Concealed

[prologue]

CONCEALED | Copyright © 2015 by otherviewsx

All rights reserved.

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There was nothing wrong with being alone, Diana thought, her slender limbs gliding effortlessly through the waters. Peace of mind is hardly something you gain around the company of other people. That's why she often found herself here – neck-deep in her favorite creek while everyone else went about their business.

She didn't count on anyone interrupting her tranquility.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself."

Diana jumped slightly, darting her eyes in the direction of the male's voice. He stood in plaid shorts with a pair of muscled arms crossed over his chest, his brown hair visibly damp by the way it stuck to his forehead.

"I was," Diana muttered, mainly to herself.

At his distance, the boy heard nothing. He made no move to join her in the water, either.

Good, she thought. Maybe he'll go away.

He didn't. "People usually head over here in groups. Where's yours?"

"I don't have a group."

"Ah."

Why he was still standing there, doing nothing but staring, she didn't know. But it made her uncomfortable.

"If you're not going to swim, why are you here?"

"Maybe I'm enjoying the view. Of the water," he added, as if she thought any different.

"Right." Smoothing her hair back, Diana resumed swimming her way through the cool, creek water, feeling his eyes take in her every movement. It was kind of creepy, but a part of her wasn't entirely annoyed with it.

She held her breath and dipped beyond the surface for a little while, loving how her body felt one with these waters. Diana always thought that human connections could never be quite as deep as the ones shared by a swimmer and the water they move through. By the time she resurfaced, small hands wiped at her eyes and panned the area with them; the boy nowhere in sight.

Not that she was looking for him. She just expected him to be there.

That's when a sudden splash and a familiar voice from behind startled her, for the second time that day. "Looking for me?"

She jumped and whipped around to see his amused face, droplets of water trickling down along his dimples in rivulets.

"Will you stop doing that!" It was more of an uncharacteristic shout than anything else.

"My sincere apologies," he said, less than sincerely. "It just seemed like you missed me, so I wanted to give you a pleasant surprise."

Was he serious? "I don't even know your name."

"It's Jesse, thanks for asking."

"Okay then, Jesse, I'd appreciate you not sneaking up on me like that considering the next time may result in my heart failure."

The smile on his face never left. "Of course, of course. Won't happen again, ma'am."

She had planned on heading out of the water now, but my body didn't do that. Instead it sort of froze. "It's Diana, actually."

"Diana," he repeated slowly, as though he were fascinated by the name. "Pleasure to meet ya."

"Yes, well...meeting you under better circumstances would have been pleasant, I'm sure."

"Better? What could be better than this?" Jesse widened his arms to imply the vast beauty of where we were.

Diana scratched the side of her nose. "It's not so much the place that I'm talking about, but I like to be alone when I'm here."

"What about being alone with me? We can be alone together."

Her cheeks seemed to catch ablaze and she directed her gaze to the side. It took her a moment to respond. "That's not something one stranger says to another."

"Then we don't have to be strangers," he assured her. "You're on vacation or something, right? I've never seen you around before."

"No, I live here. Just down the road, in fact."

"Huh. Strange that this is the first time I'm seeing you then."

"I don't socialize much."

Jesse swam backwards nonchalantly, his eyes roaming the clear, blue sky. "Bet you I can change that."

And that's when it started.

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