Jack reached in his pocket, grabbing his phone and dialing for help as he ran. The woman, who he immediately dubbed Beach-Girl, was already halfway out to a struggling couple in the water. The other woman was screaming while the man next to her bobbed lifelessly in the water.
“Get me an ambulance. NOW,” he commanded into the phone. He didn't even bother to wait for Rachel's reply before stuffing the phone back in his pocket and running into the water. He was glad Rachel had insisted upon the waterproof version of the phone this time.
Beach-Girl struggled to lift the man out of the water while the other woman splashed and screamed with panic, doing absolutely nothing to help. Jack grabbed the lifeless man's shoulders and hauled him out to the sand.
Beach-Girl pushed Jack to the side as soon as the man was clear of the water, dropping to her knees to check for a pulse. She paled slightly, but she didn't pause, going straight into CPR. She hummed to keep the beat for her compressions and he vaguely recognized a Bee Gee's song.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” the woman from the water screamed, watching Beach-Girl press down on the man's chest. Jack needed to help. Beach-girl had the compressions under control, so he took the screaming woman to the side. She didn't need to watch this, and Beach-Girl would have more success without a crazy woman screaming at her.
“What's your name?” Jack asked, taking the panicking woman's shoulders in his hands and forcing her to look at him. She was shaking like a leaf.
“Jenna...” she whispered, trying to turn her head to look at the man she was with. “Oh, my God...”
“Jenna. Look at me.” Jack used his most authoritative voice, the one he reserved for board meetings or his little brother. “Does he have any heart conditions?”
"I don't know... wait, yes!” Jenna's eyes focused, responding to Jack's tone. Her hand gripped his arm like a vice. “He said it wasn't a problem though!"
“Is he on any medications? Even stuff that he wasn't prescribed?” Jack pressed. He hoped he was remembering the questions correctly. The mandatory staff CPR class had been a long time ago. He was going to have to remember to ask Rachel to schedule another one.
“No, no... Well, he took something today. A little blue pill- it's our first vacation together and we didn’t think it would cause any harm!” Jenna started to wail and shake even harder. Her grip on his arm was to the point of being painful. “Oh god, why did I let him take it?"
As if on cue, the man sputtered under Beach-Girl's hands, coughing and spewing up sea water. Jenna immediately released him and ran to the now breathing man. Beach-girl leaned back on her heels, looking dazed but still in control of herself. Jack was impressed at her calm.
It seemed like a strange time to notice, but Beach-Girl was stunning. Not in the way a model or actress was made up to be stunning, but in a wholesome, girl-next-door way that completely caught him off guard. Long, beautiful, brown hair fell across her face and she shook her head to clear it from her lovely green eyes. She stood slowly, her eyes on something behind him. She had luscious curves and h*ps that made him want to dance with her.
Two uniformed men ran past him with a stretcher, quickly taking control of the situation. Beach-Girl backed away as the two men quickly hurried their patient and Jenna into the waiting ambulance. Jack barely paid them any attention, his eyes focused solely on Beach-Girl as she turned to look for something in the water.
He had to talk to her. Not just because they had just saved someone's life together, but because he couldn't stop looking at her. If Jack had a type, she wasn't it. He usually went for the long, leggy blondes or even a spicy redhead, but never a curvy girl with no makeup on. Yet, he didn't think he had ever met anyone so naturally attractive.
“That was amazing,” Jack said, coming up to her. His voice sounded far too high to his own ears. She spun around to face him, her eyes going to his.
“Oh, um, thanks. I didn't even really have time to think about it to be honest. I just reacted,” she replied, a blush touching her already flushed cheeks. Jack's heart pounded in his chest and he felt blood rushing elsewhere as well. She was beautiful and sexy.
Jack ran a hand through his hair, feeling nervous. He hadn't felt nervous talking to a girl since high school, but somehow she was making his palms sweat. “Well, I think you saved his life. Not a bad thing to tell the folks at home about your vacation. You did really well.”
“Thank you,” she replied with gentle smile. “You helped—you kept his girlfriend from completely freaking out.”
Jack grinned. “I think it was his wife. She had a big diamond on her finger,” he said, rubbing the spot on his arm where Jenna had most likely left a bruise. He wished he had something clever and charming to say that would sweep her off her feet. Instead he just held out his hand and said the next logical thing he could think of. “I'm Jack, by the way. Jack Saunders.”
He waited for the inevitable light-bulb to go off in her eyes as she recognized his name. He had seen it enough times to recognize the exact moment when either awe or greed took over.
“Emma.” She took his hand firmly in hers and shook. Her tiny hands were strong. “Emma LaRue.”
“Emma,” he repeated, watching her carefully. The look hadn't come yet. He held onto her hand, waiting for the other shoe to drop. People always recognized him. Always. “Well, it is very nice to meet you, Emma. Are you staying at the resort here?”
She held up her opposite hand to display a pink bracelet. “Yup. How about you?”
“No, I am staying at a house down a little further on the beach," he said, jerking his head back in the direction he had come from. She still hadn't recognized him.
“Oh, that must be nice. The houses I saw on the way in looked very nice,” she replied, obviously blushing slightly at her overuse of nice. He wondered for a moment if he was having the same effect on the beautiful girl as she was having on him.
Let go of her hand... let go of her hand... Let go or she'll think you're nuts... Jack thought to himself, forcing his hand to release hers. He immediately missed her touch.
“I'm actually trying to escape it right now,” he said, desperate to keep the conversation going. Brandy popped back into his head and he felt his eye twitch.
“It can't be that bad,” Emma said with a smile. God, she was beautiful with that smile.
“I came with someone,” he explained. “And I thought we were going to have a good time, but it has been miserable. I couldn't stay in the house with her a second longer." The words just tumbled out with thinking. If he had been thinking, he would have said something debonaire and sexy, not how awful his ex was. Way to impress a girl, Jack, he thought to himself.