by Terry Spear
She closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her.
“I guess you’re still a bit tired from last night.”
She nodded. Actually, she wanted to concentrate further on the vision. The more details she could see, the more she could help the man who was in trouble.
The man’s short-cropped hair made her assume he served in the military. She didn’t like rescuing military personnel. A case or two wouldn’t have aroused much suspicion, but she’d already saved four men’s lives on separate occasions at Fort Hood during the year. She was certain word would soon catch her boss’s ear.
But this man swam off-post, dripping wet with water lapping at his chin. He treaded water in the lake. But what circled the man that could end his life? A shark?
No sharks in the lake last she’d heard. She snuggled closer to Dave’s shoulder and his fingers tightened on her.
He sure felt good. She wanted nothing more than to curl up with him in his black sheets and share the space as one.
Then the man in the water cried out. He would die if she didn’t save him. Somehow she had to rescue him, but where was he? And when would it happen?
***
Not until Deidre met the dark-haired friend of Dave’s who off-loaded his ski boat from the trailer into the water, did she begin to think about Dave’s statement. He was new to the neighborhood and didn’t know anyone. Maybe he meant in Killeen. Still, she pondered the notion. Once she was alone with Dave, she had some questions to ask him.
The man appeared to be about Dave’s age, late twenties. He wore jeans, cowboy boots and a western shirt with a beeper attached to his belt. His attire was more suitable for western rodeo day than boating. A definite twinkle of amusement sparkled in his eye as he considered his friend and her.
“Dave said you wouldn’t need the skis because you didn’t have a spotter with you,” the man said.
“Bill Hummer,” Dave said belatedly.
Deidre yawned inadvertently. Her cheeks warmed as the two men studied her. “Sorry, bit of a late night. Don’t know how to ski.”
“We’ll have to take that brother of yours with us sometime, and I’ll show you how to waterski.” Dave tugged at her arm as he led her to the boat. He loaded the ice chest and their bags, then waved at his friend.
Deidre laid her towel over the hot vinyl seat, then slipped out of her shorts. She turned to see Dave watching her, and she sat on the seat.
He backed the boat into the lake and waved again at Bill, who still stood observing them from the shore.
“Known him long?” Deidre applied sunscreen to her legs.
When Dave didn’t answer her, she looked up to see him studying her movements with interest. She smiled. “Shouldn’t you keep your eyes on the water?”
“Wide open spaces—no people, no boats for miles.” He waved his hand at the lake.
She studied the water, dark and rippled with the breeze. Then she slipped her sandals off and smoothed sunscreen over the top of her feet. She caught him looking at her again. “They often get burned.” She pulled off her shirt and tucked it into her bag. “So where are we going?”
“To that island over there. We can swim around that cove.”
“Just like the Hawaiian Islands.”
He chuckled. “The beaches aren’t white sugar like the Hawaiian shores…and you can’t see a lick of anything in the water here.”
“Never been to Hawaii, but I can dream.”
When they drew close to the island, he weighed anchor. “Want to swim over there?”
“Sounds like fun. I’ve been here a year already and never been to any of the lakes.”
She dove in, surfaced, then turned to see him diving into the water. The water felt refreshingly cool on her skin on the hot sunny afternoon. They swam side by side. When they reached the shore, they climbed out.
Deidre sat on the beach and dug her fingers into the wet sand. “You’re right, not sugar white sand.” With two handfuls of gray granules, she began to build a castle.
Dave watched her, then hurried to help.
She smiled. “What do you think? Four towers or should we be really outrageous and make twelve?”
He laughed. “Go for broke.”
“Twelve it is.”
For over an hour, they worked on the castle of their dreams, then Deidre considered Dave’s toned ripped abs. Not a speck of sand graced his hard muscles whereas she had crystals of sand on nearly every inch of her body. It wasn’t fair he could be so clean.
She scooped up the biggest wet ball of sand she could manage and gave a little toss at his stomach as he formed the last of the towers.
Chapter 7
For a second, Dave stared at Deidre, startled. She could tell by his shocked expression that he couldn’t believe she’d tossed a ball of damp sand on him. He must never have had a sibling to play with at the beach. His mouth curved up as his eyes took on a devilish glint. She knew before he grabbed for her that he planned to pay her back. And not with a handful of sand.
She grinned and intended to jump to her feet and escape his revenge, but he snagged her wrist and managed to pin her body against the sand in a quick and desperate lunge. His masculine body pressed against hers, so much of their skin bared and touching, she felt her blood heating.
“I thought we were making sand castle towers.” His voice was husky and intrigued as he nuzzled her cheek with his.
She squirmed slightly to upset his body from hers. Not that she wanted to dislodge him, but she felt it was the decent thing to do—at least show she was trying to get away, though not with any real effort. She liked where she was, where he was, and how he felt against her.
“You were too clean.” He was. She’d never seen anyone who could play in the sand and remain so clean!
He wedged his leg between hers and kissed her long and hard on the mouth as if he’d been longing for this from the moment he’d met her. Not gentle. Not seeking her approval. But demanding, wanting, needing. She closed her eyes and enjoyed his orange-sweetened mouth, the feel of his firm lips brushing hers, pressing harder, his tongue licking the seams, teasing her to open her mouth for him.
Once she let him in, she’d lost the battle of keeping this on a purely platonic basis. His tongue stroked hers with liquid heat, her body responding to the onslaught, her nipples tightening, her groin aching with need. She savored the heat and coconut tanned oil smell of him. His masculine and musky scent. The hardness of his muscles. His body moved against her as if he was simulating being inside her as he rubbed his silky trunks against her thigh. The softness soon turned hard.
Electricity sparked through her. His sand-covered hands held her face, the warm grittiness adding to the fun and pleasure.
She laughed. “We are a mess.”
“Hmm.” He resumed kissing her.
And she loved his kisses, the strokes of his tongue, the way he wanted her. Maybe his being a reporter wasn’t so bad after all.
Then the damnable vision broke into her thoughts again. The man threw his hands in the air, crossed in front of his body with head tucked, either in a desperate attempt to stop or hide from his impending death.
She didn’t want to sop the kisses. She didn’t want to leave the beach. Hating this part of her secret, she closed her eyes and fought groaning out loud.
She took Dave’s hands and kissed the top of one where there still wasn’t a speck of sand. “Let’s take a swim to the boat. I’m awfully thirsty.”
She had to learn who was in trouble. Besides, they were much too sandy to take this any further.
She had once read a romance where the couple had made love on the beach…in the sand. She remembered thinking about where all that sand would end up—in places she’d rather not think about!
Grinning, Dave pulled her to her feet.
Of course, she figured he thought she wanted to cool him off a bit. In reality, she had to save a man’s life and quickly.
&nb
sp; As soon as they returned to the boat, Dave moved in to kiss her again now that they had washed all the sand off. So maybe he hadn’t thought she wanted to cool him off, but wanted more privacy. She had a mission, and making love to one hot reporter wasn’t on the agenda. She smiled warmly at him and leaned over the ice chest.
After handing him a bottle of water, she waved at the lake. “I’ve never boated out here before. Take me for a spin.”
She could see his disappointment in his furrowed brow as he hesitated to go anywhere, studying her wet bathing suit, probably wondering what he’d done wrong, his other head still thinking for him. She figured she was giving quite a show and would normally have pulled her shirt over her wet suit, but she motioned again to the lake. “We can return here after a while, Dave. Take me for a little boat ride.”
She didn’t want to sound too anxious, but her head pounded, and she knew the man would soon need her help.
Reluctantly, Dave pulled up anchor, then drove them to the middle of the lake.
“This sure has been a wonderful day, Dave. Thanks so much for—”
The rumble of a boat drew her attention. She turned. A speedboat charged toward them across the lake lickety-split.
“Damned fool!” Dave yelled.
Then in their wake the boat jumped like a flying fish straight into the air. With a bang, it landed again. Only now, the driver of the vehicle bobbed in the lake. She didn’t even see him get thrown from the boat. Just, he was at the helm…then he wasn’t.
He’d twisted the wheel when he’d hit their wake, and now the boat charged at theirs. Gunning the motor too late, Dave attempted to turn out of the speedboat’s path.
The deafening sound of the crash as it hit the rear starboard filled her ears with ringing. The cold water shook her to her senses as she resurfaced, realizing all at once she had been thrown into the lake. She gasped and coughed as Dave yelled from the boat to her, “Deidre!”
She studied the fiberglass ripped off the backend of their boat in a jagged nightmare. Then looking south, she saw the unmanned craft boring down on her. Panic filled every fiber of her being, and for a second she froze in place.
“Deidre!” Dave shouted again.
***
Torn between diving in after her and staying with the boat as all his water survival training taught him, he searched for a pole to stretch out to her and pull her back to the safety of his boat.
But the runaway speedboat headed directly in her path. “Deidre! Hurry!”
His heart was racing, the blood pounding so hard in his head, he could barely think straight. “Deidre!” He quickly called 911 and let the shore patrol know they were in trouble. How could they have been blissfully enraptured with one another only moments before and now she was in danger of being killed?
He’d even thought of moving his boat into the other’s path, but what if that only knocked it straight into Deidre?
God, Deidre had to move quickly. She dove underneath the rolling surface. Swimming as hard as she could, she headed toward the man. The water swirled by her legs. She kicked harder until her lungs were ready to explode. Resurfacing, she saw the boat zipping along at top speed in an angry circle, changing course slightly with each wave it hit.
She drew close to the man. “Are you okay?”
He mumbled something incoherently as he barely stayed afloat. His beer-soaked breath told her all she needed to know—he was totally drunk. And she was totally pissed.
“Deidre!” Dave shouted. He tossed a life preserver to them. The charging boat ran over it and continued to circle. He flung another preserver to her.
Keeping an eye on the boat, she swam for the flotation device. The boat bore down on her again. With the preserver slung over her arm, she felt it dragging and slowing her speed. She released it. Diving back toward the man, she waited until the boat had just passed the preserver. Then she tried for it again.
“Deidre, hurry!”
She was hurrying. The speedboat showed no signs of slowing. The man in the water was sinking fast. Slinging the strap over her arm, she dragged the preserver behind her. If she didn’t make it this time, she wasn’t sure she could get to the drunk quickly enough before the guy sank beneath the water’s surface after the boat made another pass. The roar of the boat grew close as it kicked up the water.
She tossed the waterlogged preserver ahead of her. It barely moved.
Diving, she pulled the water past her and swam within inches of the man. He grabbed hold of her shoulder and dunked her. In his state, he could easily drown her. Breaking free of his grasping hands, she swam a little way from him, then coughed.
“Deidre! The park patrol is coming!”
She swam back to the preserver. This time she was able to bring it to the man. “Hold onto this!” she yelled at him. She wasn’t sure he was sober enough to understand. Anyway, it felt good to holler at him after he nearly got them both killed.
He grabbed at her shoulder again as he clung onto the preserver with one hand. She swam away from him.
“Deidre! Hold onto the preserver, too!”
She shook her head at Dave. “He’s drunk. He’ll drown me if I get too close.”
Concern etched across Dave’s face as his brow wrinkled. If he could take care of the situation with his gun, he’d surely have fired away at the menace. Her attention turned toward the runaway boat.
The vehicle headed in her direction again. She dove for the drunk. She pushed him and the preserver east. Twice he dunked her. She fought the urge to clobber him when she resurfaced for air.
The sight of the park police lifted her spirits. But when the men shook their heads at Dave, she knew nothing could be done.
“Hold on, miss!” the uniformed park police shouted to her. “We can’t do anything until—”
The boat interrupted his speech as it roared past them.
“Until the boat runs out of gas.”
Great. She could have happily cavorted on the beach with Dave still, instead of trying to keep a drunk afloat and hope that the circling boat didn’t make a drastic change that could get them both killed.
Dave’s boat listed to the side, and she felt a stab of blame for having involved his friend and him in the mess.
The roar of the menace died down with each successive circle. The boat was no longer bouncing as high through the wake of its own waves, and the resounding bangs were not as ear-shattering. Deidre had never treaded water so long in her life. Her arms and legs wearied, making her feel like she was a limp rag doll floating in a rough surf.
When the boat’s engine expired, Dave struggled to get her water-logged body into his friend’s craft as the police rescued the drunk.
“Can you folks make it into shore all right or will you need a tow?” one of the officers yelled.
Dave waved them on. “We’ll be all right, officers.”
Deidre lay exhausted on the bottom of the boat. Using his beach towel, Dave made a pillow for her head and kissed her cheek. “I guess we can’t go back to the beach right now.” He didn’t look disappointed, just thoroughly shook up that she had been in such peril.
Remorse for messing up his friend’s boat and ruining their day filled every part of her aching muscles. “I’m so sorry.”
He touched his finger to her lips and kissed her softly on the mouth. “Bill’s got insurance. And the other guy will be paying for this, rest assured. Once we get the boat all patched up, I’ll bring you out here again, only to waterski the next time.” He hesitated, then she squeezed his hand, and he smiled. “Are you going to be all right? I know you’ve got to be exhausted, but you’re not hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine, Dave. I’m ready to go home.”
“To my place then. I’ll fix supper.”
“I need to talk to Charlie—”
“He can come over for supper, too.”
She meant alone. She had to see Charlie by himself without anyone else listening in on their conversation. Finding out what was g
oing on with him was essential. But right now, she couldn’t move a muscle except to nod.
Dave drove slowly all the way back as their boat listed badly, but kept his eye on her on and off the whole trip. She smiled to see him so attentive. The guys she had dated in the past never came close to being that caring. But Dave? Well, he neared perfection.
***
Bill pulled his wrecked boat out of the water, but didn’t seem angry over the matter. Instead, he hovered over her, glancing at Dave from time to time with a concerned expression. He seemed like an awfully good friend of Dave’s after all.
The park police questioned her while she sat in Dave’s truck. “The man seemed to have had a bit too much to drink,” the officer said.
“I’ll say. His breath reeked of beer and he couldn’t speak a word coherently. He was speeding too,” Deidre said.
“Yes, Ma’am. Since we’ve got your boyfriend’s statement already, that about wraps this up.”
Deidre caught Bill’s look of surprise and Dave’s impish grin. She shook her head and smiled inwardly. Well, being his girlfriend wasn’t such a bad thing after all. Even if it was a bit premature.
Afterward, Dave drove her back to Killeen. He waited in her apartment while she showered and changed clothes despite her objections that it wasn’t necessary. Then they returned to his place for a hot meal of homemade spaghetti and meatballs.
She collapsed on his couch while he showered and dressed in a T and shorts. Before long, he was pulling a saucepan from the cabinet and set it on the stovetop. Just as he pulled out a package of mixed red, green, and yellow bell peppers, the phone rang, and he lifted it to his ear. “Hello. Just a moment.”
Worry creased his brow. Then he disappeared into his bedroom without even a look in her direction and shut the door.
She frowned. She could have done the same to him when Charlie had called. Certainly, she wanted a private conversation with her own brother.
For several minutes, she tapped her fingers on the arm of his leather sofa. When Dave stayed in his room longer than she felt proper, she returned to her apartment. She wasn’t afraid to be alone.
