“Sorry.” Daniel looked embarrassed and laughed a little. “I didn’t mean to like go all … dark on you.”

“No, it’s good.” She scratched her head and smiled at him. “I think … I think I needed to hear that.”

“Good. Glad I could help,” he said. “So, what did you stop by for anyway?”

“I…” She briefly considered lying, but after he’d been so honest with her, she couldn’t. “I don’t really know.”

“You just wanted to see me?” Daniel asked with a small smirk.

“I guess so.”

“Are you hungry?” Daniel got up before she could answer.

There wasn’t much of a walkway in the boat, so just the act of standing up brought Daniel disconcertingly close. He moved closer so he stood right in front of her, mere inches from touching her.

“You want anything?” Daniel asked as she stared up at him.

“What?” Harper asked, and she had no idea what he’d even asked her. She found herself strangely mesmerized by the flecks of blue in his hazel eyes.

To open his fridge, he had to bend over and lean to the side, and he brushed up against her as he did. Even when he opened the door, he kept his eyes on Harper as he pulled out a couple of cans of soda.

“You want something to drink or eat?” He straightened up, holding out a can to her.

She took it, smiling thinly at him. “Thanks.”

Daniel didn’t move, though, instead staying right in front of her. When a boat sped by, causing a wave to rock his boat, he fell forward a bit. He caught himself by putting a hand on either side of Harper. As he pressed up against her, she could feel the warmth of his bare chest through the thin fabric of her shirt.

“Sorry,” Daniel said, his voice low, but he still didn’t move away from her.

His face hovered right above hers, and Harper could feel him leaning in to her, as if she were pulling him into her orbit. His eyes searched hers, and she didn’t know how she’d never noticed how beautiful his eyes were before.

He smelled of tanning lotion and shampoo. Somewhere in the back of her mind she’d been expecting him to smell sweatier and muskier. Instead, it was strangely sweet.

Through her shirt, she could feel the smooth muscles of his chest and stomach, and suddenly an intense urge to throw her arms around him took hold of her.

Daniel closed his eyes, and with his lips about to touch hers, Harper finally acted on her impulse. Or at least she tried to.

She moved her hand, meaning to wrap her arm around him. Instead, she only managed to shove the ice-cold can of soda into his side, making him jump back from her.

“Sorry.” She grimaced and shook her head. “I forgot I was even holding the soda.”

“No, it’s okay.” Daniel smiled. “It was just cold.”

He stepped back toward her, like he meant to go in for the kiss again, but the moment was broken, and Harper once again remembered how stupid it would be to get involved with him.

“I should probably get back to work,” she said, moving away from him and toward the door.

“Sure.” He put his hands on his hips and nodded. “Of course.”

“Sorry,” Harper mumbled, feeling apologetic.

“Don’t be. You can stop by anytime you want. My door is always open for you.”

“I know.” Harper smiled. “Thank you.”

Harper headed back up on deck. After being in the dim light of the cabin, the sun was blinding. She squinted up at it and walked over to the railing.

Since Daniel refused to use the plank, he had to help her down onto the dock again. He wrapped an arm around her so he could lift her up over the rail, but before he did that, he held her to him for a moment. Harper already had one arm around his shoulder, bracing herself for when he lifted her.

“I’m glad you stopped by.”

Then he lifted her up and dropped her gently down on the dock. He stayed out on the deck of his boat, watching her as she walked away.

SEVENTEEN

Falling

For the first time in her entire life, Gemma skipped swim practice.

She wasn’t sick, and she didn’t call. She simply didn’t go. Thanks to her new siren abilities, she was already crazy fast in the water. Besides that, Penn had told her she needed to leave soon, and while Gemma wasn’t sure if she’d go along with that or not, it did seem like she’d probably have to quit the swim team.

Despite all that, she felt guilty about it. Gemma had missed practices only when she absolutely had to. Coach Levi would be so disappointed, and she never wanted to let him down.

When she woke up in the morning, she’d gotten ready for practice like she normally would, but instead of going, she rode her bike around to the other side of the block and hid in the small patch of trees there until Harper and her father had both left for work.

Once she was certain they were gone, she went back to her house. She had to see Alex again.

After they’d kissed last night, she’d gone home and had gotten yelled at quite a bit by Harper and Brian. They were both dumbfounded and furious at her recent behavior. Gemma wished that she could explain it all to them, but it would just come off as insanity. Nobody would ever believe that she was a siren, let alone understand it.

Eventually they’d let her go to bed, but she lay awake for a long time. She knew she needed to talk with Penn more before she could really fathom what she was. But that wasn’t even what kept her mind spinning late into the night.