He was pure sin in a tank top and shorts, keying up the anticipation of watching him peel his shirt off once we got to the secret part of the lake.
I snuck glances at his muscular legs as he switched from the gas pedal to the brake. I didn’t know how Jude made normal and usually boring things seem so damn sexy. This day was supposed to help me unwind, but if I was this hot and bothered over watching Jude drive, I doubted relaxing would be in the cards for me today.
“Here we are,” he said, shooting me a wicked smile.
My gaze drifted out the front window to the kids jumping off the pier in the distance. Seeing it from another angle, I realized the lake seemed bigger than I thought. I wondered what else was hidden from plain view in this tiny town.
I jumped and almost slid out of the passenger’s seat when Jude opened my door.
“Ready?”
He held out his hand as he slung an oversized backpack over his shoulder.
“What did you bring?” I asked, eyeing the bag as I stepped out of the cab. I’d stuffed sunscreen and a towel into my big purse but had been too distracted to remember anything else.
“A blanket, and I drove to the deli to get us sandwiches this morning. That way, there would be no rush to leave.”
He kissed my forehead and pulled me by the hand toward the lake. The sun beat down on my neck, and although I wasn’t a lake swimmer, the water seemed pretty damn enticing as we got closer.
“Are you sure we can be here?” I asked and pointed to the restricted sign along the edge of the grass.
Jude spread out the blanket, anchoring the sides with his backpack and a large jug of what looked like water.
“Well, I guess you could call the cops.”
“Very fun—”
I lost my words, my breath, and my senses when Jude took off his shirt. As I’d suspected, he was nothing but muscle. His gold chain glinted in the sun as he tossed his shirt onto the blanket, the sinew of his arms and back hypnotizing me with every movement as he kicked off his shoes.
So much for a day of uninterrupted conversation. I knew what I wanted to do with my mouth, and it sure as hell wasn’t talk.
“Problem?” he asked, his head tilted as another smile bloomed on his face.
“Don’t be cute. You know what you look like. Do you need all those muscles to chase bad guys?” I threw my purse next to Jude’s backpack on the ground.
“Not all. And I don’t know about you, but I need to cool off.” He motioned to the lake, a devious glint in his eyes when he held out his hand. “Want to join me?”
This guy was all sex from head to toe and didn’t know it. Well, maybe he knew it a little if the smirk tipping up the side of his mouth was any indication. Or he spotted drool pooling on the side of my mouth. I did a quick swipe of my lips with my thumb to check and lifted the black dress I used as a cover-up over my head.
“Wow,” Jude breathed out as his gaze traveled up and down my body, more heat singeing my skin along its path.
I stifled a smile and took longer than I needed to fold the dress and drop it next to Jude’s shirt.
“I think this was the bathing suit I wore when you came into the yard that afternoon.” I strutted up to Jude. “Although maybe you didn’t notice since you hardly made eye contact with me that day until you sort of did on our drive to the market.”
“I didn’t look at you that afternoon becauseallI wanted to do was look at you.” He draped his hand over the nape of my neck, sweaty and hot for so many different reasons. “But trust me, I noticed. And now we’re alone, and all this beauty is for my eyes only. At least for today.” He ran a finger down the strap of my bikini top, his eyes nothing but lust and heat as they bored into mine. “Let’s get into the water.”
The low rasp of his voice was enough to send tingles down and in between my legs as he dragged me toward the water.
I stilled right when the water came up to the middle of my shin.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re going all the way in?”
“Well, yeah. You don’t want to?” He dropped my hand and came closer.
“No, I do. It’s just that…there are fish in there.”
