She nodded.
“That wasn’t me, sweetheart.”
“It wasn’t? I saw someone go under. I thought for sure you were out there.”
“I was. I lasted only ten minutes before I came in. What you saw was probably a school of sea lions. They frequent the shallower waters here at night. I’ve seen one of them pop a head up and then go under and, yeah...I guess in the dark, it might look like a swimmer out there.”
“Then how...how did you find me?”
“After my swim, I took a long walk. Thankfully, I returned just in time to hear you calling my name. Took me only a second to figure out where you were.”
He began to rub her arms and legs. She was cold, but that didn’t stop her from reacting to his touch. As warmth spread through her body, her gentle cooing seemed to draw Zane’s attention to her lips. “That feels good,” she said.
“Tell me about it.” The corner of his mouth crooked up.
His palms heated her through and through, her skin highly sensitized to his touch. She was overwhelmed with relief that he hadn’t drowned and grateful that he’d saved her, but there was more...so much more that she was feeling right now. “Thank you, Zane.”
She touched his shoulder and felt his cool skin under her fingertips. His eyes gleamed with a fiery invitation to do more. Bravely, she wound her arms around his neck. It didn’t take an ounce of effort to pull him close. His mouth hovered near hers.
It was crazy. They were on the beach under the moonlight and dripping wet after the rescue, and nothing seemed amiss in her world. She wouldn’t trade places with another living soul right now.
“I’d give you what-for,” he said, “but that will have to wait.”
“It will?”
“Yep. Cause I think you’re about to kiss me.”
“Smart man.”
She ran her fingers through his thick wet hair and lowered his head down to her lips. Oh...he tasted warm and inviting and salty. His kiss made her tremble in a good way, and she opened her mouth for him.
He plunged inside and swept her up in one burning kiss after another. What was left of her body when he finished kissing her was a pulsing bundle of need. “Zane,” she whispered over his lips.
“I need to get you inside the house...”
He didn’t have to finish. She knew. They’d get arrested if they acted on their impulses right here on the beach.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
“Yes, with your help.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Seems one of us is always leaning on the other.”
She smiled. How true.
He bounded up and then entwined their hands. Gently he helped her to her feet. The world didn’t go dizzy on her—well, except for the hot looks Zane was giving her. “I actually feel pretty good.”
“Glad to hear it.” He kissed her earlobe. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Side by side, bracing each other, they walked through the sand and up the steps that led into the house.
* * *
As soon as they entered the house, Zane did an about-face and walked her backward until she was pressed against the living room wall. He trapped her there, his body pulsing near hers, his gaze generating enough heat to burn the building down.
“Are you about to give me what-for?”
A low rumble of laughter rose from his throat. Her senses heightened. He was one sexy man. “You know it, Jess.” He glanced down at her dripping wet T-shirt plastered to her body and sighed as if he was in pain. “Do you know how incredibly perfect you are?”
His hands wrapped around her waist, and thrilling warmth penetrated through her shirt to heat her skin. “I’m not.”
His mouth grazed her throat. “You are. You can’t let what those two did to you change who you are. That guy was about the stupidest man on earth.”
She stilled. “What do you mean, ‘those two’?”
Zane’s lips were doing amazing things to her throat. And his body pressing against hers made it hard to think. Her breasts were ready for his touch. Her nipples pebbled hard and beckoned him through the flimsy T-shirt and bikini.
She had to ignore her body. She needed to know what he meant. “Zane?”
He stopped kissing her and inched away enough to gaze into her eyes. “Oh, uh. Your mama called while you were out. She was worried about you, and well...she told me about Steven running off with a friend of yours.”
She’d told him about Judy?
All the wind left her lungs, and a different kind of burn seared through her stomach. She wished Mama hadn’t revealed to Zane her latest humiliation. She felt so exposed, so vulnerable. Did she have an ounce of pride left?
“You have every right to feel hurt, Jess. But don’t let what he did change the person that you are.”
“You think that’s what I’m doing?”
“Isn’t it? You changed your hair, wear your contacts all the time. You dress differently now. Don’t get me wrong. You look beautiful, sweetheart. But you were beautiful before.”
She shrugged. She found it hard to believe. It was a platitude, a cliché, a way to make her feel better about herself.
“I need the change.” Tears misted in her eyes. She really did. She needed to look at herself in the mirror and see a strong, independent woman who had style and confidence. She needed to see that transformation, more than anything else.
“I get that.” Zane took her into his arms and hugged her, as a friend now. She felt safe again, protected. And just being with him made her problems seem trivial. “But promise me one thing?”
“What?”
“Don’t try to find what you need with another man. Makes me crazy.”
Makes me crazy. Oh, wow. There was no mistaking what he meant. Not from the genuine pain she found in his eyes, or the intensity in his voice. “You mean like Dylan or Adam? I told you, they’re not—”
He shushed her with a kiss, right smack on the lips. Her body instantly reacted, and goose bumps rose on her arms.
“You make me crazy, too,” he rasped and began rolling the hem of her T-shirt up. With his coaxing, she raised her arms as he brought the wet garment over her head and her breasts jiggled back into place. Zane’s hot gaze touched her there and lingered, then traveled over the rest her body clad in a skimpy New Jess bikini. He made a loud noise from sucking oxygen into his lungs. “From now on, sweet Jess, I want to be the man you go to when you need something.”
“You mean, like my rebound guy?”
“Call it whatever you want, honey.”
Jess didn’t have to think twice. Zane just abolished all deprecating thoughts she’d had about herself and totally wiped out any pain she’d felt about Steven. Even her pride was restored somewhat. The Steven ship had sailed, and she wasn’t going to waste another second thinking of him. Not when she had Zane offering her the moon.
He was a real man.
If she had any doubts before about her feelings for him, they were banished the second she’d thought he was drowning. She’d rushed in to save him, praying that God wouldn’t take him from her. And she wasn’t going to feel bad about