After who knew how long, they’d both been dunked, tossed—okay, she’d attempted to toss him and all that’d done was make both of them fall into a fit of laughter—and soaked. This was where they were most comfortable—this content place somewhere between playful and intimate. They’d always been physically affectionate toward each other, certainly more so than she was with any of her other guy friends. And, from what she’d seen, it was the same for Hudson.
Because of that, it was totally normal that he helped her into the boat once they were ready to get out. He’d done it a hundred times before, and while she certainly hadn’t been immune to his hands on her, she’d never before felt this…electricity between them. She’d never felt such awareness of his body in relation to hers. How his chest brushed her back as she pulled herself up the side of the boat, the curve of her ass running along the front of him. To give her a boost, he wrapped his hands around her upper thighs, right below her bottom, his thumbs tucked between her legs. They were so close to where she ached for him, she was sure if she shifted the tiniest bit, he’d slide right beneath her bikini bottoms and find out exactly how much he’d affected her today.
Her throat was so tight, she couldn’t even manage a thank-you as she climbed over the side of the boat. And even though she knew she probably shouldn’t—Lord knew she didn’t need any more kindling on the fire burning inside her—she looked back at him as he pulled himself up. His biceps bunched and flexed as he climbed over the side, rivulets of water cascading down his perfectly defined chest. Every muscle in his torso appeared to be cut from stone, tiny droplets of water trailing over each ridge before getting stuck in the valleys between.
Heaven help her, if she didn’t look away, she wasn’t sure she could stop herself from just…licking all of them.
Twisting around, she pulled the towels from the bag and handed one to Hudson, careful to keep her gaze averted. While she was hopeful about what he had to talk to her about, she also didn’t want to make a fool of herself and ruin the best friendship she’d ever had—the best one she could ever hope for.
They didn’t say a word as they both dried off and got settled again, casting out their lines and restarting the clock.
After minutes of nothing but the sound of the water, Hudson said, “Time’s almost up.” He tipped his chin toward the basket hanging off the side of the boat that contained her caught fish. “How you doin’ over there?”
Though her body still buzzed with desire, Mac snorted. “Better than you.”
“Awful cocky for someone who’s about to kiss four fish right on the lips.”
Four? Oh, he wassogonna lose. She already had five in her basket, with almost ten minutes to try to catch another. Still, she beat down the smug smile threatening to break through so as not to tip him off. Winning by only one wasn’t enough of a margin for her, and she didn’t want to give him an advantage to slant that in his favor.
“Just remember you brought this on yourself, Kenna.”
She looked over at him and traced his profile and the line of his jaw with her eyes. Wishing like hell she could reach out and run her fingertips along it. “You’re the only one who calls me that, you know.”
“What…Kenna?”
She nodded, sliding her attention back to the bobber floating in the water. The bare skin of Hudson’s arm brushed against hers as he shrugged. Trying to hold back the goose bumps was futile.
“Everyone calls you Mac.” He turned to her, staring until she twisted and returned his gaze. “I don’t want to be like everyone else with you. Never did.”
She held her breath. Just…stopped breathing entirely, not wanting to interrupt the moment with a silly thing like air. Tension simmered between them, and it only increased when his eyes dropped to her lips.
They were close. So close. All it would take was the subtlest lean from either of them and they’d be kissing. She wanted that, more than she could remember wanting anything. She wanted to feel the softness of his mouth contrasting with the coarse whiskers from his stubbled jaw. Wanted his hands tangled in her hair, tugging her closer to him, keeping her right where he needed her to be. Wanted to abandon her fishing rod and straddle him on the bench. Press her breasts into his bare chest as she wrapped her arms around him, ground down against him, and—
Her line tugged, the bobber dipping under the water. It might as well have been a bucket of ice water dumped over her head. She jerked and shook off the daze of lust that had swept over her and got to work reeling in her last fish.
By the time she had tossed it into her basket, their two hours were up, and Hudson hadn’t caught another.
“All right, big man.” Mac pulled up her basket and counted each fish aloud. “That’s six, baby. You ready to kiss some fish?”
“Now, wait just a minute.” Hudson lifted his basket. “I miscounted. I have five.”
“Umm…you need to go back to kindergarten and take a refresher? Last time I checked, six was definitely more than five.”
“But mine are bigger than yours, so they should count for more.”
She dropped her mouth open and let out a disbelieving laugh. “You cannot be serious.”
He just shrugged in response, which only infuriated her more.
“Nope,” she said with a decisive shake of her head. “No way. The bet was for whoever catches themost fish.”
“Ah, but do you define most by weight or number?”
“Obviously number, you jackass!” She shoved him in his chest, too mad to allow the feel of his heated, bare skin to affect her. Much. “You’re just tryin’ to figure out a way to get out of kissin’ all these fish.”
“I just don’t see why you should be the default winner if mine weigh more, that’s all I’m sayin’.” He shrugged. “If you can’t agree with that, maybe we should call it a tie.”
“A tie?A tie?” She planted her hands on her hips and faced him with a glare. “We don’tdoties. We do winner and loser—this isn’t new, Hudson. I’m not allowin’ you to suddenly change the rules as you see fit after almost fifteen years just because you’re a sore loser, you loser.” She shoved him again, a weird mix of desire and irritation bubbling inside her. “And I’m not leavin’ this lake until you pucker up.”
