From the Heart

teacher is ready for your opinion on our society,” Jordan commented.
    “It was my educated analysis of our culture as it stands today, from technology to fashion. You know, Jordan, you really look hot after that tennis match. You should cool off.”
    She gave him a firm shove and sent him backwards into the pool. He surfaced, pushing his hair from his eyes. “Impulse,” she claimed and grabbed her middle as she laughed. “I’ve never had a firm control over impulses.” Saying nothing, he narrowed his eyes and swam to the edge. “Sorry, Jordan, but you really did look hot. I’m sure the water’s wonderful. You’re not mad, are you? I’ll help you out.”
    She’d no more than offered her hand when she realized her mistake. He took it firmly, then grinned at her as he gave it a quick tug and sent her headlong into the water. She came up sputtering.
    “I had that coming, I suppose.”
    “So you did. How’s the water?”
    “Terrific.” She treaded water with one hand and pulled off a sneaker with the other. “I’ve always thought”—she tossedthe sneaker over his head and out of the pool—“that when you find yourself in an inevitable situation, you should make the most of it.” She lofted her other shoe, then, doing a surface dive, streaked along the bottom.
    She jerked when Jordan’s hands took her waist. He turned her, and she found herself tangled with him in an underwater kiss. Her heartbeat jumped from normal to frantic, and she clung to him. When she surfaced, her pulse was still soaring.
    “I was making the most of an inevitable situation,” Jordan murmured and caught the lobe of her ear in his teeth.
    “You scared me.” She took a deep breath. “I should never have seen that shark movie.”
    “We don’t stock sharks in the winter.” He ran a hand through her hair. “It’s nearly copper when it’s wet and the sun hits it. The first day you were here I stood at my window and watched you swim. I couldn’t get you out of my mind even then.”
    She leaned her head on his shoulder. It was so difficult to be strong when he was gentle. She wanted to tell him again that she loved him, that it was breaking her heart to have to leave him. She didn’t know, even then, what she would do if he asked her to stay. Or perhaps she did, and that was why she had made her plans without telling him. They couldn’t go on as they were, and she saw no future for them. If he could love her . . . . But Kasey shook her head and drew away from him.
    “I’ll race you,” she challenged. “I’m a much better swimmer than tennis player.”
    He smiled. “All right, I’ll give you a head start.”
    Kasey lifted her brows. “That is an assumption of male superiority.” She pushed her hair from her eyes. “I’ll take it.”
    She was off like a rocket in a flurry of water. Even with her advantage, Jordan reached the far edge two strokes ahead of her. Kasey wrinkled her nose at him. “Of course,” she began and stood in the shallow water, “if I’d grown up in a pool . . .”
    She noted that he was paying no attention to her words. Following his eyes, she glanced down.
    The T-shirt she had worn modestly enough on the tennis court now clung to her breasts. Rather than a cover, it was anerotic invitation. Her brief shorts were molded wetly to her hips and upper thighs. Naked, she would have been less of a temptation. Water ran slowly down the sleekness of her hair.
    “I think this sort of swimming apparel belongs in deeper water,” Kasey decided and pushed away from the edge.
    She was in his arms before she was halfway across the pool. His mouth took hers, hungry, quickly desperate. They lowered below the surface again, tied to each other. Kasey hung on as a mixture of fear and passion ran through her. There were sensations of weightlessness, of claustrophobia, of helplessness. She might have fought against them, but the will had slipped from her, and she held him tighter. He brought them up, and air rushed into her lungs.
    “You’re trembling,” he noticed abruptly. “Did I frighten you?”
    “I don’t know.” She held on and let him keep them above surface. “Oh, Jordan, I want you,” she breathed. The need was unexpectedly urgent and powerful.
    His mouth found hers again. His excitement was doubled by the desire he felt pouring out of her. “How long can you hold your breath?” he murmured.
    “Not long enough.” She gave a shaky laugh and searched for his lips again. “Not