His Contract Bride (Banks Brothers Brides 1)(32)

She needed to, but there was no way she could go without help, her  skirts were too long and heavy for her to hold. "I think I can wait  until we get back."

He looked doubtful. "I can help, if you need me to."

"Thank you for offering, but I believe I'll be all right."

"All right, then." He pushed the boat three quarters of the way into the water then helped her in.

The sun wasn't quite as high or bright anymore; by her guess, it was  three or four in the afternoon. The water was calm and serene, just like  Edward's face as he paddled. The light splashing as the blade of his  paddle skimmed the water and the birds singing filled the air. Edward  added to it a moment later with his awful off-tune whistling.

"Join me," he encouraged.

"I can't."

"Sure you can. Everyone can whistle," he said between bars of whatever song was in his head.

"No, I really can't."

He stared at her as if he didn't believe her.

"I don't know how."

Edward's O-shaped lips held form, but his whistling had stopped. "Have you ever tried?"

She cocked her head to the side. "I don't know. When I was very young, I  heard a woman in the park whistle and I remember my mother telling me  to stop trying to duplicate the sound, because it'd irritate my father."

"I don't know why I find that a surprise," he mumbled, moving his paddle  to the other side of the boat. "All right, what you'll do is pucker  your lips like you're about to kiss someone, preferably your husband."

She coughed at his frank statement.

"Well, it's true," he said adamantly.

Now that he was staring at her, there was no way she could do that with her lips.

"Stop giggling and pucker up," he teased, making kissing faces at her.                       
       
           



       

Where had this man come from and what had happened to her husband? "I don't think I can."

"Now, I know without any doubt, that's not true. I can even prove it,"  he murmured; the seriousness in his voice and the look in his eyes  putting an abrupt end to her laughter. He brought the paddle out of the  water and rested it across his knees. Then, before she knew what was  going on, his right hand came up to rest on her cheek and his soft, warm  lips found hers.

Regina's mind spun. He'd kissed her lips so many times when they'd first  married. But never with the same intensity as he did either time today.  Against her lips, his moved, exerting the most exquisite pressure and  she gasped.

Edward took advantage of her parted lips, drawing her bottom lip in  between his. His warm tongue ran the length of her lip and a shiver ran  through her. His other hand came up to hold onto the other side of her  face, holding her mouth against his.

Ever so lightly, he nipped her bottom lip then soothed it with his  tongue. She opened her mouth more to him, allowing him to deepen their  kiss in a way he never had before.

"Edward," she sighed against his lips as he withdrew his tongue.

His lips continued to mesh on top of and in between hers. "Regina."

On their own accord, Regina's hands found their way to Edward's soft  hair. She twirled her fingers into the silky strands, never wanting to  let go.

"Regina," he panted, abruptly ending their kiss and moving backward. He  pulled her off her seat and nearly on top of him just in time to keep  her from hitting her head on an overhanging tree limb.

Just then, the back of the boat tipped backward due to the unbalanced weight and plunged them both into the chilly water.





~Chapter Twenty-Three~





Edward came to the surface to take a gulp of air and was met with a splash of cold water in his face.

Five feet away, Regina thrashed, trying in vain to keep her head above  water. But, she couldn't. She'd manage to get her face above water just  long enough to gasp and then down she went again. Though the creek  couldn't be any more than six or seven feet deep, to a lady like Regina,  wearing all those heavy skirts, it might as well be a hundred.

He swam over to her just as she'd slipped under the water again and  wrapped his arm around her midsection, pulling her safely above water  for good.

"Breathe," he whispered in her ear as he made his way toward the shore  with her. He set her down on a large rock and pulled himself up next to  her. "You can breathe now, it's all right."

She coughed up a mouth full of water.

He patted her back. "Are you all right now?"

"I think so," she said in between coughs. Her hair, which was always  styled beautifully, was slipping from its pins and plastered to her red  face.

He reached up and swept a stray lock from her forehead. "Just take deep breaths. That's it."

Her shallow breathing continued as she tried to catch her breath.  Lowering her head, she took a deep, shaky breath, and then released it.  Then another. She looked up and gasped. "What happened to your face?"

Edward ran his hands over his face and then pulled them away. Bright red  blood covered his fingers. He'd been so worried about Regina until now  that he hadn't paid any mind to his smarting cheek. He used the back of  his hand to wipe at the blood. "I must have cut my face when I hit the  rocks on the bottom."

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"Well, yes."

An uneven laugh escaped her lips. "Come here, let me see that."

He moved closer. He wouldn't argue having a beautiful woman clean his wounds, meager as they may be.

Regina stripped off her left glove and dunked it into the water. She  squeezed out the excess then folded it over and brought it to his face.

He winced.

"For-"

He cut those confounded words off with a quick kiss.

The column of her throat worked as she swallowed; her delicate fingers  danced across his forehead, sweeping his hair away from his wound. She  wiped away the blood. "It appears you have two long gashes and a  blackened eye to go along with your soaked clothes and ruined boots."

He encircled her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face. "I'm  sorry I caused us to tip. I didn't see that branch until it was too late  to do anything about it."

"It wasn't your fault."

Actually, it was, but who was he to argue? Noting the sun's position in  the sky, he said, "Why don't you wait, and I'll go see after the boat."

"Where is the boat?" Regina turned away from him to look.

He pointed in the general direction of where he'd last seen the boat. "By the rocks over there."

"Did it always sit so low in the water?"                       
       
           



       

He craned his neck to see. "No. I do believe this might be Gallant's  last adventure." My, but that boat was filling with water fast. He  flashed her a smile. "Congratulations, Regina. You've managed to do in  your first adventure what seven boys could not do in all of ours."

Her jaw dropped. "Surely you don't think this is my fault."

He shrugged. "You're the one who said the fault wasn't mine. That only leaves you."

She nudged him playfully with her elbow. He loved it when she did things  like that. It made him feel as if she was becoming comfortable being  herself in his presence. "Is it utterly unsalvageable?"

Before he could answer, Gallant slipped under the water. "I believe so, yes."

Regina buried her head in her hands and sobs wracked her body.

He moved against her, wrapping his arm around her. "Shhh," he crooned in her ear. "Don't cry. It'll be all right."

She looked up from her hands, her body still shaking uncontrollably, but not because of tears. She was laughing! That minx.

Edward took her in. She could sit here and laugh until the sun rose  tomorrow morning for all he cared. He loved hearing that merry sound.

"Do you have any scientific theories on how the unsinkable Gallant  sank?" she asked after her laughter had calmed down into the occasional  giggle.

Edward crossed his ankles and knocked the sides of his ruined boots  together. "For once, I don't. My guess would be that after we were  thrown into water, Gallant regained enough buoyancy to float again, but  instead of meeting directly with the water when her bow came down, the  underneath part of her must have hit a hard surface-" he looked around  at their surroundings- "like the branches we were trying to escape or  one of those large stones over there, cracking the wood and leaving her  to take on water and sink." He plucked a blade of tall grass by his  side. "Perhaps Gallant wasn't so gallant, after all."

"You're not upset at all, are you?"

"No. Should I be?"

"Most gentlemen in your position would be."

He reached over and wiped away a drop of water that was clinging to Regina's jawline. "You mean like your father?"