoy the way I looked.
“It’s not that bright,” I muttered and looked away, back into the water. Surprisingly, the conch shell was still there, the water parting over it as it moved.
“Hold this,” I said and pushed the hat containing all my shells into his arms.
“Would love to,” he said dryly as I waded back into the water to retrieve the shell. I’d never found a whole conch before and I really wanted to get it.
The shell was partially buried in the wet sand, which was the reason it hadn’t washed away yet. Because the bottom was open, it acted like a suction cup against the packed wet sand. Bending at the waist, I plunged both my hands into the cool, brackish water and tugged. It didn’t lift on my first try, and of course, another wave crashed right where I was standing. This time I braced myself and didn’t fall over, but I did stand there for a long moment waiting for some of the water to drain away. As it did, the surf rushed around my arms and legs, spraying me with water drops.
The sensation of rushing water was interrupted.
A sharp, stabbing pain followed by an intense burning, kind of like my arm was on fire, made me cry out. I jerked back to get away from whatever was hurting me, and I caught a glimpse of a large jellyfish being tugged away by a wave.
I stumbled backward, the pain fairly intense, as my brain processed the fact I was just stung by the creature.
Just as I was about to fall, a pair of warm, solid arms wrapped around me from behind. I took immediate advantage of his nearness and leaned against him, giving all my weight for him to support.
“What happened?” Gavin said against my ear.
“I think a jellyfish just stung me,” I said, my voice low and strained. The burning and stinging was very intense. It hurt a lot more than I thought a sting like this would.
“Only you would find an angry jellyfish,” he rumbled.
“Hey—” I started to argue, but the words fell away. I was in pain, damn it.
“Where did it get you?”
I raised my arm to inspect the spot where it burned. There was a large, bright-red welt and a rash spreading down around my wrist. In the center of the reddest area, something was sticking out. I freaked out and began waving my arm. “Get it off!” I screeched. “Get it off me!”
“Talie,” he said firmly, interrupting my meltdown. How could he be so calm? “It’s the tentacle. It stuck to your skin when he got you.”
“I don’t want it there.”
He chuckled. “I got that.”
I started at it with my fingers to yank that sucker out, but he stopped me. “That’s just going to hurt worse.”
I glared at him. Gavin tucked my hat with the shells in it under his arm and then reached for me. He lifted me easily, swung me up into his arms and cradled me against his chest.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded.
Secretly, I freaking loved the feeling of him carrying me as if I weighed nothing at all.
“Do you know first aid for a jellyfish sting?” He stared down at me. The deep azure penetrated me down to my very core.
I shook my head.
“Well, I do.”
With that he set off across the sand, passing by the surfboard lying near the wooden stairs, and began climbing them without even breathing heavy.
I blinked past the burn in my arm and looked up at the familiar sight of the white house with blue shutters. It drew closer the more he walked.
He was taking me to his house.
11
Talie
He carried me to the couch, which wasn’t far from the doors off the deck. He walked with ease and grace, barely jostling me or needing to shift my weight in his arms. His skin felt like a satin sheet that was just plucked from the dryer. It seemed unfair a man would have such soft skin, but I couldn’t bring myself to be jealous.
Especially not when I was currently enjoying the way he felt against me. It seemed the sting on my arm was hurting worse; none of the pain dissipated. It hurt and the pain was distracting me from true admiration of the feel of being against him.
Before he laid me on the couch, I let my cheek fall against his shoulder, allowing my eyes to flutter closed for just a moment and just let myself be held. It wasn’t like he was holding me because he loved me, or even that he cared about me. Hell, I was pretty sure he didn’t even like me. I wasn’t even sure I liked him.
But being in his arms just now, I was comfortable. I was safe. And honestly, just like cutting my hair and watching the sunrise, being in Gavin’s arms was somewhat freeing.
After a few minutes of relaxing against him, of taking comfort in his hold, I realized he wasn’t walking anymore. He was standing stock still, unmoving… almost like he was paralyzed.
I lifted my head and looked up. Our eyes collided.
He was watching me.
Intense azure eyes stared down, and he wore an unreadable expression. His jaw was tight and his lips drew downward. Suddenly, I was extremely embarrassed. I was practically curling up against him like a purring cat. He probably thought I was some psycho who would steal one of his shirts on the way out the door and sleep in it.
“Sorry,” I said, unable to tear my gaze away from his. “It hurts pretty bad.”
So what if I sounded like a big weenie? I would rather sound like a wimp than some pathetic woman who was starved for attention.
Oh. My. God. Was I?
Was I so lacking in any kind of physical affection that I was now turning a situation where a man was merely trying to help an injured woman into something more?
The muscle in the side of his jaw ticked, and I bit back a grimace.