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He laughed and leaned down to kiss her so gently she wondered if the sizzling was commencing. “No one else gets to watch, Jolie. Just us. Soon.”

“I hope so.” Her body was going to combust from just his sexy growl.

He groaned and kissed her again. When he pulled away, they gulped in air. He rested his forehead on hers. “Let’s get Cyril out of the pond as quickly as humanly possible.”

“Or faster.”

Laughing, Ford took her hand, and they headed to where she’d left the tools. He nodded at her selection. “Good choices.”

He whipped off his shirt and tossed it to the side. His boots and jeans followed. Then he wore only board shorts, riding low on his hips.

Jolie couldn’t have moved or looked away even if an alien spaceship had landed beside them. The man was gorgeous. Movie star gorgeous. But better because he was real. And he was hers.

She hoped forever, but at least for now.

With a sexy chuckle, Ford tapped her chin, making her realize her mouth had dropped open. She yanked her eyes off his magnificent body, which was visibly ready to go, up to his eyes. The desire she’d so often seen wasn’t banked in the least.

Her entire body reacted to his look. If her heart hadn’t long since been lost to him, it would have tumbled to her feet when she saw the answering affection and desire in his gaze.

He sighed dramatically. “Man. Okay. If we don’t get moving, the camera operators are going to get a hell of a show. Choose your weapon.”

He gestured to the tools she’d brought to the edge, but her eyes drifted to where his erection strained against his shorts.

Ford choked out a laugh and handed her the shovel. He grabbed the stick with one hand and took her hand with the other. “Let’s go cool off. Once we have Cyril, you’re all mine.”

Little did he know she already was.

Ford let the chilly water cool his libido. Jolie didn’t appear to have a clue how incredibly sexy she was. Which made her even sexier.

Add in her joy in the world around her, her smart brain, and a heart that wanted to make everything better, and she was the most desirable woman he’d ever met.

He couldn’t wait to explore her body and find out what drove her wild. What made her sigh. And gasp. And scream.

With an effort, he pulled his focus to the task at hand. Work first, pleasure later. Lots and lots of pleasure. He hoped like hell she had no other plans for the day because once he had her in his bed, he wouldn’t want to let her go.

Focus.

Cold water. Cyril. Keeping Jolie safe.

That last one helped, and he settled into the task. “I never thought I’d need my wetsuit when I moved to Vermont.”

She laughed. “Me neither, but I’m glad I didn’t sell it. You have your own suit?”

He nodded. “We did water training in the army. I enjoy scuba diving. My suit’s still at my dad’s in Miami.”

“If you get it sent up here, it would be fun to check out Lake Champlain like Troy suggested.”

He nodded. “Shipwrecks are fun. We’ll make a weekend of it.”

Her face brightened. “I like the sound of that. For more reasons that just diving in clear water. I doubt Cyril is from a shipwreck.”

“Let’s find out.”

It took three dives before they located the cylinder. Another two dives to loosen it a bit from where it was wedged in some rocks.

The murkiness of the water was worse the lower they went. Their attempts to dislodge the cylinder didn’t help, and the water was cloudier with every dive. Jolie’s headlamp helped, but the visibility stunk.

When they surfaced for more air, Thea and Knox had arrived. They stood at the shallow edge of the pond near the other equipment. “Find our friend yet?”