He smelled of tanning lotion and shampoo. Somewhere in the back of her mind she’d been expecting him to smell sweatier and muskier. Instead, it was strangely sweet.

Through her shirt, she could feel the smooth muscles of his chest and stomach, and suddenly an intense urge to throw her arms around him took hold of her.

Daniel closed his eyes, and with his lips about to touch hers, Harper finally acted on her impulse. Or at least she tried to.

She moved her hand, meaning to wrap her arm around him. Instead, she only managed to shove the ice-cold can of soda into his side, making him jump back from her.

“Sorry.” She grimaced and shook her head. “I forgot I was even holding the soda.”

“No, it’s okay.” Daniel smiled. “It was just cold.”

He stepped back toward her, like he meant to go in for the kiss again, but the moment was broken, and Harper once again remembered how stupid it would be to get involved with him.

“I should probably get back to work,” she said, moving away from him and toward the door.

“Sure.” He put his hands on his hips and nodded. “Of course.”

“Sorry,” Harper mumbled, feeling apologetic.

“Don’t be. You can stop by anytime you want. My door is always open for you.”

“I know.” Harper smiled. “Thank you.”

Harper headed back up on deck. After being in the dim light of the cabin, the sun was blinding. She squinted up at it and walked over to the railing.

Since Daniel refused to use the plank, he had to help her down onto the dock again. He wrapped an arm around her so he could lift her up over the rail, but before he did that, he held her to him for a moment. Harper already had one arm around his shoulder, bracing herself for when he lifted her.

“I’m glad you stopped by.”

Then he lifted her up and dropped her gently down on the dock. He stayed out on the deck of his boat, watching her as she walked away.

17. Falling

SEVENTEEN

Falling

For the first time in her entire life, Gemma skipped swim practice.

She wasn’t sick, and she didn’t call. She simply didn’t go. Thanks to her new siren abilities, she was already crazy fast in the water. Besides that, Penn had told her she needed to leave soon, and while Gemma wasn’t sure if she’d go along with that or not, it did seem like she’d probably have to quit the swim team.

Despite all that, she felt guilty about it. Gemma had missed practices only when she absolutely had to. Coach Levi would be so disappointed, and she never wanted to let him down.