dim corner of her mind, Loralei realized Jackson was towing her to the surface.
Unfortunately, she was afraid it was too late.
Unable to resist the compulsion to breathe any longer, she opened her mouth, searching for air and finding nothing but water.
* * *
HOLY HELL, she hadn’t been lying.
What on God’s green earth was she doing heading up a dive team if she couldn’t swim?
Jackson was used to compartmentalizing responses in order to tackle the priorities in front of him. Getting her out of the water was his first point of action. Making sure she was still breathing his second. After that he could decide whether or not to verbally take a strip from her hide.
Later, someone else could take the pound of flesh from his ass for what he’d done.
It had taken him about thirty seconds to realize she wasn’t coming up. A few more to convince himself she wasn’t playing him for a fool. Another thirty to rocket down to her, snatch her around the waist and start hauling her up to the surface.
Plenty of time. She would be fine.
Because he couldn’t live with himself if she actually drowned.
The minx was a thorn in his side, but she didn’t deserve to die for that.
Breaking the surface, Jackson shoved her up onto the dock. It was not a good sign that her limbs flopped around uselessly. If she’d passed out, water was definitely in her lungs.
Hauling himself up after her, Jackson rolled her head sideways to clear the water from her mouth and nose. Then he sealed his lips to hers and started mouth-to-mouth. Within a few breaths her chest heaved and she started coughing, water sputtering out. Jackson rolled her, pounded on her back to help get out whatever was left in her lungs.
Her body convulsed with the force of her need to expel the seawater. After several moments, she quieted. Her forehead rested on the rough surface of the dock. Her hand spread out beside her head, hair tangled through her fingers. Her legs were twisted together, as if she didn’t have the energy to move a single muscle.
Jackson stopped pounding on her back, instead rubbing up and down in a slow, soothing gesture. He wanted to offer her comfort. But he also kept touching her to reassure himself that she was really breathing.
Finally, Loralei glanced over her shoulder at him. He expected her to yell. He deserved it. Wanted it, so he could find an outlet for the guilt filling his own chest.
What he wasn’t prepared for was her sea-roughened voice whispering, “Thank you.”
Shit.
“I nearly killed you and you’re thanking me?”
“You saved me.”
“I threw you in.”
Her lips twisted in a half grimace, half smile. “Okay, screw you, asshole. And thanks for saving my life. Feel better now?”
Not particularly. But for some reason he couldn’t tell her that. Instead, he lifted her into his arms, heedless of the water that streamed off both of them.
Striding down the dock, he carried her back onto his ship. She stirred, murmured what he knew was going to be the start of a protest, but he cut her off before it could begin.
“Don’t bother. You need a shower to warm up. There’s still a chance you could go into shock. And I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know you’re not going to develop complications from having your lungs full of water.”
He probably should take her to the hospital, but for some reason what he’d said was the truth. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight long enough to let anyone else tend to her.
He felt responsible; that was all.
He’d had plenty of experience with water and a few close calls with drowning. If he hadn’t felt equipped to recognize a potential problem soon enough to call in reinforcements, he wouldn’t be walking her onto his ship.
Apparently, she recognized his resolve because her mouth snapped shut without uttering a single sound.
Carrying her to his stateroom, Jackson moved straight for the tiny attached bathroom. Several of the guys shared one, but as owner, he rated the best room complete with a private bath. Not that it was much. Just a toilet, sink and shower barely big enough to fit his shoulders through.
Shifting her, Jackson let her body slide down his until her feet touched the floor. Water pooled beneath them, but he ignored it.
With one arm still around her waist to steady her, Jackson reached inside the shower and flipped on the faucet to let the water warm.
Drawing back, he stared into her upturned face. Her pale green eyes were a little wary, a little grateful and a lot scared.
Why hadn’t he seen that before?
Because he hadn’t wanted to believe her.
After pushing back the tangle of black hair from her face, Jackson found himself saying, “I’m sorry,” in a gruff voice he barely recognized.
“So am I. I shouldn’t have been here. I know you probably won’t believe me, but I didn’t intend to sneak aboard. Really.”
Guilt and uncertainty mixed together in his blood. He wanted to believe her. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not even after almost drowning her.
She’d been telling the truth about not being able to swim, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t lie about anything else.
Why did the thought of her doing that hurt?
It shouldn’t matter.
This woman was nothing to him. Nothing more than a business rival and the daughter of a man who’d done everything he could to hurt Jackson and his business.
The only thing he could do was shake his head. “It doesn’t matter. At least not right now.”
Loralei dropped her gaze to the floor between their feet. Her shoulders rose and fell on a deep sigh that he felt more than heard.
She took a half step backward—about as much room as she could force between them—and dropped her hands from their resting place against his chest.
Steam began to fill the tiny room, billowing out around the glass shower enclosure. It turned the air around them muggy and heavy.
Without raising her gaze, Loralei reached for the buttons on her shirt. Until that moment he hadn’t noticed just how thin and clingy it was. Earlier, it had looked big and breezy, swirling around her body and hiding the curves he’d instinctively known were beneath it.
Now, those curves were seriously on display. The gauzy material was plastered to her body and practically see-through.
“Go away, Jackson, so I can take my shower, get off this boat and back to my hotel.”
She
