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He was looking at me.

Not past me. Not checking whether I was still breathing.

At me.

I started pulling my shirt off again.

He crossed the few feet between us, his firm hand closing around my arm. “Don’t,” he said, his voice low and harsh.

For a second, I couldn’t think.

Then the humiliation arrived.

He could have said my name. He could have asked me to wait. Instead, he’d caught me in front of everybody as though I were doing something he had already warned me against.

“Why you cock-blocking me, Chief?” Clayton called from the water with a good-natured laugh.

I looked toward him, irritated.

“You’re not being deprived of anything, Clayton.”

He laughed again, apparently taking that as part of the joke.

Chief didn’t. His fingers shifted on my arm.

I could barely breathe, and my heart was trying to pound right out of my chest.

“Declan, just let me go,” I said quietly. “It’s harmless. Who even cares?”

His jaw clenched harder. Of course he still wasn’t looking at me. Not now.

I lowered my shirt with my free hand.

A couple of people nearby had gone quiet. Sadie watched us without pretending otherwise. She smiled pleasantly when I looked at her.

I tried to pull my arm away, intending to ignore him.

Who was he to tell me what to do? Why did he even care?

And then, softly, almost tenderly, he said, “Don’t. Come inside. I need a word.”

He let go of me.

The absence of his hand was nearly as distracting as the touch had been.

Then he turned and walked toward the house.

Of course he had no doubt I’d follow. He was Chief. He ordered, and people obeyed.

I looked at Sadie.

She didn’t tell me what to do.

That made one person.

“I’ll be back,” I told her.

“Take your time,” she said.