Page 148 of Deep Blue Sea

‘Well, yes, sitting here with the sun on me, I’ve often—’

Adam turned and pulled his T-shirt over his head.

‘Adam!’ she gasped. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘What do you think?’ He laughed, undoing his belt.

‘This is crazy,’ she said as he wriggled out of his jeans, unable to keep her eyes off his shapely bum.

He looked back at her. ‘Sometimes crazy can be good, Rachel.’

He opened the floor to ceiling doors, and with a whoop, plunged into the water.

‘Adam!’ she cried, then broke out into a belly laugh. She ran to the window and looked out just as he surfaced, his dark hair slicked back.

‘Wow! It’s lovely,’ he called, his arms spread wide. ‘And I can’t touch the bottom either!’ He turned and did a somersault, the water glistening off his back like a pale fish. ‘Come on,’ he laughed as he came up for air. ‘I thought you were the champion swimmer. What are you, chicken?’

‘No,’ she shouted back, feeling herself rise to the challenge.

‘So jump in, then,’ he grinned.

Shaking her head and laughing, she peeled off her jeans, but kept her T-shirt on. She thought about jumping straight in, but part of her wanted to do it with more panache than Adam, so she stood on the edge and executed a perfect dive into the lake.

The shock of the cold water pushed the air from her lungs.

‘Show-off,’ he shouted, lifting his hand and splashing water all over her.

‘It’s bloody freezing.’

‘It’s pretty good, isn’t it?’ grinned Adam, his face bobbing in front of her.

‘Why didn’t I do this weeks ago?’ Rachel laughed.

‘Ah well, sometimes you need a partner in crime.’

Rachel pulled herself deeper with strong strokes of her arms. She loved the tingling sensation of the cool water on her skin, and that incomparable feeling of freedom. She swam out towards the middle of the lake, going deeper still until she touched the bottom, maybe five metres down. Serge would scoff at this, she thought. She counted to ten, then kicked for the surface.

‘Where have you been?’ said Adam when she reached him. ‘I was worried.’

Rachel shook her head. ‘Don’t worry, I’m a very accomplished free-diver.’

‘Wow, you free-dive?’

‘I could show you a few moves.’

Adam slapped his hand against the water, sending a shower into Rachel’s face.

‘Hey!’ she giggled, flipping water back at him.

‘Don’t take me on, Rachel Miller,’ laughed Adam. ‘I’m the king of water fights.’

Suddenly they were in a frenzy of slapping and splashing, both of them laughing and shouting.

‘Okay, okay,’ coughed Adam finally, holding up his hands. ‘I surrender, you win.’

They swam to the edge of the lake, clambering out under a willow, slipping on the mud and the moss-covered rocks and sitting down heavily on the bank.

After a minute, shivering, they ran back to the house.