The Thief's Stolen Heart

Chapter Eleven

After a moment, Lynn finally built up the courage she needed. She pushed forward, letting her feet slip from the bottom of the pool. And she began paddling, going through the motions of swimming that she knew.

She smiled triumphantly and then laughed as she swam around. She remembered how it was to swim freely. The days she did with her mother that seemed so long ago.

After a time, she swam back to the shallow end and set her arms on the edge. She laughed, dropping her forehead to her arms. "I'm still scared of it, but I swam."

"Well done, Princess."

Lynn looked up to see Reece standing near the beach chairs in front of her wearing shorts and a white t-shirt. "Oh, morning Toad."

"Well to us it's morning but it's actually past noon."

She laughed. "Right." She pulled herself out of the pool and Reece handed over her blue towel. "Thank you." She dried herself off and wrapped it around her. "Got any plans today?"

"I do, actually. And I'm here to invite you along." Reece offered, shooting her a hopeful smile.

"Oh. Well it depends on what you're doing. Like if you were going golfing I would decline because I find the sport mind numbing. If you were eating sushi, well sushi makes me sick-"

Reece chuckled. "Lynn. You don't need to ramble."

She blushed. "Oh, right, sorry."

"Don't worry about it, it's cute."

Her blush deepened. Why could he always do that to her?

"I'm going surfing with a few of my friends. Did you want to tag along?"

Lynn bit her lip. "Um... Sure. Just don't blame me if I chicken out at some point. The ocean is the biggest body of water, and I'm scared of water..." She trailed off, glancing up at Reece.

"That's perfectly fine. You can sit on the beach and do nothing if you want."

Lynn smiled. "Okay, cool. I'll go get changed and... I'll meet you out front?"

He nodded. "Sounds good."

Lynn hurried inside.

Reece glanced up at the windows of the guest suite, where his grandfather was watching with cold eyes, and he felt sick. Mr. Graves found out that he was going to invite Lynn along today, and when he did, he ordered Reece to keep her busy so that Brighton could search her room today.

Reece planned on leaving without inviting her and pretending that she turned the offer down. But his grandfather insisted on witnessing the interaction. He wished Lynn didn't agree.

* * *

Lynn held onto the board like her life depended on it.

"Lynn-"

"I know, I know, you showed me the basics on the shore." She spat out. "But now we're on the ocean."

Reece laughed from where he sat on his surf board a little ways from her. "There are hardly waves right now, it's a good time to test out the waters... Literally."

Lynn bit her lip and pulled her legs up underneath her. She slowly got herself standing.

Reece was already on his feet. "If you are as stiff as the board you're on, you won't be able to do anything."

"Right." Lynn laughed nervously.

"Okay, there are a few small waves coming in, we can test them out." Reece positioned his board expertly. "Just follow my lead, you'll be fine."