mimic the tone. "Chili-dog..." Then her breath disappeared as he swung her away from his body in preparation for tossing her in.
"No!" she shrieked, clinging tighter. She buried her head in his neck, panic rising like an incoming tide. "No."
A second later they were on drier, higher ground. Jane found herself sitting on the soft sand, Griffin's arms enclosing her from behind, his legs on either side of hers. "I'm sorry," he said, his mouth against her ear. "God, I'm sorry. I didn't think you were really afraid. I didn't think you actually were afraid of anything."
It was still embarrassing to admit she was. "I can swim. I'm fine in a pool. It's just... My father always says I'm silly and emotional, but this ocean phobia I would like to blame on my brothers."
"Then we definitely should."
She sighed. "Byron told me that the foamy stuff on the waves was whale snot. Phillip said the sea is green due to the sun's reflection off the scales of giant, lurking eels. It was that scientific sound bite that made it all the more believable, of course. But frankly, it wasn't really them. I always had the kind of imagination that could turn an oven mitt into a monster paw. They were just enjoying getting a rise out of me."
His arms tightened around her. It shouldn't please her so much. She shouldn't lean back against his chest, as she was doing. He made another sound in her ear - suspiciously like a muffled curse.
"What?" she asked him.
"You told me nobody has ever put you first. I can't get that out of my mind."
Another flush of heat ran over her body. How embarrassing! She'd forgotten confessing such a thing, and it meant he knew her better than anyone. She shivered. Ever.
His breath was hot on her ear. "You so tempt me to do something about that, Jane. For the next fourteen days."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE MORNING AFTER the embarrassing scene on the beach, Griffin showed up in the office and began work without incident - and without reference to his little "tempt me" remark. She began to think she might have imagined it altogether. When they finished for the day, they took another walk on the shore, this time Griffin keeping himself between Jane and the surf, which she found absurdly sweet and completely unnecessary. When she mentioned that to him, he ruffled her hair and said when it came to lurking green-scaled eels, you could never be too careful.
The touch, though casual, somehow struck her heart, like a mallet to a gong. Her insides quivered for a moment, then the vibrato quieted to a hum that kept her nerve endings alert. Aware. That alert awareness didn't go away.
The day following that, the walls surrounding them seemed too close. Every squeak of Griffin's office chair had her jumping out of her skin. She caught herself staring at him as he kicked back, his bare feet on the desktop, his computer in his lap. There was a spot on the back of his neck, just below the edge of his hairline, that fascinated her.
She imagined herself licking it.
Griffin suddenly turned his head, his gaze finding her over his shoulder. "What are you doing back there?"
"Uh." She squirmed, her linen cropped pants abrading her too-sensitive flesh.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Jane?"
"I'm...uh...lost in thought." Lost in lust. Oh, God, and it wasn't getting any better when she was looking at his face. He was all blue eyes and dark stubble, and she had the intense urge to take a bite out of his lower lip. She found herself on her feet.
"Where are you going?"
Her gesture was vague, verging on wild. "Out...away. Be back soon." She scrambled from the room and headed for fresh air. It was only when she was standing in the sand that she realized the entire day had passed. The sun was heading for the horizon, and she couldn't remember accomplishing anything beyond not nipping Griffin's bottom lip.
That wasn't good.
"Jane!" She looked toward the sound of her name and saw Tess and Skye sitting on the front porch of No. 8. Griffin's sister waved. "Come talk to us."
It was as good an excuse as any to avoid returning to the office. She refused the offer of a cold drink and took the empty chair. A little fresh air, a little girl talk, could clear the dangerous images from her mind. She'd cut herself off from friends for much too long, she realized, relaxing into her