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’bout we make a deal? You only have to try one lesson, and if you still hate it, you don’t ever have to come back.” Behind the girl, her mother’s face turned red, like she might explode, but Will held up his finger to stop her from arguing.
    The little girl frowned, her lips puckering as she considered his proposal. “Pinkie swear?”
    Will eased closer to her, raising his hand and closing the distance between them. “Pinkie swear,” he told Gracie conspiratorially.
    She wrapped her tiny finger around his, and as if it actually sealed the deal, her narrow shoulders visibly relaxed. This time, when Will held his hand out for her, she let him lead her down to the second step, and then the third, where she waited anxiously for the lessons to start.
    The first thing we were supposed to learn was how to put our faces in the water and hold our breath. Since I had a lock on that one, I sat back and watched as kids who had yet to master the skill came up sputtering and blowing disgusting snot bubbles.
    On her first try, Gracie managed to get her face beneath the water and Will gave her an enthusiastic, and utterly endearing, thumbs-up, making her flash her toothless grin at him. This Will was nothing like the guy from The Dunes, making me wonder which was the real Will.
    When he announced he wanted us to try lying back in the water, to see if we could float on our backs, I knew I was in trouble. I was about as graceful as a drowning cat, and I glanced nervously up at the bleachers, where the parents—moms, mostly—sat watching the pool intently.
    After a few surreptitious glances their way, it wasn’t hard to realize I was pretty much invisible to the mom-crowd. It wasn’t their kids they were interested in watching, it was Will they had their eyes on. I caught more than one eager mommy tracking the instructor as he moved from one child to the next, as he made sure none of their precious cargo sank to the bottom of the pool.
    I couldn’t blame them, really. Will without a shirt on was hard not to look at, and I’d caught myself peeking at his defined muscles and sculpted abs more than once.
    I jolted when I felt his hand slip beneath my back, moving low as he supported me while I tried to stay afloat. “Relax,” Will soothed, lifting my body so I was lying flat atop the water’s surface. I found myself staring up at him. “Keep your chest up and your head back.” His voice was gentle…slow. “Remember to breathe.”
    Breathe , I told myself even as my throat squeezed closed. His hands were distracting on either side of my hips as they tethered me, and it felt like forever that we stayed like that, looking at each other. Too long. Then one of his thumbs moved, just the barest amount, and unfamiliar heat lashed through me. I jolted again, but this time it was something only the two of us would have noticed, and I swear I saw his eyes cloud over.
    He let go of me abruptly. “You’re…doing great,” he mumbled, but almost like he wasn’t saying it to me at all as he turned immediately to the boy on the other side of me.
    “How you doin’, Jackson? You look like a champ!” If it hadn’t been for the look on his face, or the way he’d practically shoved me away from him, I might not even have suspected he’d been bothered just then. There was nothing in his voice to indicate he was even half as unsettled as I was by whatever had just passed between us, but I was sure I hadn’t imagined it.
    ‡
    “Lauren, wait up a sec.”
    I had my gym bag slung over my shoulder and was just about to unlock my car when I saw Will jogging my way. “What’s up?”
    “I’m...” he started, and when I saw the look on his face, my stomach dropped.
    “Yeah…?”
    He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure this is gonna work out.”
    “What are you talking about? My swim lessons?”
    “Yeah, that. The lessons…maybe they weren’t such a great idea after all.”
    I blinked several times. The lessons had been