her chest. They covered the little buds but plumped the tantalizing curves of her cleavage.
"That meeting with the old man still has me all wound up," he lied. "Think we could go inside and find some way to take the edge off? I'm pretty certain I need to relax."
"No." Her head tilted toward the surf. "Little boys? Unpredictable surf?"
"Whale snot. Green-scaled eels." When she frowned at him, he caught her hand and carried it to his mouth. The woman had given him hours of pleasure in bed. "Sorry. I shouldn't tease you."
"I shouldn't be so easy to tease."
They both watched Duncan and Oliver for a few more minutes, and when they finally got a good ride into shore, Jane clapped her hands. The boys grinned at her, then dashed back into the water.
"They make my fear seem even more ridiculous," she murmured.
"Do you want to get over it?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, her expression suspicious.
It was the cutest damn thing. "Honey-pie..." He'd forgotten what he meant to say.
"Chili-dog?"
He was never going to think of that menu item without thinking of Jane. The governess had changed him and he wanted to return the favor. His fingers tightened on hers, and he stepped toward the water. "Come in with me, sweetheart."
Biting her lip, she dug her heels in the sand. "I don't know."
"I won't let go of you, I promise."
Her head wagged back and forth. "Your kind always lets go. That's how I learned to stay afloat in the first place. My father carried me out in the deep end of the pool. When we were far from where I could stand up, he released me. I had my arms around his neck, and he just went under, slipping out of my grasp. So it was up to me alone. Sink or swim."
Griffin had to look away from her earnest, unsmiling face. When his temper had cooled a little, he tugged her toward him again. "Trust me, Jane. We won't go too far. When you're done, you say so and I'll get you right back to shore." It was suddenly important to him that he do this, that he be different than the others of his "kind."
She hesitated another moment, then took a step forward, wincing when the Pacific washed over the top of her foot. "Cold."
"Bracing," he said, walking backward. "Now don't forget to do the stingray shuffle."
"Stingray shuffle?"
"They bury themselves in the sand and if you step directly on them, they'll strike with their tail. So you do the stingray shuffle to avoid the less dignified - and pretty painful - stingray hop."
Doubt creased her forehead and she eyed the water around her. "Maybe my brothers weren't so wrong."
"The eels are much farther offshore."
She stuck her tongue out at him.
He laughed, once again tugging on her hand. "Come closer and say that to me."
To his satisfaction, she kept pace as he waded backward into the surf, checking over his shoulder every so often to make sure a wave wouldn't catch him unawares. They made it past shins and knees, and were approaching the tops of her thighs when she froze up. She peered into the water around her. "Something touched me. This is why I don't like the ocean. There are things in here with me."
"Probably a piece of kelp," he said, his voice soothing. The sound of an approaching wave had him glancing back again. It was tall enough to hit her belly. "Heads up."
She did the girlie shriek when the water struck her midsection. "It's freezing."
"Bracing," he repeated.
They were getting in deep enough water that she could float, if she wanted, and hold on to him. When he suggested it, she hesitated a moment, then took a breath and went prone on the water, stroking toward him. He caught her, and she circled her arms around his neck. He drew in her silky legs so they wound his waist.
He gave a maniacal laugh. "You fell right in with my plot." Then he hitched her closer and kissed her. In contrast to their ocean-cooled skin, their mouths burned. Griffin slipped one of the hands propping up her bottom beneath the elastic of her swimsuit. He palmed the round cheek, and she wiggled closer. The kiss turned feverish.
Then Jane jerked her mouth away. "We forgot the boys!"
"They're fine," he said, quarter-turning their twined bodies so she could see them on the shore, engaged in some kind of behavior that was likely preparing them for a life of crime. Really,