“Okay, I won’t do it again…today.” I tease and jump toward her. She screams and scrambles away, practically falling off the boat. I’m so close. I can smell her suntan lotion—coconuts and beach.
She points her finger at me and leans forward to jab it into my chest. “Not ever.”
She can’t help herself; she laughs. “You…” Her hand is back on my chest as she gazes up at me with a half-amused, half-serious look on her face. “Now, that’s settled. What do you have in mind as we’re all the way out in the middle of the lake?”
I move over to the other bench seat and open it up. The floats need to be blown up, so I pull them out and lay them on the floor. Then I dig around for the portable air pump and start pumping up the floats.
We toss them into the water and hop on. I’ve tied us to the boat so we can relax and soak up the rays. I can’t help myself, so I reach overand intertwine our fingers as we float around the water. Our feet dip in and out of the water to cool ourselves off.
The ripples of small wakes move us around, but I like having her hand in mine. The warmth of them together is pulsing through me. At every turn, I’m trying really hard to convince myself this is a bad idea, but I see her. She’s relaxed, under no pressure, and it seems easy to be herself.
It feels right she’s here with me, hanging out on the boat. It’s one of my favorite things to do, living on the lake.
She never once lets my hand go, even when she pulls water up with her other hand to cool herself off. Watching her drip the cool water over her sun-kissed skin was hot as hell. This woman has me dialed in, and she turns me on without trying.
“Are you heading back to the courthouse this upcoming week?” I turn my head to look at her.
“Yes! I assumed I’d only be selling food and coffee, but I’m surprised at how many books I sold last week. I suspect I’ll need to replenish my stock by the end of next week.”
“Great news. I’m happy things are working out for you here.” I swallow before saying what I want to next with slight hesitation. I’ve scared off women before when I open up too soon. “Selfishly, it gives me a bit of hope that maybe you’ll stick around longer.”
Her head turns toward me, and she smirks. “Kai, are you asking me to stay?”
Man, she has a way with words. I shake my head yes and say, “Ava, will you consider staying longer?” I’m not shy, I’ll ask for what I want.
“The more time I spend with you, the more I want to stay longer so I can see what this is all about.” She gestures between the two of us. “But, I’m not very good at it.”
“Apparently, neither am I,” I say, mirroring her. I switch up the conversation. “You enjoying yourself?”
“I could be on this lake every weekend.” She squeezes my hand, which spurs me to rub my thumb over the top of hers a few times. And we fall into a comfortable silence. Leaving both of us to our own thoughts.
My stomach growls—loudly.
“You’re starving over there.” She giggles and glances over.
My watch says it’s already close to one o’clock in the afternoon. “Yeah, you ready for some lunch?”
“For sure.” And she rolls off her float.
TEN
Ava
The burgers from the grill hit the spot. We stand up, grab our plates, and head inside. Kai can cook surprisingly well for a bachelor. As I throw my plate in the trash, my phone rings. It’s my friend Lia down in Virginia Beach.
“I’m going to take this. I’ll be right back,” I say, pointing to my phone as I raise it to my ear. I walk through the slider and down to the water.
“Ava! You are not going to believe this…” she yells into the phone. “You have a spot down in Virginia Beach at the festival. Someone dropped out, and your name was next on the waitlist.” That event brings in hundreds of thousands of people. It’s also where I could be‘found’and a place where life as I know it could change in a heartbeat.
A knot tightens in my stomach, and dread sweeps through my body. I muster as much excitement as I can and say, “Amazing news! I can’t believe this is happening.”
She tells me all the details. As she drones on, I glance up at Kai. He stands on the deck, cleaning the grill as he waves to me. I give a half-hearted wave back. The excitement I thought I’d feel if I were to receive this call is vying with…Kai. The guy I never thought existed in my world. The one who breaks down walls with his attentiveness and in the care of his arms.
“All I heard is you need to be here on Monday and sign the contract by Friday. Can you be here?” I imagine Lia jumping up and down.
“Ah, yeah, of course I can. I’ll need to leave tonight,” I say as nausea rolls up my throat and my fingers run down my throat, willing it to stop.
“Okay, well, hang up and get your ass on the road. Call me when you stop!” She continues to yell into the phone.
