Page 45 of Ruining His Smirk

He reached toward me as though he could somehow bridge the impossible distance. Our eyes met, and despite it all, I smiled. Thank goodness he was safe.

Then he started climbing.

“NO!”

My voice was feeble. Damn it.

He had one leg hooked over the railing already.

“STOP!”

I threw one arm into the air, chopping it back and forth as hard as I could.

Don’t.

Stay there.

I pointed emphatically back toward the deck, yelling “No!” like a maniac.

Do not come in.

Landry hung on the precipice and looked at me. His expression twisted into something that looked heartbreakingly like determination. That absolute fool thought I was drowning.

Then he let go.

My stomach dropped. He had no idea what he was doing. He didn’t even attempt to assume a streamlined pose. He was just falling spread-eagled.

Shit.

For the briefest instant, he seemed suspended against the bright blue Antarctic night sky. Then he hit the surface with a sickening thud and disappeared into the deep black water.

The ship’s alarm wailed above me, its urgent cry carrying across the deck and out over the water. It was quickly joined by shouting.

“Man overboard!”

“Port side!”

“I’ve got visual!”

The crew had realized what had happened, just as I knew they would. It was three in the morning, but Keith had been on the third watch, and I trusted him with my life. I twisted around, searching for the spot where Landry had disappeared beneath the waves.

The cold was creeping into every molecule, and the wet jacket and boots were creating serious drag, but I had a job now. I needed to save the idiot. That helped me get my head out of my own panic.

I struck out toward him with powerful strokes. By the time I reached Landry, he erupted from the water in a fit of violentcoughing, desperately trying to inhale while simultaneously choking on seawater.

The poor bastard. His arms flailed without purpose, slapping at the waves as though he could somehow push them away.

Only when I reached Landry did another danger occur to me. We had gone over the side almost directly alongside the ship. It rose directly out of the water, a gigantic cliff of steel that displaced thousands of tons with every movement. I wasn’t sure where that rogue wave had come from, and it was already dispersing away, but the ship was still rocking ponderously as the ocean tried to find equilibrium again. We were like two ants floating helplessly beside it.

I caught Landry’s shoulder before he could seize hold of me. I knew never to approach a panicking swimmer from the front. I slipped around to his side and then behind him, using the movement of the water rather than fighting against it. My forearm settled securely across his chest beneath his shoulders as I tilted him onto his back, keeping his face angled toward the sky, where he had a chance of drawing air into his lungs instead of seawater.

A hundred things wanted to come out of my mouth.

What the hell were you thinking?

Why did you jump?

Instead, I kept my voice as calm and steady as I could through my chattering teeth.