My gaze flickered down for just a moment before I looked back up into her face. I nearly melted right then and there. She was a PERFECT redhead. Her hair was a dark auburn right now, wet and slicked back against her scalp to fall just a bit below her shoulders. Her face was small and cute with pouty Lips, the kind of face that immediately stirred up naughty girl fantasies. There was a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and she had simply gorgeous baby blue eyes.

I'm such a sucker for those kind of blue eyes.

As for the rest of her... holy SHIT. Maybe 5'5", slender, but STACKED.

Draw up the perfect comic book petite redhead, that was this girl. And from her delicate features, I guessed she was a late teen at best. My dirty mind silently begged ‘please be legal‘.

But then the seriousness of the situation finally managed to override my horny, young male instincts and I sat up to really take a good look at her.

“You sure you're okay?”

I reached out to examine her arms and inspect her for more scratches.

“No pain? You can move all of your Limbs?"

"I'm fine. Perhaps a few bruises. But I don't think anything's broken.

How can I ever thank you?" Her voice was a sweet melody and tinged with a strong accent. French, I guessed, but her speech was clear and easy to understand.

“Are you here with anybody? Friends? Family?”

She nodded.

“My parents should be back at the beach.”

“Okay, let's get you back to them. I'm David." I reached my hand out to shake.

She smiled ever so gratefully at me and shook my hand. "Claudine."

Still with her hand in my grip, I started helping her to her feet, ready to catch her should her legs give out unexpectedly. Gingerly, we both got up, and once we were standing she sniffled and threw herself into my arms once again, whimpering softly.

I patted her back and returned her hug, still catching my breath. I asked her again if she was really ok.

She pulled away and nodded, fresh tears in her eyes. "Oh, but I was so stupid! Stupid!"

“How did you end up all the way out there?"

She gave me an embarrassed smile, giving me a glimpse of pearly white teeth. "I wanted to take pictures of the turtles. I went all along the reef, and when they kept going, I decided to follow them." She waved back towards the waves.

“I lost all my gear trying to get out.”

My head immediately went into Lecture mode.

“You should never leave the reef. The open ocean is dangerous." Internally, I winced. What, like she didn't realize now that the ocean could be dangerous? With my gruff voice, I felt like an old man around her.

“And at the very least, you should always go snorkeling with someone else. Never go out alone."

"I know, I know. I wasn't thinking. My little brother was supposed to go with me. But he turned one direction and I went to find my turtles."