As far as Jack was concerned, getting emotionally attached meant getting hurt, and that wasn’t something he was willing to put himself through again. Oh, he’d had his share of dates, and there were many women willing to enjoy his company for an evening, or even a few evenings. There were certainly plenty of tourists who seemed to want Jack to fulfill their fantasies of an exotic island fling while on vacation, and Jack was happy to oblige.
But he was careful never to get too involved with anyone. If protecting his heart meant that he had to keep his guard up and keep his distance, then so be it.
Jack smoothed out the letter one last time, then crumpled it into his fist again. He resisted the urge to throw it into the ocean. The sky was clear, the water was calm and perfect, and there was no point in brooding on the beach about a past he couldn’t change. He and Sophie were done, and had been for a long time. Everything that had passed between him and Matt and Sophie was long in the past.
So why did all of it still bother him so much?
Sometimes Jack wondered if keeping himself emotionally distant from everyone had actually made it harder to recover from his disastrous engagement to Sophie. But when he thought about the memories it was too painful. He hadn’t just lost Sophie—he’d lost his brother, too. The one person he’d thought he could count on, no matter what.
Growing up in a family full of doctors had had its own unique pressures. Sometimes it felt to Jack as though he’d begun to feel the weight of his family’s expectations the moment he was born. But, as much as Jack had felt pressured to succeed at school and in his career, it was nothing compared to what Matt had gone through.
Matt, two years older than Jack, had experienced all the pressure Jack had as well as the added expectations that had gone along with being the oldest Harper sibling. Their parents had always expected Matt to be responsible for Jack, and as a child Matt had taken that responsibility seriously. Whenever Jack had been hurt, whenever he’d had trouble with friends or begun struggling in school, he’d been able to talk to Matt about it.
In return, Jack had hero-worshipped Matt throughout their childhood. If Jack was honest with himself, he’d hero-worshipped Matt for a good part of his adulthood, too.
He’d always thought that he and Matt would stand by each other, no matter what. But after Matt had confessed what had happened with Sophie, Jack hadn’t been able to stand being in the same room with him. They hadn’t spoken in four years.
A faint cry for help broke through his thoughts and he scanned the water with the trained eyes of a first responder. There—a woman swimming, far out from the shore. Too far. And going farther. She was caught in a rip current that was carrying her out into the ocean, and she was going to exhaust herself trying to swim against it.
Jack snapped into action. This was one of the quieter beaches; there were no lifeguards on duty. He dialed the emergency number on his phone and let the dispatch unit know what he was about to do. Then he dropped his phone and stripped off his shirt, revealing a smooth, well-muscled chest and the powerful arms of a former Navy SEAL.
A crowd of children who had been playing in the surf began to gather on the beach, having spotted the danger the woman was in.
“Let me borrow that,” he said to one of the children, grabbing the boy’s body board without waiting for a response.
He ran out into the ocean, letting the rip current do the work of carrying him out to the swimmer. When he finally reached her, he could see he’d been right. She’d been trying to fight the current instead of swimming parallel to the shore. And she was clearly terrified. He knew he could get them both back to safety, but first he’d need to calm her down.
Despite the woman’s terror, he couldn’t help but notice her fiery red hair. He’d always liked redheads...
Focus, he thought. She has to stay calm. Help her relax.
“Looks like you swam out a little further than you planned,” Jack teased, attempting to lighten her fear. “You do realize it’s not possible to swim all the way back to the mainland, right? You’ll need to book a flight for that.”
The woman coughed and choked. She looked frightened, but Jack could tell she was doing the best she could to keep her fear from overwhelming her. He admired that. Most of the time during water rescues the bulk of his work involved keeping the victim from making things worse by panicking. But this woman was doing her best to follow his instructions.
“The current...” she gasped. “It’s too strong. We’ll never get back to shore.”
Jack forced himself to stay calm, even as the rip current continued to pull both of them further from the shore.
“Of course we’ll get back,” he said. “But first, I need you to relax.”
He put as much warmth and confidence into his voice as he could, but for some reason, at the word “relax” the woman’s eyes seemed to widen in terror—as though Jack had told her she’d need to survive by learning how to fly, or something equally impossible.
He decided to see if he could get his arms around her—the sooner she stopped fighting the current, the better.
“I’m going to put my arm under your shoulders, okay?” he said.
He swam behind her and slipped a firm arm under her shoulders. The support he lent her had the desired effect: once her body was directly against his she stopped struggling against the water and allowed his strength to keep her afloat.
“Can you hold on to this?”
He put the body board he’d borrowed in front of her, and she clutched at it.
“Good,” he said approvingly. Her panic seemed to be receding by the minute. He had to admire how quickly she was gaining control of herself; most people would still be struggling and swallowing seawater at this point.
“What’s your name?” he asked her.
“Kat,” she said, with a strangled gasp.
Good, Jack thought. If she could speak, then her airways were still clear.
“Kat, I need you to listen to me,” he said. “We’re going to survive this, but you have to trust me. If you do everything I say I promise you that we’re going to get to shore. But the first thing I need you to do is stay calm.”
“I’ll try,” she said.
He chuckled. “I can feel you trembling.” She scowled at him, and he quickly added, “It’s all right to be scared, but you don’t need to be—because we’re going to get out of this. First time getting caught in a rip current?”
She nodded. “It’s my first time swimming in the ocean. First day in Hawaii, actually.”
He could see that she was trying to talk herself into a calmer state, and was doing her best to keep a cool head. She had nerves of steel. He also couldn’t help but notice the lithe shape of her body as she clung to him.
First things first, he told himself sternly. Maybe they should get back on dry land before he started trying to find out anything more about her. Most likely she was one of the thousands of tourists who came each month, eager for adventure and completely unprepared for the dangers of the ocean.
“Well, aloha and welcome to Oahu, Kat. Can you lean forward onto this body board? If you rest on your arms, I can paddle us in. Don’t worry, I won’t let you go.”
* * *
Somehow Kat knew that he was telling her the truth.
At first, amidst her terror and the waves going over her head, it had been hard for her to get a good look at this man who had swum out to help her. All she’d been able to sense was a well-muscled, masculine presence and a steady, reassuring voice. A voice that was warm and soothing, like a spoonful of honey.
But he’d reached her with surprising speed, and she tried to trust that he knew what he was doing.
Pressing her between himself and the flotation device he had with him, he used his body to help her gain leverage as she shifted herself onto the board. As soon as she was resting entirely on it, he let go of her wa
ist to swim beside her, and she felt a twinge of regret as the supportive arms released her.
“Great job,” he said. “Hard part’s over. Now just keep holding on while I tow you in. We’ll be back to shore before you know it.”
He continued swimming by her side, guiding the board as he pulled them both parallel to the shore. A rough wave knocked them unexpectedly, and Kat felt a sharp pain in her leg. She must have let out a yelp because the man instantly grabbed her around the waist again.
“What is it?” he said, his face concerned.
“My leg,” she said. “I must have scraped it against something. I don’t think it’s bad.”
“Just hang in there,” he said. “We’re almost back to the beach.”
To Kat’s relief, the shore was becoming closer and closer, until finally she felt the ocean waves pushing them both toward the beach instead of pulling them away.
She collapsed in a heap on the sand and he fell beside her, one arm draped protectively over her body. They both lay there for a moment, exhausted. He was close enough that Kat could feel the heat radiating from his body next to her on the shore.
She turned to thank her rescuer.
She’d been grateful for his strength during the rescue, but now that she was back on dry land she was able to appreciate quite a bit more than just his strength.
His eyes were the exact same shade as the Hawaiian ocean—a blue-green-turquoise. He was muscular, but his physique was track-star-slim. A shock of dark hair fell over his forehead, and Kat had to resist a sudden urge to run her fingers through it. Their eyes locked, and for a moment Kat felt an electric charge between them.
His arm still rested over her. Sheltering her. He was gazing down at her, making sure she was all right. She tried to speak, but it came out as a cough, and it was several moments before she was able to recover.
“That’s it,” he said. “You’ve had a nasty shock. Take some time to let yourself breathe.”
She sat up. He pulled his arm away and leaned back from her. Was it wishful thinking, or did he seem to move his arm slowly, as though he wasn’t ready to let go of her?
As Kat lay on the beach, slowly regaining her breath, she gradually became aware of her bedraggled appearance. She was covered in muddy sand and the water that she’d coughed up, and her hair hung in strings around her face. But she was alive—thanks to the man next to her, whoever he was. His eyes radiated concern, and he patted her back gently as they both waited for her airway to clear fully.
“I’m all right,” she told him, as soon as she was breathing steadily. “All this attention is unnecessary, really. But I do have to thank you for saving my life, Mr.—?”
“Jack Harper,” he said.
“Well, Mr. Harper, thank you,” she said.
“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Just give your body the time it needs to recover.”
Kat sat with her knees bent and her feet flat against the sand. She held her head down, trying to slow her breathing. Keeping her head down also had the added effect of distracting her from the fact that Jack Harper was still sitting quite close to her, his powerfully built body radiating heat, his eyes examining her face with concern.
“I don’t know how you can be so casual,” she said. “I was certain we were both going to die.”
“It was dangerous, but you kept calm and that was half the battle,” he said.
She shuddered, thinking of how close she’d come to being swept out into the ocean. “Maybe I looked calm, but I definitely didn’t feel it. I always thought I was a strong swimmer, but I wasn’t prepared for those currents. I was trying to swim parallel to the shore, but it seemed like no matter what direction I went in the current wanted to pull me somewhere else.”
“You aren’t the first person to be surprised by the strength of a Hawaiian rip current. It’s a shame that your first swim here nearly killed you—especially on your first day. That’s no way to welcome you to the islands.”
“Really? And here I was hoping that almost drowning on my first day here would turn out to be some sort of tradition.” She laughed. And then, before she could stop herself, she said, “Maybe a better way to celebrate arriving in Hawaii and surviving a near-death experience would be to take my rescuer out for dinner sometime.”
She couldn’t believe she’d said that. She wasn’t anywhere near ready to date again. But she wouldn’t mind hearing that rich, deep voice more often. Or feeling those arms around her again. Preferably in a situation where she wasn’t about to drown.
Learning to relax. Step two, her brain piped up. Find an island hottie to help you move on from your devastating breakup.
Stop it, she told herself.
She’d just been jilted at the altar—well, technically there had still been three days until the wedding, but it had been close enough that she felt jilted. The last thing she needed was to get involved with anyone right now. She needed to get her mind off Jack’s voice and arms right away. What was she thinking, offering to buy him dinner?
Kat forced herself to shift her attention away from Jack’s beach-tanned body. This was no time for distractions, she told herself firmly. She’d just come close to getting swept out to sea, and she was still shaken by the thought of what might have happened if Jack hadn’t been there to help her back to shore. She needed to clear her head and get her bearings. She also needed to find a way to turn her attention from Jack Harper’s taut skin and chiseled chest muscles so she could focus on what he was saying.
“I appreciate the offer, but there’s no need to thank me,” said Jack. “It’s part of the job.” He motioned to where an ambulance had arrived, further down the beach.
“Are you a doctor?” she asked.
“Paramedic,” he replied. “And I’m sorry to say that any dinner plans will have to wait—because before you do anything else we need to get you to a hospital to get checked out. We’re not far from Oahu General Hospital—I’ll go with you.”
“Oahu General? Oh, no. I can’t go there.”
Now that Kat no longer feared for her life, she was becoming deeply embarrassed about the commotion her rescue had caused. More than anything, she wanted to avoid being taken to a hospital—especially Oahu General.
She could think of few things more humiliating than showing up to her new hospital as a patient, wearing nothing but a bikini. And she definitely didn’t think it would be a good idea to spend more time in close quarters with Jack. If she wasn’t careful that voice and those eyes would start to have an effect on her. And she had no intention of diving headlong into a fling with the first man she met in Hawaii—no matter how closely his eyes matched the color of the ocean.
“Really, I’m fine,” she said.
“You’re bleeding,” he told her.
“What?” Kat looked down at her leg, surprised. The place where she’d felt that pain in her leg while Jack was towing her to shore had a gash of about an inch that was trickling blood. “Oh, crap. That must have happened when I hurt my leg, back in the water. It doesn’t look serious to me, though.”
Privately, she thought that she might need a few stitches, but she wasn’t about to let Jack know that.
As he leaned in closer she caught his scent: a masculine blend of sunblock, salt water and sand. He smelled like the ocean, like the hint of salt in the air that had filled her with such excitement and called her to the beach the moment she’d stepped off the plane. She definitely needed to stay as far away from him as possible if she wanted to avoid making a fool of herself.
“It doesn’t even hurt that much,” she said, though she was gritting her teeth through the stinging pain that was now beginning to make itself felt.
“I’m sure it doesn’t, but that’s the point,” said Jack. “You’ve just had a near-death experience, and adrenaline is coursing through your system. Right now you probably feel like you can do anything
—but that’s just the adrenaline. It can mask a lot of problems, including pain. You might think you’re fine, but humor me—it’s best for you to get to the hospital so we can get you stitched up.”
“There’s really no need,” said Kat briskly.
But she could see that Jack wasn’t going to give up easily, so she decided to try appealing to him as a medical professional.
“Look, to tell you the truth I’m a doctor, and I can take care of this myself. I’m starting my first day working at Oahu General on Monday, and I really don’t want their first impression of me to be...this.” Kat motioned to her string bikini.
Was it her imagination, or had his expression seemed to change when she’d revealed she was a doctor? For a split second it had seemed as though a shadow had passed over his face. Most people seemed to be more at ease with her when she revealed her profession, but if anything Jack almost seemed...disappointed?
But then he sighed and said, “Doctors always make the worst patients.”
Oh. He had a valid point. As a doctor, she’d always had a difficult time allowing herself to be in the patient role, and she knew many colleagues who felt the same way. It was hard to sit back and let someone else follow procedure when she could feel her own natural tendency to take charge of the situation rising within her. Also, she hated being the center of attention.
As she took in Jack’s piercing blue eyes she knew she shouldn’t want to be the center of his attention. Her knees were still shaking, and she had a feeling that it wasn’t just the onset of hypothermia.
She hoped he wouldn’t notice. But of course he did. He was clearly a skilled paramedic, and Kat suspected that he didn’t miss much.
“Your knees are shaking,” he said. “You should know better than anyone that the biggest risk after a near-drowning in water of any temperature is hypothermia. You shouldn’t be going anywhere until we can make sure your core body temperature hasn’t dropped too low.”
From Hawaii to Forever Page 2
