Nina always looked like she’d just stepped off the glossy cover of a magazine. Every hair precisely in place, impeccable clothing, and with an air of perfection that seemed almost superhuman at times.
He, on the other hand, sometimes wore the same T-shirt two days in a row. Or forgot to shave. And seemed to perpetually need a haircut.
He pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t help it. Those things just weren’t as important to him as whatever project he was working on. Which was currently a ceramic ion exchange membrane with a solar-powered self-cleaning attachment that he hoped would revolutionize desalinization processes. If he could get it to work.
If he could—no, when he could, he planned to donate the technology to the countries that needed it most, the countries that could benefit from clean water and had access to the sea. For those countries, it might change everything. They might even be able to resell the sea salt that would be a byproduct of the water cleaning.
Which would just be a bonus. For them.
After all, he no longer needed the money. Not after selling Blnk, the software that allowed a person or company to temporarily disappear online.
Sweat dripped down his back, even in the cool spring air. He didn’t mind. That was the only reason he was out here, to sweat and get a workout that would make up for the rest of his inactive day.
He only had one earbud in today, too. Most of the time he listened to music, another love of his, but this was a new path and he wanted to be aware of his surroundings on his first trip around the lake while still being able to hear his running app.
Truth be told, the jury was still out on Nocturne Falls. It seemed like a nice enough small town, but he hadn’t lived outside of a big city since he’d left home for college. He thought he wanted this kind of change. But he wasn’t sure just yet.
One thing was for certain. His money went a lot further here than it did in any of the big cities he’d come to love.
His new house was proof of that. Four thousand square feet of space. In New York, that would have cost him more than he wanted to think about.
But the hustle and bustle he’d thought he should get away from now seemed…too far away. Even with the tourist industry this town supposedly had, it didn’t seem that busy. Not like what he was used to. Although he hadn’t exactly immersed himself in Nocturne Falls.
The truth was, in the week he’d been here, most of that time had been spent setting up his office with his computer workstation and sound system.
He knew he had to give this place more time. And he would. But if he didn’t feel more at home here in a month or so, he’d have to give serious thought to returning to another of his big-city properties. At least for a few weeks.
He had to feel connected to the world or he feared he’d lose touch with the hum of it all. And that hum, that buzz, that cosmic vibration or whatever someone might call it, was what kept him inspired. What moved him to create the next new thing.
Without that vibrancy, he worried his drive would disappear. And without that? Life would be pointless. And then he might as well marry Nina. He laughed and shook his head. She wouldn’t like that sort of thought one bit.
The movement of shaking his head made him catch sight of something in the water. He slowed his pace, trying to see better in the dim morning light. The shadows from all the trees didn’t help. Neither did the fog lifting off the water. He looked closer.
Something had surfaced.
He stopped altogether.
Not something. Someone.
A woman. Face down and not moving, except for her long, coppery-blond hair, which floated around her like some strange kind of water weed.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he ran for the lake, pulled off his glasses, and dove, but he had a feeling he was going to need the police more than the paramedics. There didn’t seem to be any signs of life.
He lost sight of her as he swam. Maybe the current had moved her?
Or maybe she’d gone under.
He gulped a breath and sank down to look, but there was only enough light to see a few feet around him. Wait, there she was to the left of him. Still floating.
Definitely dead. Her arms dangled lifelessly from her body. She must have come out here for a swim and something had gone terribly wrong. His heart sank at the thought of such a tragedy.
He surfaced, took in another breath, and paddled toward her, trying to figure out what his plan should be. Check to make sure she was dead? But then he probably shouldn’t touch the body after that. In case this was a crime scene.
It wasn’t. Was it? Because he didn’t want to do anything to screw up a thing like that.
But she had to be dead. She’d been face down too long. Probably just an accidental drowning. Small towns didn’t have a lot crime.
Gingerly, he took hold of her arm and turned her over. Thick strands of hair covered her face. He moved a few of them, enough to see her face. She was extraordinarily beautiful. And didn’t seem to be breathing.
Instantly, he put his mouth on hers and did his best to do CPR while also keeping them both afloat and swimming for shore.
It was almost light enough to see clearly now. Maybe someone would come by to help. Another jogger.
Then the woman in his arms moved. She gasped a second later, her eyes blinking open. They were the most stunning sea green. “What are you doing to me? Get your hands off me, you creep.”
“I—”
She shoved him away, causing him to go under.
He bobbed up again. “I wasn’t doing anything to you. You were drowning.”
“I was not. I was swimming.”
“I am not a cree—ma’am, you were floating face down and definitely not swimming.”
She frowned harder. Which didn’t make her any less beautiful. Then her eyes widened, she gasped, and a split-second later, she disappeared down into the water like she’d been pulled under. He was looking at her, and then she was gone. It happened that fast.
The water rippled as if she’d kicked hard. A little trail of eddies moved across the surface in the direction of the other shore for a few feet, then even those swirled away.
He stayed there, treading water and watching. She never came back up.
He stayed a little longer, kicking like crazy to hold his position, waiting for her to reappear. She had to. But she never did.
Then he started to shiver in the cold water and decided it was time to get out.
He swam back to shore, no longer certain of what had just happened. He knew he’d seen a woman with hair like spun copper and eyes like the deep sea. He knew he’d briefly had his mouth on hers. And that her lips had been soft. And warmer than expected.
He knew she’d disappeared with a speed and suddenness that didn’t seem possible. And that she hadn’t reappeared, which also didn’t seem possible.
Beyond that, he couldn’t be sure of anything else.
He walked out of the water, dripping wet and utterly confused. He picked up his glasses from the grass where he’d dropped them. This was one of those things probably best kept to himself. He pulled off his T-shirt and wrung it out.
But something told him that getting that woman out of his head wasn’t going to be an easy feat.
How had that happened? How? Undrea took a quick look around to be sure the coast was clear, then dashed out of the water to where her clothes were stashed.