“Just tryin’ to make sure it’s not too cold.” The lie came out easily, but he couldn’t say what he was really thinking. Who knew when he’d next get this opportunity? Everything he’d taken for granted in the past—having her there when he called, being able to show up on her doorstep on a whim, touching her whenever he wanted to—was suddenly…precious.
And he wanted to soak in every bit of it.
Finally, he moved, tracing the indentation of her spine, pressing his thumbs into the twin dimples just above her ass, massaging her skin under the guise of making sure she was fully protected from the sun. When he slipped his fingers under the band of her top, she sucked in a breath and glanced at him over her shoulder.
His dick was rock hard in his trunks, and if she bothered to glance down, there’d be no hiding it. She didn’t, though. Instead, she stared straight at him, a thousand questions swimming in the depths of her eyes. Trouble was, he didn’t have any answers to give her.
So instead, he dropped his hands from her back and broke their gaze. “Don’t wanna turn into a lobster, so I guess it’s my turn.”
If she heard the husky quality of his voice, she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she waited for him to turn and remove his shirt, and then she returned the favor. He couldn’t be sure if it was simply wishful thinking on his part, but it felt like she allowed her hands to linger on him a bit longer than usual. Allowed them to wrap around his sides until she was nearly running her hands along his abs. Allowed them to sink a bit lower, her fingers dipping briefly into the waistband of his trunks.
After what felt like an eternity of torment and a mere second of bliss, she dropped her hands from his skin and tossed the bottle of sunscreen next to him. She cleared her throat, but her voice still came out raspy. “All done.”
He twisted around to look at her. Her lips were parted, her cheeks bright and pink, though he had a feeling it wasn’t from the sun. And, dammit, he shouldn’t have looked, but he couldn’t stop his gaze from dipping to her chest any more than he could stop his body’s reaction to what he found. Her nipples pressed against the material of her suit, two pebbled peaks begging for his hands. Or his mouth.
And he’d never in his life wanted to reach out and tug that damn knot more than he did right now.
Lord almighty, it was hot out on the boat, and only part of that was thanks to the Mississippi sun. Mac’s entire body felt like it was a live wire. She’d given up attempting to hide the hard points of her nipples in her too-thin bathing suit top, and she didn’t even want to think about the state of her bottoms. Thankfully, she still had on her shorts, because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to disguise her reaction to their day that’d been much more…intimate…than she’d expected.
Which only further cemented her suspicion that what Hudson needed to tell her was about the two of them.
She couldn’t concentrate on that now, though. If she did, she’d get lost in her thoughts and he’d beat her at their bet. And there was no freaking way she was kissing those fish.
Shifting in her seat, she shot a look over to Hudson who was focused on casting another line. Her skin was flushed and overheated. She needed a cold shower. She wasn’t gonna get that out here. Normally, she’d just jump in the lake, but they were already knee-deep into their bet, and she wasn’t going to forfeit just to try to get control of her hormones.
But what was better than an ice-cold shower? Ice. Keeping a secure grip on her fishing rod with one hand, she ran a piece of ice from the cooler over her body with the other. The back of her neck, her cheeks, her collarbone. She used that whole damn thing until it was melted into nothing, and it hadn’t done jack shit. She was still worked up. Could still feel the energy humming between them, the hair on her arm closest to him standing up on end.
She reached for another cube just as Hudson cleared his throat. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a swim right about now.”
Before she could respond—to his words, or the husky timbre of his voice—he’d already reeled in his line, set his pole aside, and dove headfirst into the lake.
He surfaced, shaking the water out of his hair and pinning her with his gaze. “Time-out on the bet.”
She should have argued with him—they both knew there weren’t time-outs on their bets—but she was so desperate to get her body under control, she took this for the gift it was.
After she’d reeled in her line and set her fishing rod inside the boat next to Hudson’s, she unbuttoned her shorts and slipped them down her legs, sneaking a peek at him as she did so. She’d never been more thankful for a pair of plastic sunglasses than she was in that moment, because they disguised her shocked reaction behind the tinted lenses. Shock because Hudson didn’t take his eyes off her as she removed the article of clothing. He tracked every inch she revealed. And those eyes? They were full of hunger. His whole body was tight, his jaw tense and shoulders rigid.
From her?Becauseof her?
She shook the thoughts from her head and dove into the lake, surfacing only a foot from where Hudson waded. “Better?” she asked.
He breathed out a husky laugh and shook his head. “Somehow, this made it infinitely worse.”
They stared at each other without words, their legs brushing underwater every so often as they swam in place. She’d loved Hudson her whole life, it seemed—as her best friend and most loyal confidant. But she’d beenin lovewith him for years. During that time, she’d had to watch him date others—just as he’d done with her. And while, yes, she’d wanted him that entire time, she’d never had to fight herself so hard not to just…press against him. To wrap herself around him, hold him tightly to her, and fit him into the notch between her legs.
She positively throbbed for him. And she was so tired of fighting it, she wasn’t sure she had the strength to do it much longer.
But she needed to find the damn strength, because she wasn’t going to make a move like that—not when he had something so important to tell her. Not when it might come out organically. So instead, she cupped her hands along the surface of the water and pushed in his direction, sending a wave of water right into his face.
“Did that help?” She didn’t try very hard to keep the laughter out of her voice.
He stared at her for a moment, water dripping off the tip of his nose and his chin. “I hope you know you’re gonna pay for that.”
With a squeal, she dipped underwater and swam in the opposite direction as far and as fast as she could, hoping to get away from his revenge. She emerged from the water and looked around. She was maybe fifty feet from the boat, but she couldn’t see Hudson anywhere. Had she actually gotten away from—
“Nice try,” he whispered in her ear right before he wrapped his arms around her, held her against him for the shortest moment of her life, and then hefted her out of the water and tossed her to the side.
In their world, that meant game on.
