CLIO
I sat in the sand, heaving in breaths, as the man squatting beside me rubbed soothing circles on the small of my back.
I pushed my wet mop of hair out of my face and finally looked into possibly the most beautiful set of eyes I’d ever seen. I didn’t think I had ever seen eyes that color before. They were slate gray and kind as he stared down at me.
“There you are,” he said softly. “You’re okay, just take it easy.” He was still rubbing circles on my skin when I managed to clear my airways enough to respond.
“I-I-I don’t know what happened,” I stuttered out.
“I saw you go into the water, and when you didn’t come back out, I figured something was wrong. First time in the ocean?” he asked in a silky voice.
I couldn’t decide if it was the sound of his voice or shock making my flesh break out with goosebumps.
“Yes,” I admitted, “and apparently my last.” I shot him a sheepish smile. I met his eyes but quickly tore them away, feeling my face burn with embarrassment.
“Don’t say that,” he chided gently. “Swimming in the ocean is a wonder you can’t give up after a few bad waves. You just have to learn how to flow with the currents.”
“Yeah, obviously, I didn’t account for that,” I said shakily. I dared another look at him and saw that he was looking back at me with a patient expression.
I noticed the scruff on his face, how it was a little darker than his salt and pepper hair. He was just in his trunks revealing a well-muscled chest sprinkled with hair that trailed down to a tight, flat stomach.
With his wide, sturdy shoulders, he looked like he belonged in some body building magazine. It was Malibu, so maybe he was a male model or something.
He cleared his throat, jerking me from my perusal. Holy shit, I thought to myself mortified that I’d been so openly gawking.
This guy had just saved my life and I was staring him up and down like he was a piece of meat. When my eyes found his face again, it was to see an amused smile on his full lips.
“I-I’m so sorry, I think I lost too much oxygen. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, and I don’t know how to thank you for saving me,” I told him, making sure this time that my eyes stayed firmly on his face, though as good-looking as he was, that also felt a little obscene.
“I know how you can thank me,” he said, his voice dropping. Was he suggesting what I thought he was? I wasn’t sure, but it looked kind of like he was looking me over. Then again, I was in my bikini, which left very little to the imagination, every curve and bulge on full display. I could definitely feel myself redden now, and I shifted my position so that I could at least conceal some of myself.
“Relax,” he said, “I’m not trying to hit on you, I promise. I just thought you could let me show you how to move with the currents, so the next time a wave comes, you’ll be prepared.”
I was really embarrassed now. First, he caught me gawking, and now, I stupidly believed he was hitting on me when he was really just trying to be nice. “Oh, I, um, couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not, I’m offering. I don’t want you to quit going into the water because of one bad experience, but I would feel better if I could leave here knowing you know how to handle it,” he said. I stumbled for a response when he said, “I’m sorry, I’m being so rude. You don’t even know my name. I’m Aidan,” he said, sticking out his hand.
I stared at his large hand for a little too long, but he patiently waited until I cautiously shook it. It engulfed mine so easily, and it held onto mine gently but with power. “I’m Clio,” I told him softly.
“Clio. Pretty,” he said. I immediately liked the way my name sounded on his lips, and I definitely liked his use of the word pretty right next to it. Our hands were still clasped when he said huskily, “Let me show you a few things, Clio.” His head nodded toward the water.
If I were back home, I would have immediately came up with some excuse and fled. But I wasn’t back home, I reminded myself. I was away from all that mess and away from the Clio who ran from things just to avoid conflict or because I was nervous.
Hell, that was why I’d been out in the water in the first place. I straightened my spine, pushing out my chest in the process. “Okay,” I said a little tremulously.
“Okay?” he asked, that amused but patient smile still curving his lips.
“Yeah,” I said more assertively. “Let’s do this.”
“Atta girl,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Alright, Clio, come with me.” Something about the way he said those words made my lower belly clench. He grabbed my hand and led me back into the water. “Okay, right now, everything is relatively calm, but what you have to remember is that could all change at any second,” he said as he led us into the water until I was waist deep. It barely reached his hips. “You’re doing good, there you go,” he encouraged.
He glanced behind him, and I saw what stole his focus. There was a small wave cresting and fixing to meet us in a couple of seconds.
“When you see one come, no matter how small it might look, you want to make sure you turn your side to it and don’t lock your knees or it will just knock you right over. Okay, here we go.” I moved so my side was facing the current, but I held on tight to his hands. The wave met us and washed around me instead of dragging me under like last time. “See?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “That wasn’t bad at all.”
“I told you. Okay, now look, we’ve got a bigger one coming. Let’s try this again,” he said. The next one met us, and I did what he said and continued to hold on, but this one was much stronger. I lost my footing. I held tight to his arms, and in turn, he circled them around my waist and pulled me to him. My cheek met his chest. I could feel the soft, wet hair against my face and his breath against my temple. I started to apologize, but he was having none of it. “It’s okay, Clio. It just takes practice, and sometimes, even then something will just knock you off your feet. It happens,” he assured me.
I took his assurances to heart, and he showed me a few techniques to handle swimming in the ocean versus the pool. Not long after, I was doing the closest I could to breast strokes under the circumstances, and he was swimming next to me like a fish. When our heads were both above water, I asked him, “You swim every day?”
“I wish. When I’m in Malibu, I swim damn near every day. This place is too beautiful not to get a taste of it every chance I can, but most of the time, I’m stuck behind a desk,” he admitted.
“Really? You don’t look like it,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
He laughed and said, “Well, thanks. I do try to make it to the gym when I can.”
This was usually the part where I would feel embarrassed again, but somehow, when I looked into his face, that all melted away.
As intimidatingly sexy as this mystery man was, there was also something inexplicably comforting about him. “So, um, Aidan, what brings you here now?”