Free Friction by Samantha Hunter

people in the group, correcting and encouraging them. So this was the guy Ivy had the hots for.
    He was cute enough. Though his granola-eating hippie looks weren’t Sarah’s style, he had a nicely toned body and a pretty face surrounded by shaggy blond hair. He was a flirt, too, and had smiled at her a little too much during introductions, until Logan had put the kibosh on that. Sarah watched Jim show a young brunettehow to hold her paddle correctly; things weren’t looking up for Ivy.
    After she and Logan decided what to do, she’d simply donned a bathing suit top and shorts. Logan looked like a professional in his sexy, skintight black-and-green neoprene top and shorts. The suit fit so tightly that little was left to the imagination. If this was what men wore when they wanted to get a woman’s attention, it was working.
    Sarah had nearly stumbled when she’d met him downstairs before they’d left for their day on the water. She was glad most of him was hidden below the deck of the boat, or she would probably have missed most of the lesson. The attraction between them was hard to fight, but she was determined to try, since she knew it was bound to end in nothing but frustration.
    As it was, the way the muscles in his arms flexed as he expertly guided his boat was distracting enough. She imitated his movements, trying to draw her boat around in a graceful arc through the water as he did so effortlessly. Normally she was very good at physical things, but this was taking some getting used to.
    “No fair. You’ve done this before. How come you agreed to a lesson when you obviously know what you’re doing?”
    He grinned, and her heart foolishly skipped a beat.
    “Well, you haven’t done it before, and lessons are good refreshers for anyone. Besides, I don’t know these particular waters, and it’s always good to get some advice from someone who does.” He nodded toward Jim. “Ocean waters can be tricky.”
    Sarah agreed, listening while trying to gauge the wind and the water, and how both were trying to thwart her novice attempts.
    Logan spoke encouragingly. “Don’t muscle it so much. You’re trying to force the boat to go where you want with your arms. Don’t use your arms, use your midsection, and keep your paddle more or less rotating in the same position. See? You don’t have to force it.”
    He demonstrated, and she studied his movements carefully, then took a deep breath, doing as he said, and felt lighthearted—a feeling she wasn’t particularly used to—when her boat swung gracefully to the left.
    “Excellent!”
    Nearly blushing under his praise and warm regard, she chastised herself silently, feeling like a goof. Concentrating, she practiced the move several more times, in several directions.
    It really was kind of neat, she thought. Since she was living down here now, it was probably a good idea to learn to do more things on the water. Having had the resources of New York City at her disposal, she was often at a loss in Norfolk, a nice but much smaller city. Swinging her boat around, then paddling it backward and stopping, she smiled. Maybe she would buy one of these things.
    “You’re doing great. A natural.”
    It wasn’t Logan who spoke to her this time, and she looked up to see Jim smiling at her in blatant admiration. Logan was oblivious, talking with an older man about something or other a few yards away. Sarah regarded Jim calmly.
    “Thanks. It takes a little work, but I like it.”
    “You’re picking the moves up more quickly than most. You’re ready for the next step, learning to get in and out of the boat.”
    “I already did that.”
    He laughed, never letting his eyes drift from hers. “No, I mean you have to fall out of your boat, and then get back in.”
    “Why would I want to do that?”
    “So if you fall out, you can get back in.”
    Sarah frowned. “I won’t fall out.”
    But Jim was resolute, shaking his head. “Part of the lesson. You can’t really go anywhere