Learning to Swim(12)

“I want to learn how to swim,” I said stiffly, almost like I was a robot or something.

“Good,” he said, peeling off his red T-shirt.

I had always known that my infatuation with Keith was, for the most part, based on looks. This was confirmed one hundred percent when I gazed at his mesmerizing ab muscles and his taut, smooth, virtually hairless skin. Alice wouldn't have been impressed, though. She had loved that Roland was hairier than a sasquatch.

Keith nodded toward the water, as if to tell me, Let's get on with it.

Now it was time for me to disrobe. I hadn't thought much about how awkward that would be, but apparently the awkwardness was palpable, because Keith turned away from me and went to grab some towels. The guy was a saint. A saint in the body of an underwear model.

I slowly pulled off my shirt and shrugged off my shorts. Even though I had on my bikini underneath, I was immediately aware of how much of my skin Keith was going to see. Then I thought about how much of it he was going to touch and I nearly doubled over from stomach cramp pain.

Damn the Pancake House.

Keith dove into the deep end. He swam the length of the pool underwater and popped his head up in the shallow end. I was still gripping my stomach and hoping that Alice was right about my thighs.

“You okay?” he asked, glancing at me quickly before checking the skimmer. So much for the Miss USA moment. As he busied himself with the skimmer, I tried to put my intestinal malfunctions out of my head, walked around the pool, and dipped my toe into the lukewarm water.

“It gets warmer once you get used to it.” Keith snapped the skimmer back into place and focused his deep brown eyes on me.

In a sudden burst of courage (or perhaps it was hysteria), I eased down the steps and stood directly in front of him. Beads of water were gleaming on every inch of him. He looked incredible.

“The first thing we're going to learn is how to float. So you're going to lean back and I'm going to put my arms underneath you.”

This sounded so hot. “You want me to lie back?”

“Right, and I'll hold you up.”

I started to arch myself backward and stopped.

Then I felt his wet hand on my waist. “Just relax.”

It all sank in. I was in a pool. With Keith McKnight. Without Barbie's permission.

Whoa.

The next thing Keith did was put his hands on my shoulders, guiding me backward. I felt stiff as a board as I attempted to lie straight while he supported my back, his hands pressing hard against my bare skin. He took a step and I reacted instinctively, attempting to right myself. His grasp tightened as he said, “I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Focus on the feel of the water. And trust me.”

Although Keith didn't know this, what he'd suggested was a tall order. Trust him? After every finger move, Barbie had said she wasn't going to let anything happen to me either.

I forced myself to lean backward again, resting up against him as my body bobbed on top of the water. As he began to move, pulling me with him, the water swooshed around me and I felt as though I was wrapped in a cocoon. It was as if gravity had disappeared and I was light as a feather. I felt a tickle in my stomach, the same amazing sensation I had every time I spotted Keith through Alice's binoculars. There was only one way to describe it.

I felt alive.

Without warning, Keith stopped and helped me to my feet. “The thing to remember, Steffie, is that learning to swim has as much to do with the mind as it does the body. It's all about instincts and attitude.”

Oh yeah. It sure was.

He turned around and pulled himself out of the pool. Then he grabbed a kickboard, jumped back into the water, and handed the board to me. “I want you to hold on to the board and kick across the pool.”

“By myself?”

“Just hold on to the board,” he repeated. “You'll do great.”

Encouraged by his words, I clutched the board against me with unbridled enthusiasm. I can do this, I told myself. Just because my mother was terrified of the water and that I would have my own TCI, just because I had tempted fate and the love lunacy gods by taking swim lessons with my fantasy guy even though I knew my mother would jump on me like a monkey on a cupcake if she found out, did not necessarily mean I was doomed to repeat the history of those who'd gone before me. My mother's fears didn't have to be my own, right?

“Keep your arms over the top of the board. And move your legs like this,” he said happily, making a scissoring motion with his legs. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying this, and it just made him even cuter. “Don't be afraid to let it rip. I want to see some really hard kicks.”

Keith gave me a little push into the water. I held on to the sides of the board and began to kick. I reached the end and stopped. A surge of pride and freedom ripped through me and I turned around and smiled at Keith. He was beaming right back at me.

“Awesome, Steffie.” He nodded toward the opposite side of the pool. “Keep it going.” And so I shoved off again, reaching the other side and turning around. After a while, I got so good that I didn't even have to stop and stand up, I just swung my board around and kept going.

“Nice work,” Keith said finally. “I think that's enough for tonight.” He took my board and said, “How do you feel?”

“Good,” I said.

But that was a huge understatement. I felt great. The combination of propelling myself through the water and accomplishing this big feat and being alone with Keith had made it one of the best nights of my life, one that I didn't want to end. I stood directly in front of him, my feet firmly planted on the bottom of the pool.