Killer Summer by Lynda Curnyn (e book reading free .txt) 📗

“So they take off their clothes and go in,” Myles said. “What happened next?” sighed. “That’s exactly the problem. I don’t know what happened next. How Maggie went from skinny-dipping to floating in the tide.“

“Maybe it was an accident,” Myles offered.

“That’s possible. Maybe she got caught in the tide and he couldn’t save her.” I looked at him. “But wouldn’t he go for help?”

“Not if he didn’t want to be found out by Tom.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, but I’m having a hard time believing anyone would leave someone they loved to…to die.”

“What if he had a lot to lose? I mean, if it was Vince or Don-nie, they might have risked their jobs.”

“Still, Myles, I can’t believe—”

“Okay, okay. Let’s backtrack for a minute. Maybe they were fighting before they got in the water. Maybe he tried to break it off and she got angry.”

“But then why would she go skinny-dipping with him?” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “See, I knew there was no point to this. There’s no way we’ll ever know what really happened that night. What was going on in Maggie’s head—or his, for that matter.”

“There’s only one way we can possibly find out,” Myles said, yanking his T-shirt over his head and tossing it on the beach.

“What are you doing?” I said, alarm ringing through me as he reached for the fly on his shorts.

“Returning to the scene of the crime,” he reminded me, sliding down his shorts and kicking them to the side.“C’mon, what are you waiting for? Get undressed.”

My eyes widened.“I’m not going in there,” I said, glancing nervously at the ocean, vast and dark, as it rolled toward us.

“Why not?” he said, his hand moving to the waist of his boxers.

“It’s cold?” I said weakly, watching as the boxers came down. I bit my lip, trying not to stare. Not that I had time to stare, because Myles was suddenly off like a shot, racing toward the water, his tanned skin pale in the moonlight.

“Last one in is a rotten egg!” he yelled, diving into the tide and disappearing under the dark water.

“Dammit, Myles,” I said, racing to the tide line in a panic and then coming to a dead stop when Myles popped up again, a smile on his face.“C’mon in, Zoe, the water’s beautiful.”

“I don’t want to.”

“It’s not cold. I swear.”

A foamy warmth washed over my feet, verifying the truth of his words. Not that that made me want to go in. “I’m scared of the ocean,” I said, feeling like the big baby I was the moment the words left my mouth.

“Scared? C’mon, Zoe,” Myles said, rising up out of the water to flex his muscles at me.“I’ll protect you,” he said in a deep voice. Then he laughed. “Just come in. You’re missing all the fun.”

It was those words, more than anything else, that had me pulling off my T-shirt. I was so tired of being the one pulling the plug on every game.

I slid down my shorts, tossing them behind me with my shirt. But when I reached for the clasp on my bra, I felt a touch of worry again.

And I knew it wasn’t so much being in the water that scared me now but being in the water with Myles. Naked.

I hadn’t been naked with Myles in a long time.

Too long, I thought, whipping off my bra and sliding down my panties before I could change my mind.

I stepped into the water, splashing past the crashing waves before they toppled me over. Then I dunked down, probably out of modesty more than anything else.

“You’re right,” I said, swimming closer to him. “The water is beautiful.”

“Would I lie to you?” he asked, looking at me across the bobbing waves.

“No,” I said, studying his wet, spiky eyelashes, those eyes I knew so well. “You wouldn’t.”

His gaze softened. “Come here,” he said, reaching for me.

I hesitated, studying his face. Until suddenly I wasn’t seeing his face at all, but scrambling madly as a wave crashed over me.

Darkness engulfed me and water filled my mouth as I struggled back to the top, panicking as the ocean pulled at me, until I felt Myles’s arms close around me as we popped back to the surface.

“I got you,” he said, pulling me close.

He certainly did, I thought, breathing hard as his chest made contact with mine.

“Come on,” he said, gently guiding me out farther.

“Myles, I don’t want to go—”

“Just a little farther. We need to get past the breaking point.”

I might be close to that point already, I thought, feeling his body slide against mine in the water.

Finally he stopped moving, his arms circling me.

“So,” he said softly, his gaze on mine.“You’re in the water. With the man you love. Love so much, in fact, you threw off all your clothes and dived in after him,” he continued, a smile touching his lips. “What happens now?”

I felt suddenly shy. “I think I would kiss him.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You think or you would?”

I met his gaze. “I would.”

‘ ’What if he kisses you first?“ he said, touching his mouth to mine.

His lips were salty, but soft, familiar. Not so familiar, I realized when he took my lip between his teeth, biting gently, his hands moving restlessly down my back as he pulled me hard against him. No, it felt different this time. Hungrier, more alive than it ever had been between us. Myles must have sensed it, too, because he broke off the kiss, his eyes searching mine. For what?

I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything, I thought, looking into that golden brown gaze and seeing both the man I loved and someone else. Someone ravaged by past loss, uncertain what the future held.

Some of that uncertainty began to fill me. Because really, what did I know about him anymore? This man who I once knew better than myself. So much had changed between us. So much had been left unsaid.

I tightened my arms around him, suddenly