Not a Flower - A Novel

Chapter 6

After her initial shriek, Grace instinctively held her breath and found that she didn't have anything to fear as Adrian immediately pulled her up until her head broke over the surface. She sputtered and took a deep breath, turning to see his grinning face next to her. She slapped water his way. God it was cold!

He chuckled and lazily swam away. Grace swam to the rock ledge and pulled herself up with a bit more difficulty then he had shown earlier. Her teeth chattered like jelly beans in a candy tray.

"It's only fair." He purred from the water. "You shouldn't play games unless you knew the rules."

"Oh shut up." Grace muttered through clenched teeth. She ran back to the fire and wrapped her arms around herself.

"You should take off those wet things." He told her innocently.

Feeling as if she was freezing to death, she glowered. How could he be so cruel to her when he knew how she was suffering over his brother?

"Maybe I will." She said airily. Grasping the soaked edge of her shirt, she began to pull it away from her wet skin.

"Very smart doctor." She gasped as somehow he was suddenly next to her, nonchalantly stripping off his khaki shorts. Dressed only in his black boxers, Adrian wrung out his clothes and laid them flat on a rock by the fire.

Grace was frozen in indecision. Sighing, he walked over and pulled off her shirt swiftly before wringing that out as well. She choked and crossed her arms over her meager chest encased in its sensible gray cotton bra.

"You should also take off the jeans." Adrian laid out her shirt next to his on the rock. Grace rubbed her arms and admittedly realized that she would warm up faster without the sodden cloth against her skin.

She looked at him and saw that he seemed completely comfortable in his boxers and a great deal warmer then her. She bit her lip. They were both adults and she hardly had the kind of body to drive men to madness.

"Turn around." She ordered stiffly. With a grin, he obeyed. She stood up and pulled off her jeans as quickly as possible. The freezing wet material pulled away with difficulty. She tried to wring it but her hands were so cold she couldn't feel anything.

"Let me help." Adrian took the jeans from her and wrung it easily. Grace quickly returned to her rock and hunkered close to the fire. Her body could immediately feel the heat and she sighed in relief.

Sitting back down across from her, Adrian leaned back and closed his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.

Forgetting about her almost naked body, Grace looked up. She knew he wasn't talking about the cold.

"Not too bad." She said and nodded.

He stood up and added more wood to the fire. Then he sat down next to her.

Adrian smelled like some fresh lingering soap and pleasant warmth. Grace found his scent to be quite nice. She breathed it in and closed her eyes briefly.

"You should forget about him." He suggested in a low voice.

Grace opened her eyes and turned to look at him. "I've tried."

He returned her look with head tilted.

"That bad, huh?"

Grace nodded. "That's the whole reason I came here. To get over him."

"Sounds like a good plan."
"It's not working." She sighed.

"Tell me." He commanded quietly. "Tell me about how you fell in love with my worthless brother."