Page 16

“All right, let’s slowly untangle our arms and grip it with both.”

“We could topple it.” She panicked.

I looked at the other end of the trunk. “It’s secured. It’ll hold us.” Grace looked like she didn’t believe me. “I promise nothing bad will happen. Now grab it!”

She nodded furiously, her lips blue. The water was fucking cold!

Slowly, we moved ourselves up the trunk toward the shore. I climbed out first.

“Give me one of your hands,” I said.

“I can’t hold myself with only one arm.”

“Then I’ll grab your wrists and pull you up.”

She looked up at me. “I’m heavier than I look.”

“I’ll manage. On the count of three.” I bent down and put my left hand on her right arm, then grabbed the other one. “Just let go of the trunk when I say, okay? One, two, three!”

I pulled her up with ease. She practically slammed into me once I set her down. She was barefoot, having lost her shoes in the river. Exhausted from the physical effort, we both fell onto the grass. Her body was soft and hard at the same time. I only half managed to break our fall, so she was lying on top of me.

For a few seconds, neither of us said anything. I took in her appearance. She was white as a sheet. Her pulse had probably gone through the roof, but she hadn’t swallowed water as far as I could tell. Now that I’d determined she wasn’t in immediate danger, other details registered, such as how soft her breasts were against me. She was definitely not wearing a bra. She was gorgeous even like this—completely disheveled and in a state of shock.

“Grace, you’re safe.”

She nodded but didn’t look convinced.

“Want me to help you up?”

That seemed to snap her out of it. She looked down at my chest and back to my face in horror, then immediately rolled off me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I, um...This was...” She didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she put a hand on her chest. It was rising up and down even more rapidly.

“You’re still in shock,” I told her calmly. “But you’re safe now. We’re on the ground, and nothing happened. We’re not in danger.”

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and furrowing her thick eyebrows. Her lips were downright kissable.

Jesus, man, get a grip.I couldn’t believe where my train of thought just went.

She opened her eyes and sighed. “Thank you, Zachary. Truly. How are you so good at this?”

“When I was a teenager, I trained as an EMT, and I volunteered as one until I finished college. Some things you don’t forget.”

“Wow, I lost my shoes.” She pointed at her feet. She wasn’t going to get far like that. “Do you know what happened? One minute we were talking, and then suddenly I was falling.”

“There’s no railing, and you lost your balance.”

“Oh my God! You jumped in for me?”

She was trembling. I needed to get her back to her place, changed, and warm before she went into hypothermia.

“I’ll call an Uber and take you home.”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll just go by myself.”

“Grace, I want to make sure you’re okay. States of shock can manifest even after the event has passed, and I’d rather not leave you alone.”

“All right,” she said, nodding again.