CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
By the time we arrived back at the hotel it was just after six.
‘Meet you in the spa in ten minutes?’ said Dan as we took the lift up to our rooms.
‘Great.’ With a smile, I patted the carrier bag containing my latest purchase. Secretly wondering if maybe I’d bought the wrong swimsuit.
It all depended on the impression I wanted to give – and that’s what I was worried about!
I was much too pale, I decided as I twirled in front of the mirror. But I was fairly pleased with the way the swimwear accentuated my good points, cinching in at my waist and giving me a nicely voluptuous hourglass figure.
With a sigh, I secured my hair with a bobble on top of my head, then I reached for my bathrobe.
I was annoyed at myself for making such a fuss.
If I’d been going down to the spa alone, I definitely wouldn’t have been wasting so much time worrying about what swimwear suited me.
But knowing I was meeting Dan there felt weird.
Ever since we were on the bus coming back to the hotel, I’d had butterflies in my tummy at the thought of it.
Of course, the irony of it all was that Dan probably wouldn’t even notice what I looked like!
As I walked down the corridor leading to the spa, I could see him through a glass panel in the door, lounging casually on a seat in the reception area, reading a flyer. Like me, he was wearing the hotel’s bathrobe, as well as the slippers they always provided.
He grinned at me and stood up when I came in. ‘We’ve got the place to ourselves, apparently.’
I smiled shyly. ‘Great. I suppose most guests in the hotel will be getting ready to go down to dinner at this time.’
‘I guess so. Just as well we booked a table for eight.’
I nodded, feeling my cheeks glowing with the warmth of the spa.
‘Swim first?’ he suggested, holding the door to the pool open.
‘Definitely.’ I walked through, dreading the moment when I’d have to drop my bathrobe. I’d have to get into the water as quickly as I could after that. It was ridiculous how self-conscious I was feeling at the thought of him seeing me in swimwear!
Maybe it was the fact that he was nine years younger and probably a good deal fitter and leaner than I was . . .
And just as my fevered brain produced this thought, there was Dan, discarding his bathrobe to reveal the most gloriously lean, fit male body I’d ever seen!
He had his back to me for a moment and I took full advantage of it, my eyes sweeping over his lovely broad shoulders and long, lean, muscular back, all the way down to his heavenly, sculpted thighs. My eyes lingered far too long on his fitted swim shorts . . .
Then he turned and I looked away, horrified that I’d been caught in the act.
Avoiding his eye, I walked purposefully over to the nearest lounger, took off my bathrobe and threw it down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that I’d missed the lounger and the robe was now lying on the wet floor. But I wasn’t about to linger. I needed to get in that pool!
Going to the nearest edge, I realised to my dismay that this was the deep end.
I was rubbish at diving and I hesitated, at which point Dan called, ‘The steps down are over there.’
‘Thanks!’ I half-turned, not quite catching his eye. Then I walked around the edge and climbed quickly down the steps on the other side of the pool.
I sank into the pool, relieved to be in.
Dan, of course, had no such qualms and executed the perfect dive into the pool from where we’d been standing.
He swam over to where I was periodically treading water and hanging onto the side of the pool, and I tried not to notice the water droplets on his face and eyelashes as he reached the side, and the way the droplets glistened on the strong muscles of his shoulders.
‘Race you?’ He smiled. ‘I’ll give you a head start if you like?’
I laughed. ‘No, thank you. I’m actually quite a good swimmer, I’ll have you know.’
He nodded, amused. ‘Great! How many lengths?’
‘Four.’
‘Okay. Are you ready to be thrashed?’ he joked.
‘No way!’
‘Right. On a count of three. One, two . . . three!’
I could be quite competitive at times and this was a race I wasn’t going to lose if at all possible!
I wasn’t joking when I’d said I was a good swimmer. I’d swum for the school in competitions many years ago, and I still liked to go along to the local pool now and again, early in the morning when there were few people about and I could have the pool mostly to myself.
I powered along, doing the front crawl, and at first I was winning. I had a feeling Dan might be letting me win, though, so I knew I had to keep up the pace.
It was all going well, until – on the third length – I felt the bobble loosen and fall out, so that my hair was now trailing in the pool. It was getting in my eyes so I was forced to slow down a little to brush it away.
Dan, who was also doing the front crawl, overtook me, turning sideways to grin at me. And after that, he had a commanding lead, swimming further and further away from me, and punching the air with a big grin when he won!
‘I’m impressed,’ he said when I swam up to join him.
I laughed. ‘I’m even more impressed.’
‘I swim every week. It was hardly a fair contest.’
‘Well, you didn’t tell me that. No wonder you smashed it.’
He grinned. ‘You lost that thing in your hair.’
‘My bobble, yes. That’s a technical term, by the way.’
Suddenly he was swimming away from me, and I watched him, bemused.
Then I realised he’d seen the bobble floating on the water. He rescued it and brought it back.
‘Gee, thanks! I lose my power when I’m not wearing this,’ I joked.
He handed it over and I reached for it. Then grinning, he held it out of reach, so I had to jump up to try and get it. I was laughing, and then I landed awkwardly, and our bodies accidentally collided.
We were facing each other and I looked at him, about to make a joke.
But he was so close and his eyes were burning into mine, and I completely forgot I was trying to get my bobble back.
‘You look gorgeous, by the way,’ he murmured.
‘Thank you.’ I smiled shyly, thankful that in the end, I’d decided to buy the pretty, floral swimsuit with the plunging neckline.
I held my breath as the water moved us together again so that our thighs touched briefly.
They touched once. And then again. And then a third time, as the water ebbed and flowed around us.
Neither of us made a move. We were just letting it happen.
And Dan wasn’t joking now.
We’d locked eyes and I was caught in his spell, unable to look away.
His gaze was so intense, I thought that if the water were to move us together again, more roughly this time, and our bodies were to touch, I would hardly be able to resist pressing myself against him, winding my arms around his neck and kissing that beautiful mouth . . .
A voice echoed around the pool, and – broken from our trance – we both looked over.
‘Hi!’ called Freda, as she de-robed and walked towards the steps, followed by partner Jeremy. ‘Nice to see you again. Did you have a good day in Chawton visiting Jane’s cottage?’
I smiled and started swimming away from Dan towards her, as she climbed down the steps and into the pool. ‘We had a lovely day. Didn’t we, Dan?’
‘We did.’ He swam over and Jeremy descended the steps, and we all chatted for a while along the edge.
‘Right,’ said Dan at last, ‘I think I’ll head for the sauna.’
I smiled at him. ‘I’ll join you.’
‘We’ll probably see you at dinner,’ called Freda as we swam away, and I waved back at her.
It felt quite awkward in the sauna. I tried to relax and make casual conversation, but after the spark that had ignited between us for just a moment in the pool, I was feeling such a mix of emotions. Principally, guilt.
I hadn’t been thinking about Wyatt at all while I was imagining getting physically closer to Dan in the pool.
In fact, I’d hardly thought about him the whole of that day . . .
Dan, too, was silent, and I wished I could read his thoughts.
We’d crossed an unspoken boundary in the pool back then. Was he now regretting it? All I knew was that the atmosphere that had been so relaxed between us during the day had now evaporated and everything now felt . . . awkward.
I could hear Freda laughing and having a ball in the pool with Jeremy, although when I glanced through the glass panel in the door, I saw that she was climbing the steps and getting out. She was still laughing as she walked along, getting into her bathrobe as she headed for the changing room.
And then, as we watched in silence, Freda seemed to slip, probably on a patch of pool water. Dismayed, I saw her foot go out from under her and she fell and landed awkwardly on her back.
Jeremy was at the other end of the pool and he started to swim towards her.
‘She’s not getting up,’ Dan murmured. He rose and pulled open the sauna door. ‘She must have knocked herself out when she fell.’
I gathered up my robe and followed him out as he sprinted around the pool to get to Freda. I walked as quickly as I could, worried that Dan himself could slip if he wasn’t more careful.