Realising he was waiting for a reply, I opened my mouth and blurted out the first things that came into my head. ‘Oh, yes, zorbing is brilliant. Especially the rolling downhill bit. I love stuff like that. White water rafting, abseiling, surfing – um – skiing. Fabulous fun. Really, honestly, totally amazing.’
And really, honestly, complete bollocks.
I was still holding my glass as I was talking, swinging it around for emphasis, and Jaz had to take cover to avoid a white wine shower.
He introduced himself as Jack Dempster, and after a subtle nudge from Katja, I broke off from staring into his amazing eyes and did the introductions at my end. After a minute, though, the girls started talking amongst themselves, diplomatically leaving me to it.
‘So you like skiing?’ His eyes shone eagerly. Clearly a fan himself.
‘Love it. Yes. Absolutely.’
Oh, God. Think of some ski moves. I’ve watched it on the telly loads of times.
‘The – um – slaylom? That’s the bit I like the best.’
‘The slalom?’
‘Yes! The slalom! Nipping in between the posts, all that stuff…fabulous!’
‘You can navigate a slalom course?’ He looked impressed. ‘Wow, you really are good.’
Oh, bugger, had I gone too far? Time to back-peddle a bit…
‘I mean, I don’t think I’m that good. But hey, I’ll give anything a go once.’
His brow wrinkled at this slightly perplexing statement (hell, even I was confused) so I swiftly changed the subject and asked him what he was doing at the spa. It turned out he was a bit of a workaholic and his worried sister had decided that he needed a break. So this was her treat.
‘That was nice of her.’
He nodded. ‘Mum died when we were little, so Fiona tends to mother me.’ He grinned. ‘She’ll be phoning to check that I’m actually here and haven’t been tempted back to the office. She knows me too well.’
‘What do you do?’
‘I work in the virtual reality industry. I find the whole subject fascinating.’ He grinned. ‘I’m lucky, I suppose. It doesn’t seem like work.’
‘Virtual reality? Like when you can fly a plane? Or see your house redesigned before you even knock a wall down?’
He nodded. ‘That kind of thing, yes.’
‘Wow, that must be amazing.’
He smiled and I was a goner. Warning lights were flashing. I might be about to drown in his gorgeous, liquid honey eyes. But frankly, given the choice, I might never come up for air…
We introduced ourselves, and later, when I went for a swim with the girls, the first person I spotted was Jack, doing a strong front crawl up and down the pool. I bobbed around at the edge with the girls, chatting, none of us feeling like proper swimming after our big lunch. I kept sneaking looks at Jack under my eyelashes, admiring the way he was powering through the water, and trying not to stare too hard at his impressive muscles.
I don’t think he even noticed me, he was concentrating so hard on his stroke. It made me wonder if Jack Dempster employed that level of single-minded focus in every area of his life, not just work and swimming. I found his enthusiasm and dynamism very sexy indeed.
And then…I managed to make the biggest arse of myself ever.
We’d got out of the pool to try out the sauna, but after just a few seconds of steamy heat, I decided I was going back in the pool.
‘Good luck,’ Katja said with a big grin as I left the sauna.
I felt strangely self-conscious in my bikini (and very glad I’d put on my fake tan the day before) but I could have coped with that. No, the disaster happened when I decided to sit on the edge of the pool, just as Jack was emerging from his swim.
We acknowledged each other with a smile, and Jack picked up a towel and rubbed his wet hair as he headed back to the men’s changing rooms, and I thought to myself: It’s now or never!
I stood up and called over that his sister would be really pleased to see him relaxing. And he looked back at me and laughed, then he wandered over to chat. He asked me if I was as good a swimmer as I was a skier, and I was totally honest this time and confessed that I couldn’t swim for toffee and that I once tried a dive and belly-flopped so hard, I couldn’t breathe properly for a week. I went to town with the hand actions, illustrating my story, and I was so focused on making Jack laugh that I completely forgot where I was.
He reached out to grab me, a split second after I stepped back…into thin air.
And then I was falling backwards, my arms flailing. With a piercing shriek, I landed in the pool, causing a mini tidal wave and inhaling what felt like an entire bucketful of chlorinated water…
CHAPTER NINE
Shocked by the suddenness of what happened and panicked by the water flooding into my airwaves, I flailed about in the deep end, coughing and spluttering, trying desperately to keep my head above water.
Then, as I went under for the second time, I felt someone beside me. Someone who was strong enough to circle my waist and somehow hoist me up, out of the water, where I took some gasping breaths.
I couldn’t see properly because my hair was plastered to my face, but Jack pushed it out of my eyes. He was holding me up - one hand at my waist, the other cupping my bottom – allowing me to catch my breath. Then he was pulling me along with him, until we reached the shallow end. But still he didn’t let go and neither did I. I didn’t want to. With my arms around his neck, I allowed him to guide me right to the edge of the shallow end.
We were both breathing hard. I was clasped against Jack in a very intimate clinch, and my heart started beating even faster as I stared into his amber-coloured eyes. Without his glasses, they were even more mesmerising, and the intensity of his gaze made my body leap with desire. It shocked me, this feeling. I’d never felt such a strong physical connection before.
‘You okay?’ he said, looking worried, and the spell was broken. I realised the intensity in his expression was down to concern about me, and I felt like a fool for imagining it was anything else. Apart from anything else, I must have looked like a right plonker, plunging spectacularly backwards into the pool like that.
Far from feeling a connection, he probably just felt sorry for me!
Snatching my hands away from his neck, I muttered my thanks and started ploughing through the water towards the ladder, just wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. I felt like the biggest idiot imaginable.
Why did I have to make a total arse of myself with the first guy I’d liked in forever?
He called after me but I ignored him, hauling myself out of the pool because it was quicker than climbing the ladder, and hurrying into the changing room.
When the girls said they thought it was really rather romantic, Jack diving into the pool to rescue me, I brushed it off. ‘Romantic, my arse. He just felt sorry for me, that’s all. Let’s face it, I made a Class A pillock of myself, tumbling into the pool like that.’
Ellie grinned. ‘At least he’s going to remember you.’
I heaved a sigh. ‘Well, I suppose that’ll be some consolation when I’m rocking in my chair at the age of ninety-three, never having found the love of my life.’
‘It’ll happen,’ murmured Ellie, who was due to marry Zak on Christmas Eve. ‘I never thought I’d meet someone like Zak. But I did.’ She looked dreamily at her ring.