Behind them, the boat was beginning to founder. It was too late for the fire department to save it. The most they could do was rescue the people onboard, and Jason had already done that.
But how was he going to get them to shore? He must be tired himself, and that kid was about to drag him under. Was he supposed to transport both of them to shore by sheer force of will? She couldn’t just stand out here. She had to do something.
And then it hit her.
A rental kayak. The resort owned a few they offered up to guests. Why hadn’t she thought about them before? Those kisses must have really scrambled her brain. They were stored on a rack near the top of the pier, hidden in the shadows of the forest. She dashed to the rack and tugged free a two-person kayak, which clattered onto the ground. There was no way she could carry it alone, so she dragged it down the beach. Sorry, Carly! I know you’d understand.
When she reached the water, she kicked off her shoes, pushed the kayak into the water, waded in, then climbed onboard. She didn’t bother with a spray skirt, which were provided for choppier days. Paddling hard, she skimmed across the water, and in a few minutes drew close to the three swimmers.
“I can give someone a ride,” she called. “Or two people can take the kayak and I’ll swim.”
Jason was using one arm to tow the kid, the other to swim. He grabbed onto the bow of the kayak and worked on catching his breath. He looked exhausted, his breathing harsh and rasping.
The other man spoke between gasps. “Take Tyler. My son. He’s only eight and he’s a better skier than swimmer.”
Kendra caught Jason’s eye and saw him nod. She looked at the boy, whose face was drenched with both lake water and tears. “Are you Tyler? I’m Kendra. How’d you like a quick paddle back to shore? Does that sound good?”
He nodded, shaking and shivering. “What about my dad?”
“I’ll come right back for him. Shoot. I could have towed another kayak behind.”
“No, this is good,” Jason said hoarsely. “Quicker this way.” He pulled his way along the side of the kayak until he reached the front seat. The other man joined them and the two of them maneuvered the kid into the seat. Using her paddle against the force of the water, Kendra did her best to keep the kayak steady until he was safely onboard.
She handed him the extra life jacket. “Welcome aboard, Tyler.” She caught Jason’s glance again, and noticed that he too was shivering. His dark hair was plastered to his head, and his t-shirt clung to his tight muscles. This was the second time in one night that he’d performed a water rescue, and this water was still icy cold.
“Are you okay?” she said in a low voice, just to him.
“Good,” he said briefly, as if he was trying to save his breath.
“I grabbed some blankets for everyone.”
“Smart girl.”
His approving glance gave her a shiver of pride. Of her many competencies, she didn’t count emergency rescues among them. This was her first, in fact. He gave her a quick wink and slapped his hand on the hull of the kayak. “Giddyup. Get that kid to a blanket.”
“Should I stay with Tyler on shore or paddle back?”
“I can make it to the pier,” called the other man. Jason nodded in agreement, so she dug the paddle into the water and glided away.
Halfway back to shore, Tyler finally spoke. “Our boat burned down.”
“I saw that. That must have been scary.”
“It’s not even our boat. We just borrowed it.”
“Well, they’ll probably do an investigation and figure out why it happened. Was it just you and your dad onboard?”
He nodded. His thin arms were wrapped around himself and he was leaning forward eagerly as they came closer to the beach.
“Have you ever kayaked before?” she asked him.
“No. But I tried to Jet Ski once. I fell off. My dad said we could maybe try again in a few years.”
“That sounds like a plan. So what happens here is, I’m going to paddle straight onto the shore as hard as I can. That’ll beach us on the gravel. Then I’ll keep the kayak steady while you climb out. Can you do that?”
“It doesn’t sound very hard.” She was happy to hear some confidence in his voice.
“You might get a little wet.”
He gave a hoot of laughter. “I’m already soaking wet!”
“Right, right.” As if she hadn’t said it intentionally, as a joke. “Okay then, Tyler, are you all set? Ready to beach this bunny?”
All went according to plan, and a moment later they were both onshore. She dragged the kayak onto the grass, then offered the boy her hand. “Let’s get you warmed up, how does that sound?”
He clung to her hand, which proved how scared he must have been, considering he was an eight-year-old boy who probably didn’t do that sort of thing much anymore.
Once he had a blanket wrapped tightly around him, she scanned the water with the binoculars, which she’d left on the pier with the blankets. Jason and the other man weren’t far away, maybe a fifty yards or so. But when she aimed the glasses farther out, she saw that the boat was nowhere to be seen. All that remained of it was debris floating on the surface.
Another boat approached from the direction of the town. It must be the fire department, finally getting their act together. If Jason was in charge, he’d do a much better job, she thought. He was so thorough. And sensitive. And skilled.
Wait, now she was onto a different topic. That kiss. Those kisses. Honestly, it had come out of the blue, how amazing it felt to kiss Jason. Kissing was very important, in her opinion, and people didn’t always take the time for it. Dominic, for instance, always seemed to consider kissing to be just a stepping stone on the way to what he really wanted. And towards the end, they generally skipped that part and went straight to the sex. Which also ended pretty quickly because they were both so busy.
But Jason kissed as if it was the ultimate destination, not a stopping point along the way. She’d gotten no hint that he wanted to rush through it or that the kiss wasn’t wonderful in and of itself. Those kisses had left her feeling the oddest mixture of arousal and peace. Weren’t those two complete opposites?
That was just like Jason, in a weird way. Simple, but complicated. Familiar, but unknown. Relaxed, until he needed to take action. Unhurried, until an emergency hit.
What was sexier, kissing him or watching him swim to the rescue of a boat on fire? Not that she had to choose…both things made him sexy. Added together, they turned him into a rock star.
“Here they come!” Tyler scrambled back onto his feet and jumped up and down. “Dad! Dad! This way!”
“Here, do you want to shine a light for them?” Kendra handed him the flashlight she’d grabbed from the kitchen. “Try to aim it in front of them instead of at them. You don’t want to blind them.”
“Okay.” He held it with both hands and focused the beam on the dark rippling water a few feet ahead of his father. “Can you see us, Dad?”
“Yah,” he gasped. His strokes, which had been flagging, picked up speed, as if the mere sound of his son’s voice gave him new strength.
Kendra was more worried about Jason. He’d swum all the way out there, then part of the way back with the added burden of a terrified child. He was moving even more slowly than Tyler’s father, and she fought the urge to jump in the water and help him the rest of the way. She had no lifeguard training and the two of them might end up drowning each other.