“What, Jack?”
His eyebrows drew together. “You just can’t go off walking by yourself. Snakes like to be around water.”
“Whatever,” she said, sounding more like a teenager than a thirty-two-year-old doctor.
He started to laugh. “Sophie, don’t be mad at me.”
Huh? She wanted to wipe that silly grin right off his handsome face. “I don’t even know why you would care.” She jerked his hand off of her arm. “I irritate you, and I don’t even know what it is I’ve done.”
“I don’t think I know what it is exactly, either.” He blew out a long breath. “Look, I’m…sor…I’ll try not to snap at you anymore.”
She gave him a dubious look. “Okay. But in the future, if you’re going to get mad at me, can you at least let me know why?”
He looked totally exasperated. “I’ll do my best.”
Satisfied, she gave him a small smile and stuck out her hand. “Truce?”
Jack took her hand, and immediately she regretted her actions. “Truce,” he said as he slowly wrapped his large fingers around her hand, stealing her breath.
Tugging back, she tried to distance herself from him. Jack held fast and pulled her with him to the water’s edge. It was hard not to respond to the warmth radiating up her arm. His hand felt good, and Sophie hated to admit how much she liked holding it.
“Hector, are you coming?” she questioned as they walked away.
“ Sí. I’ll be there in a minute.”
The crystal blue water looked inviting. Her hair felt matted and sticky and she fantasized what it would feel like to swim under the small waterfall. “So this is safe to swim in, right?” she asked, looking for any signs of something lethal.
Jack sat on a rock to remove his boots. “It’s safe.”
Taking a seat on the same rock, Sophie removed her shoes and socks. She wiggled her toes in the cool, moist grass, glancing down to check for snakes. Jack had his back to her, and it was as if she could feel the heat radiating from his body, making her painfully aware of him.
She pulled her lip gloss out of her pocket and put it inside her shoe. Unclasping her watch, she added it to the pile. The pants she wore could be unzipped at the knee, converting them into shorts.
Finished, she stood up to find Jack assessing her with his cool blue eyes. “Are you one of those women who won’t get their hair wet?”
Sophie didn’t answer him. Instead, she made a shallow dive into the clear water. It felt so refreshing, and instantly her bad mood disappeared. She surfaced, blinking the water out of her eyes. Jack still stood on the edge. “Jack, it feels so wonderful. Are you coming in?”
The minute she asked the question, Sophie knew she had made a mistake. She hadn’t thought it through very carefully, but she should’ve known he would take off his shirt.
Before she could think of something to discourage him, he tugged on the hem of his tee and pulled it over his head. Sophie caught a glimpse of his washboard stomach and immediately turned around. The rest of his upper body would look just as good and she didn’t need another reason to feel attracted to him.
She heard the splash as he entered, the water rippling around her. Maybe swimming wasn’t such a good idea after all, and where in the world was Hector?
Surfacing next to her, Jack’s eyes glistened with mischief. “Wanna race to the waterfall?”
He sure seemed to have a competitive streak in him. She was beginning to think he didn’t like that she could put up her tent faster than him. “Sure. On the count of three.”
They both counted to three and then took off. Sophie wasn’t a great swimmer, and she could never compete with someone taller and stronger than she was. Jack was already under the falls when she came to a stop.
“You win,” she conceded.
He grinned. “What took you so long, Kendrick?”
She flicked water at him. “You’re a poor winner.”
Shaking the water off, he laughed and said, “I am not.” Then he splashed
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