Tension snakes across my shoulders, my good mood disappearing.“You don’t think I know all this?” I throw the question back at her, just as hard. “We need to make decisions, real ones, and start thinking long-term about what Oakwood Ranch is going to be. I get it, but yelling at me?—”
“We?” She gives a harsh laugh. “Oh, you mean you and Travis? That should be fun. A high school kid and a washed-up football player who thinks getting thrown on his ass in a paddock qualifies him to run a breeding program?”
“That’s not the ‘we’ I meant!” I yell back, the cool lake water doing nothing to calm my rising irritation. How does this woman always get under my skin so fast?
“And don’t get me started on my trailer roof. You had no right to fix it. I’m more than capable…”Her words falter as she looks past me, her eyes narrowing on something across the lake. Then she points to a space behind me.“What the hell is that?”
I turn to where the rope swing I made yesterday hangs over the water. The thick rope is secured to a wide oak branch at the water’s edge, just where the bank drops down to the deepest part of the lake. The perfect spot.
When I spin back toward Izzy, her face is still stormy but there’s something almost amusing about her expression. I try to hold on to my resentment, but my next question lands more exasperated than anything. “Only you could be mad at me for building a rope swing for your daughter, Brooks. What’s the problem now?”
Her lips press together and she’s quiet for a second, eyes still snagged on the swing. When she finally looks back at me, her voice is quiet. “I thought you’d forgotten.”
I shake my head. “Mad’s expecting it, right? I wasn’t going to forget. But thanks for having faith in me.”
Izzy exhales. “I was just…”
“Just about to say, ‘Thanks, Dylan. You’re such a great guy.’” I mimic a high-pitched voice that has her rolling her eyes and biting out a laugh despite herself. “‘You fixed my trailer and you built a rope swing. You’re my hero.’”
The look Izzy gives me in the next second is teetering on a knife-edge between wanting to kill me and wanting to throwsomething at me. She opts for the second, crouching to the water, cupping her hand, andflicking it straight at my face.
A rumble of shocked laughter hits my chest as the cool water rolls down my face. Slowly, I wipe it away.“You really just did that?” I ask.
Izzy is fighting back a smile, barely keeping the steel in her voice as she replies, “You were being ridiculous.”
“Wrong move, Brooks.”
I surge out of the water before she has time to react. She shrieks, turning to run, but I’m faster. In one movement, she’s over my shoulder and I’m splashing back into the lake.
Fists hit my back. “Dylan, don’t you dare?—”
“Oh, I dare.”
She tries to wriggle free, body warm against mine.
“If you?—”
Before she can finish the sentence, I duck down, submerging us both before letting her go.
She’s throwing expletives and threats at me the second her head breaks the surface.
I laugh, running a hand through my own wet hair. “Worth it.”
In the next move, she tries to lunge for me, push me back, but I’m too quick, catching her arms in my hands. Without thinking, I pull her close, holding her steady. Our eyes lock. Izzy stops struggling and my hold on her tightens as I draw her closer. Her clothes are soaked through, clinging to her body. Her eyes fall to my lips. The teasing is gone. All that remains is rippling tension. And this time, there’s nothing holding me back.
TWENTY-FIVE
DYLAN
Izzy’s eyes are dark with need. The kind that’s been tugging between us since she strolled onto my ranch like she owned the place. The kind that exploded between us at the back of The Hay Barn in that first drunken kiss and has been growing ever since. I lift my hand, trailing my fingers down the smooth skin of her face, pushing back a wet strand of hair. God, she’s beautiful. There’s something strong and wild about this woman, but the more time I spend with her, the more I sense a vulnerability beneath the surface. Izzy Brooks might not need anyone for anything, but as my arms circle her back and I draw her close, I can’t help wondering if she wants someone. If she wants me.
The lake water is cool around us, and Izzy’s top is see-through, clinging to her breasts and showing me hard nipples I’m desperate to run my tongue over. A bolt of need shoots through my body as I cup her jaw, tilting her face up to mine. “You still mad at me, Brooks?”
“Furious,” she whispers, her eyes dragging to my mouth.
“Good,” I say as I move my lips to hers. Slow—barely a whisper of a touch. I hold us there for a long moment until Izzy wraps her hands around my neck, her body molding to mine. Then her tongue is in my mouth and mine in hers. A noisecatches in her throat and it’s all the invitation I need. I deepen the kiss as my hands roam over her body. My dick strains in my shorts, already hard as Izzy moves her body against my length, seeking friction.
Heat circles low in my groin. Suddenly there are too many clothes between us, the water another barrier. I slide one hand under her ass, the other around her back, and carry her from the lake. For a split second, I think she’ll protest, but then she wraps her legs around me, tightening her hold. I don’t break our kiss as I lay her on my towel over the soft sand by the shoreline.
