Of course she would get passionate about the Folk Haven Dam. One more thing I love about her.
I shrug. “I was distracted.”
Some of the shock clears from her face as she nods in understanding. “By the beauty of it? I missed the first five minutes of the tour because I was staring at the structure in its entirety. But I found the guide before we got on the bus and asked her to repeat what I’d missed. You should have done that.”
The guide would’ve needed to repeat the entire speech because Isla was wearing a white button-up shirt and a plaid skirt that day. My horny teenage mind couldn’t stop playing out schoolgirl fantasies. Didn’t help that she raised her hand every five minutes, asking some intelligent question that got my blood up.
“You could tell me about it now.”Please stay and talk to me.“Start from the beginning. How did they even make the dam?”
Her mouth pops open, cheeks flushed, gaze sparking with excitement, her entire form thrumming as she readies to give me a lecture on dams.
But then she pauses.
Don’t stop. Focus on me.
Isla shakes her head, as if hearing my thoughts. “I want to, but I can’t.”
So close.“Why not?”
“I need to enact a plan.”
“And that plan is?”
“Secret.” She smiles with an air of triumph. Proud of her ability to keep a piece of knowledge to herself.
Which only makes me want to tease it out of her more.
“Can I help with your secret plan?”
Isla examines me, as if I’m a potentially handy tool, and I can imagine her working through scenarios in her head. Ways to use me. Does she have any idea how badly I want to be used?
Leave her alone. You’ve done enough to mess up her life.
As the guilt begins to bite at my gut, her words distract me. “You can remark on how attractive I look in my bathing suit.”
Damn this woman. How can she be so honest yet always surprising?
“You want me to objectify you?”
Isla frowns, and even that expression has me mesmerized. “Only when you have my permission. Which you currently do.”
She’s serious. Of course she’s serious. Isla almost always is.
“You have permission to objectify me too.” I make the offer just to see if I can get her to blush.
I should’ve known better.
“Is there someone in attendance you’d like me to speak to about the attractiveness of your body in a bathing suit?” Isla scans the party, somehow thinking there’s anyone here I’m more interested in than her.
“Before I can admit that, I need to know what you’ll say.” The light teasing in my tone hides how much I want to hear what she has to say.
Isla turns back to me, and I shiver as her gaze travels the length of my body.
There’s that blush. A small reddening along her cheekbones. “I would say that the blue of your suit pairs with the blue of your eyes.”
I glance down at my swim trunks, not able to hide my grin. “You think so? What else?”
Isla steps back, intently studying me, and I try to flex my muscles without noticeably putting effort in.
