She could tell he expected to toss her in that easily, but she’d grown up with an older brother who’d tried to do the same thing, at the swimming hole they all used, on more than one occasion. Grabbing his wrist at the last second and holding on for all she was worth, she pulled him off balance and into the water with her, and they both came up sputtering.

“I can’t believe you got me again!” he said, pretending to be angry, and dunked her, but that only made her determined to dunk him back.

They play-fought and laughed and play-fought and laughed, wrestling in the water until Tia was so exhausted she thought she might drown. She managed to drag Seth under one last time, but when they came up, she had to hold on to him to keep from sinking, since he was tall enough to stand and she wasn’t. He had his arms around her, too. She didn’t know why—maybe to hold her up. But the front of her was smashed up against the front of him, and neither one of them seemed eager to change that.

Although they were both breathing hard from the exertion and the laughing, all levity faded the instant their eyes met. The color of his irises deepened to a dark chocolate color, and his gaze fell to her mouth just before he kissed her.

His kiss couldn’t be categorized as timid. It wasn’t what she’d call soft or gentle, either. But it was extremely satisfying. He crushed her lips beneath his as he drew her tongue into his mouth and didn’t stop kissing her until she had to break away to catch her breath.

Then he looked as startled as she was—and probably more uncertain. She liked what’d happened. She wanted more. And yet...neither of them were in a good position to let this get out of hand.

What was he thinking?

She wanted to ask, but before she could say anything, his arm swept her to the edge of the pool where she could hang on as he got out. Then, without a word, he grabbed his towel and walked into the house.

Seth’s heart was thumping against his chest. He’d had to get away from Tia before he dove back into the pool. There was love, and then there was sex. He craved one of those things, but it wasn’t the one that would be good for Tia, not when she was this fragile. When he couldn’t get into a relationship with her, she’d think it was because of what the accident had done to her face, but nothing could be further from the truth. He knew he’d never be able to get over Shiloh and definitely didn’t want to make Tia’s life any worse.