Dear Mister Summers

twenty

Sebastian went to get his swimming trunks, beach towel, and other stuff. Andin was waiting in the hotel's lobby. While he was away, she was trying to rethink again her decision of spending time with him. It would be ridiculous and quite childish of her to object to it at the last minute. And before she could think of another reason to make her objection valid, he had returned.

The hotel had a private section of sand and its own changing cabins. Half an hour later, she emerged from the tiny cabin to find Sebastian standing at the edge of the water in black trunks, staring out across the blue sea. Unlike herself, he was bronzed by the sun, the hard lean body fit and athletic, his broad shoulders and smooth-skinned back tapering to slim hips and long, muscled, thighs. Reluctantly she walked towards him, conscious of the glances she was getting from some of the young men playing beach ball over a fixed net a few yards away. One of them gave a low whistle, calling something to her in Italian that she did not understand.

Sebastian turned and watched her walk forward. She felt acutely embarrassed by the brevity of the red bikini but angrily defiant both of herself and the observer. Her dark hair floated around her shoulders in a silken curtain that brushed her bare skin as she moved.

"You look a few years younger," he murmured as she joined him.

She glanced at the bare brown chest, roughened by fine dark hair, and instantly regretted it for the sight only cause her lips to feel dry. "I am going to swim," she said decidedly as a way to distance herself from him. She walked towards the edge and dived into the water, thinking that he would stay behind and enjoy the sun.

He surprised her by following closely behind her. His dark head appeared in the waves in front of her, rising and sinking above the sea, his arms moving rhythmically over his head. Andin was caught in surprise and accidentally leaned back too much that she would have dipped her head backward if it was not for his muscular hand gripping her waist. Water streamed from her hair as she finally found her balance, the long wet strands clinging to her face.

"I thought you would go sunbathing."

"Well, someone has to keep an eye on you," he answered with a shrug.

"What?" She narrowed her eyes, feeling slightly offended. "I'm not a child. I'll be fine on my own."

"I didn't say you were a child. Stop putting words in my mouth, Miss Williams. You've been doing that a lot lately." He gave her a hard look and then heavily sighed. "You are swimming quite far from the crowd and I'm worried that you might get a muscle cramp."

And only then had she noticed that they were both had gone further from the beach than she had realized. "Oh."

She breathed faster than usual, tired from the swim. He seemed to notice that as he moved her to a raft that she just noticed he had brought with him. He helped her get on top of it before hauling himself aboard.

The sparkle of the sun on the water dazzled her eyes for a moment. Andin gazed back at the beach, watching the glitter of hotel windows, the shimmering vista of palm trees, white buildings, and small figures on the sands.

He looked away, seemingly annoyed by her behavior, though his hand was still resting on her waist. Then suddenly he pushed back her damp, darkened hair with a casual hand, and the touch woke a sweetness in her which made her turn on him, her voice cutting. "Please don't touch me!" The response was instinctive, angry, and self-protective.

His blue eyes hardened. "You've been saying that for too long and I'm sick of hearing it!"

His hands grabbed her, digging into the sun-warmed, wet flesh until she gasped.