paid for my advice.” Chance paused a few feet away. “Since you’re my sister, I’ll work on contingency.”
“Don’t you think yellow looks horrible on blondes?” said Phoebe. The blond woman was stunning, he noted for the umpteenth time. There’d never been any chemistry between them, though, just friendly banter.
“I refuse to incriminate myself,” he said.
“Spoken like a lawyer,” said his sister.
“And deep-rose would look simply horrible with…that. Agreed?” Phoebe indicated some reddish brown hair floating on the water, obviously attached to their pal Daisy’s head.
“I plead the fifth amendment,” Chance said. “Don’t you think she’s been under there a long time?”
“She’s a good swimmer,” said Elise. “Well, a good dog paddler, anyway.”
“She isn’t swimming, she’s floating,” he pointed out.
“We absolutely have to pick the wedding colors,” Phoebe said.
“You mean, I have to pick them!” said his sister.
“I’m getting a little concerned about your friend.” Chance didn’t want to overdramatize the situation by plunging into the pool fully clothed, but the woman’s lungs must be near bursting.
“She’s fine,” Elise said. “Her hands are moving under the water. If she’d lost consciousness, she couldn’t maintain a vertical position.”
Chase knelt at the edge of the pool. The hair bobbed upward, then lowered again. The woman was deliberately staying down there, all right, but why was she behaving so bizarrely?
Phoebe joined Chance at the side of the pool. She was focused on Daisy, looking concerned. “Is she on medication?” he asked.
“Maybe hormones. I think she has what they used to call a female condition,” said Phoebe, her face suddenly turning red. “Maybe I shouldn’t have shared that with you. It just slipped out in my worry.”
“Hormones don’t make a person act like a lunatic. At least, I don’t think so.” Chance’s own lungs were aching in sympathy. Unable to stand the suspense, he reached into the pool and grasped the woman’s shoulders, getting his jacket cuffs and watch soaked in the process.
She had smooth shoulders, he noticed distractedly. Touching her bare skin gave him a slight tingle.
When he pulled, she shot to the surface, gasping and sputtering. Waterlogged hair clung to her cheeks, and for a disconnected moment he thought he was imagining the resemblance.
But it was her. Deirdre.
Daisy, he thought in confusion. Deirdre was Daisy. But why on earth had his sister’s friend run away from him?
DAISY HADN’T MEANT to stay under the water so long. She’d gone down on an impulse and then, hearing the blurred echo of Chance’s voice, had clung to her sanctuary single-mindedly.
She was glad he’d pulled her up. And humiliated at being discovered. If she hadn’t been coughing so hard, she would have raced for the building before anyone could start asking questions, but her own frailty trapped her.
Clinging to Chance’s strong arms, she leaned against the edge of the pool and sucked in deep, agonizing lungfuls of air. Only gradually did she realize the man’s sleeves were drenched, not to mention that was obviously a very expensive watch.
Embarrassed, she eased her grip and moved away. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you all right?” His deep tones echoed through her.
She nodded, keeping her eyes averted. Her friends were studying her with varying degrees of puzzlement.
“Is it the hormones?” Elise asked. “Are you having hot flashes?”
“No, of course not!” Could this get any more awkward? Daisy wondered.
The last thing she wanted was for Chance to hear about her medical condition. A guy like him would probably be repelled by the mention of endometriosis.
In fact, a playboy like him would head for the hills if he found out how badly she wanted a child. Especially if he learned that she needed to get pregnant soon to ease her condition and help prevent future infertility.
Daisy longed to hold a baby in her arms. It scared her that already there was a chance she couldn’t conceive.
The gentle, understanding man that she dreamed of marrying would accept her without hesitation and stand by her no matter what. A man like Chance, on the other hand, was likely to wrinkle his nose and hightail it in pursuit of a woman with no imperfections attached.
Did he have to look so gorgeous, with the late-afternoon light bringing out the strength of his face and the deceptive sensitivity of his gray gaze? she wondered. It would have been hard to keep her distance, except for the fact that she could barely move.
“You wouldn’t happen to be in need of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, would you?” he teased, seeming unaware of the breeze that fluttered engagingly through his soft hair. Even the elements conspired on Chance’s behalf.
“I’m a little cold.” Getting out of the pool would feel even colder, but Daisy needed to escape the curious stares of her friends. Not to mention the ever-inquisitive Frannie Fitzgerald, who stood on her patio with hands on hips, watching them with interest.
“Which towel’s yours?” When she pointed, Chance brought it from a nearby bench.
As she climbed from the water, he wrapped it around her, his hands lingering longer than strictly necessary. Despite her better judgment, she didn’t mind.
“Honestly, we didn’t realize anything was wrong,” Phoebe said. “Should I call a doctor?”
“Nothing is wrong.” Daisy wished her teeth would stop chattering. “It’s my own stupid fault. I had this impulse to see how long I could stay underwater.”
“Why?” asked her friend.
“Because I’m an idiot,” she said.
“You look kind of blue,” Elise said. “I don’t care for that shade. We can scratch it off our list for the wedding.”
Daisy couldn’t help chuckling at her friend’s nonsense. Chance circled his arm more closely around her. He didn’t seem to notice the water dripping onto his suit and shoes.
“I repeat, we need to try on dresses before we make a decision,” said Phoebe.
“There is no ‘we’ making this decision,” Elise said. “I’m consulting you two out of the goodness of my heart.”
“Saturday,” Phoebe said. “I’m free to shop in the afternoon.”
Elise shrugged. “Okay by me.” When Daisy coughed, her friend said, “I’ll answer for her. She’s taking a few hours off to join us.”
“But I have a show opening that night.”
“That’s why you hired that assistant. Right?”
There was no denying it. “Right.”
“I’m taking Daisy inside to dry off,” Chance told them.
“I can go alone.”
“No,” he replied firmly. “You need me to look after you.”
Daisy’s heart twisted in a funny, scary, delicious way. She knew it was just Chance’s suave charm coming into play, but she wished so hard that he meant it.
“Before you go,” his sister said, “was there a reason you wanted to see me, big bro?”
“Nothing urgent. I’ll catch you later,” he said.
Daisy knew she shouldn’t let him walk her to her condo.