Falling With Grace

Clear her head… because I killed a man in front of her?

Our gazes collided as I scrutinized her face, water droplets trickling down as though she had shed a myriad of tears long before I reached her.

I did that to her.

I’d caused so much grief within her that she needed the weight of seventy-five thousand liters of water to press against her.

Just to make her forget.

Javier appeared at my side, plopping the bundle of towels and blankets onto the seating area table with a soft thud. She wrapped the largest around her shivering form. He snatched a blanket next, laying it on top of her.

Grace moaned as the warmth seeped into our chilled skin. The night enveloped us, the heated pool casting an eerie, daunting glow.

“It wasn’t this cold before I got wet.” Her teeth chattered as she nuzzled into my chest. “It’s much warmer in the pool.”

I chuckled as her arms wound around my neck. “You’ll warm up quickly.”

Pressing my lips to the top of her head, I squeezed her a little tighter and took in her scent contaminated with chlorine.

It was too close.

No matter what she claimed, it was too much.

Too close.

“You’ll never go into the pool again. Do you understand?”

“I know how to swim.” She pushed away, but my arms held her to my chest. “You’re overreacting.”

Javier’s gaze lingered on Grace as he sucked air in through his teeth, then exhaled with puffed-out cheeks. “I’m going to finish up my call.”

Grace coughed into her elbow—her eyes closed tight as his footsteps trailed away.

“I’m well aware of your swimming ability, which is why you were drowning at the bottom of the pool.”

“I told you I wasn’t drowning.” She sat upright as I eased my grip on her, her trembling hands pulling the towel and blanket closer around her chest. “I was thinking.”

“Thinking requires oxygen to the brain.”

A laugh escaped her, triggering a bout of hoarse coughs that wracked her fragile frame.

“It’s something I’ve done since I learned to swim. My parents would encourage me to find another way, but…”

Tears shimmered in her eyes before she glanced away. Moving off my lap, her heat vanished like an extinguished flame.

What happened?

What caused her to withdraw?

“Did something happen to your parents?”

“They um…” Inhaling a shaky breath, she cinched the double layers closer to her neck. I rose and closed the distance between us, the muscles in her face quivering as she forced a counterfeit smile onto her lips. “They died in a car accident before my seventeenth birthday.”

I nodded, the knot in my gut winding its way toward my chest as her dewy gaze locked onto mine.

“So, if I were to fly you home, who would you go back to?”

She gave an exasperated huff with a subtle dismissive head shake. “You wouldn’t, so why play the hypothetical game?” She shrugged her shoulders.