“I’m just trying to help.”
“Get back. Grace? I’m here.” His voice was reverent. Soft and hoarse with a touch of the steel I knew so well. Hands slid under my armpits. “Where’s your shirt? Grace?”
His hands were too warm. They were painful. I hissed. “Wait.” My voice was a squeak. He tugged and I pushed at him. “Blake, wait.”
“Shh. I’ll get you out of here, I promise.”
A shape loomed over me. The light was back. I held my hand up. “Stop.” All I could see was a head.
“Blake. Jesus, stop.” Jack’s voice was harsh.
“Don’t touch her!” Blake snarled.
I tried to catch his hand, but my arms wouldn’t work. “S-s-stuck.”
“What?” He cupped my face. So warm. The light threw his angular face into slashing shadows. His eyes were wild. The light making his green-gold eyes shine like a cat’s.
“Foot. C-c-can’t.”
“Shit.” He looked down into the water.
Then he was gone. Smart move. He should go back. No. Wait. He should totally be—he splashed into the tide pool with me.
“f*ck
.” His eyes went wide.
“C-cold, huh?”
He dragged in a breath. “That’s one word for it, Ms. Copeland.”
My mind drifted as water skimmed my shoulders.
“Grace. Stay with me.”
Jack’s voice startled me. I started to thrash.
“Grace. Honey, stay with me. We’re going to get you out of there, all right?”
Blake waded in against me.
I pushed at him. I couldn’t breathe. So close. I wanted to curl myself around him and beg him to save me, but I pushed against him instead.
He wrapped his arms around me, dragging me into him. “She’s f*ck
ing blue.”
“As a Smurf,” Jack said with a wide grin down at me. “But we’re going to get her out of here and warm her up until she’s pink as a newborn baby, right, Gracie?”
I nodded, pressing my nose into Blake’s neck. I tried to grasp his lapel but my hands wouldn’t work. Suit. He was in a suit—no. Better than that. Tux.
Figures that my first time seeing him in a tux and he’d be soaked in salt water. His shoulders were massive though.
Jack reached into the water.
Blake pulled me closer, crowding me into the rock even more. I didn’t think that was possible.
“Come on, ass*ole
. I’m not trying to feel her up. I like my women warm and willing.” Jack smiled down at me. I could see the worry creeping into his gaze, but he was playing Mr. Charming for all he was worth. “I bet you’d be willing with a little time by the fire, right, Gracie?”
I laughed.
I couldn’t help it.
Blake stiffened. “Now you’re making jokes?”
Jack kept on smiling. “Now is the best time.” His fingers slipped around my shoulders and down my back. “What’s stuck, honey?”
“Foot.”
Blake reached down into the water with a hiss. His fingers coasted down my belly to my hip and lower. He kept his gaze locked on me as he bounced twice before disappearing under the water.
He pulled at my foot. I screamed as pain flared over my ankle and up my leg. Not so numb after all.
He came up, whipping his hair back as he exploded out of the water. “The top of her boot is wedged under a sharp piece of rock. Laces are tangled.” He swiped his hand down his face to wick the water away. “Ankle’s pretty swollen.”
“Can you cut it off?”
I pushed at Jack. “No.”
“Not your foot, Gracie. Just your boot, baby.”
“If you use one more term of endearment with my woman, I’m going to gut you,” Blake snarled.
“Dream on,” Jack said with a laugh.
“Your what?” I asked incredulously.
Maybe the combination of their hot breath in my vicinity was giving me a little clarity. Or maybe I was just living in Bizzarro World. Better yet, I was probably still dreaming.
Of course my nightmare would include two gorgeous men rescuing me, only to bitch at each other until I ended up drowning anyway.
Blake reached down into the water again and came out with a tool in his shaking hand.
“You sure you can do this, son?”
“Just pull her up when I get her foot free,” Blake said with a growl.
Jack inclined his head. “Go cut the damsel free, James.”
“f*ck
you,” Blake said before gripping the tool between his teeth.
I laughed. How could I not? Blake’s hair was slicked back and he was wearing a full tux. My very own James Bond.
He slipped under the water. His hand was firm on my thigh. I could barely feel what he was doing, but the tightness around my ankle and calf suddenly let up.
Thank God.
Then there was nothing but white hot pain. I thrashed, but he held me still under the water, and there was no forgiveness in his grip.
“Gracie. Honey, stop.”
I couldn’t stop. Just let me free. Please, let me free. The water was up to my chin. I didn’t remember calling his name, but Jack’s wide-eyed gaze dragged me back into myself. Blake’s name still echoed in the cove.