Time restarts with the same swiftness it slammed to ahalt.
“Shit!” Beck curses, finally turning his back to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize youwere…”
Naked.
Totally, completelynaked.
Cheeks flaming red, I fold my arms over my chest and wade toward the opposite bank, where I laid my dress and underwear out to dry in the sunshine several hours ago. My hair streams in a damp curtain around my shoulders as I scramble onto the sandyshore.
“What are you doing here?” I ask quietly, yanking my dress over my head with haste. I’m so focused on the taut muscles cording Beck’s back, I can’t even enjoy the sensation of clean clothes against my skin. He holds himself so still, he looks carved from marble in the filtered blue-green light of theforest.
“I came looking for you,” he says, voice a half-octave lower thannormal.
“Well, you certainly foundme.”
“I didn’t mean to intrude on yourprivacy.”
“Then why did you?” I can’t help scoffing. Fully clothed, I begin to pick my way around the pool towardhim.
There’s a long pause, as if he’s choosing his words with great care. “You’ve never been away from camp for this long. Ian had no idea when you’d left or where you’d gone. I was worried something had happened toyou.”
“Oh, now you’re worried?” I snort, coming to a stop a few feet away, eyes on his broad shoulders. “That’s rich. You’ve been ignoring me for a week. You look straight through me half the time. I’m surprised you even noticed I wasgone.”
He whirls around to face me so fast, my eyes can barely track him. Whatever apologies he’d been prepared to offer are discarded as he takes two strides into my space, bringing us within inches of each other. My heart stops beating. For a split second, I think he’s going to do something totally crazy, like crush me against his chest or slam his mouth down onmine.
“Believe me, things would be a fuck of a lot simpler if I could look straight through you,Violet.”
My heart stopsbeating.
He leans in. “Next time you decide to leave for half a day, a heads up would be appreciated. I’ve spent three goddamned hours searching the forest foryou.”
“No one asked you to come looking forme.”
“You didn’t have to ask. Like it or not, I’m responsible foryou.”
I jerk my chin, outraged. “How many times do I have to tell you — I am not a child! You are most definitely not my father! So do us both a favor and stop acting likeit.”
“Oh, princess, I’m perfectly aware I’m not your father,” he growls, voice shaking. His eyes scan me up and down, scorching into my skin as though he remembers exactly what I look like beneath thisdress.
With a sound of disgust, I push past him and run back to camp, toiletry bag clutched tight against my aching chest. I hope the image of me floating naked in that water haunts him for the rest of his days. I hope he can’t close his eyes without seeing me on the back of his eyelids, burned in like abrand.
It would serve him right, thejerk.
Chapter Twelve
F L Y ER
“Ican’t stand it,”Ianwheezes.
Dropping everything, I fly to his side. “What? Are you in pain? Where does ithurt?”
“No…” His eyes are crinkled at the corners — not with agony, but amusement. “I just can’t stand.Literally.”
I groan. “Your jokes are gettingworse.”
“You try thinking up unique leg-related humor all day long, it’s not as easy as itlooks.”
“Alternatively, you could stopaltogether.”