Shit, I’m getting brain freeze. I swim up to the surface, and when I look up, Jared is right in front of me. He slides an arm around my waist.
“You okay?”
I try to speak, but my chattering teeth won’t let me.
Jared chuckles and scoops me into his arms. “Let’s go warm up.”
Within seconds, we’re back on the dock, and he’s wrapped me up in my towel.
“Aren’t you cold?” I ask him incredulously as he stands before me, soaking wet in just black swim trunks, which leave very little to the imagination.
As wet as they are, the fabric clings to his…impressive package.
I avert my eyes and stay focused on his face.
He shrugs. “I’m used to the cold. Hockey rinks are cold. And I’ve lived here for a while now.”
“That’s true. Your blood is probably adjusted. Or something.”
“Or something.” He steps closer to me.
And then he starts rubbing my back.
My towel is between his hand and my skin, and I know he’s just trying to warm me up, but his brown eyes haven’t left mine.
My teeth are still chattering, but now it feels more like nerves.
Something has shifted between Jared and me. That wall that we both always put up between us feels very tenuous right now. Maybe it was because I let him in on my last secret between us. Maybe it was because I dared him to open up. I didn’t call it a dare when I did it, but I probably should have. And Jared surely recognized it as such.
“You’re gorgeous. I needed to tell you that.”
“Thank you. Are you…”
“Listening to what you said earlier today? Yes. You were right. We always played it safe, didn’t we?”
I can barely breathe. Because Jared isgoingthere. He’s actually going there.
“We don’t have to,” I hear myself saying in a voice that doesn’t sound like me. I sound impulsive and like I’m throwing caution to the wind. “Play it safe, I mean. We don’t have to.”
I watch his Adam’s apple move as he swallows.
God, is Montana like some sort of alternate universe for us?
I shake my head. I’m not drunk, but I feel like I’m under the influence. Maybe it’s lust. Whatever it is, I’m having a hell of a time not putting my hands all over Jared. And if I stand here for two more seconds with him looking at me the way he is, I’m going to lose all control.
It takes everything I have to break the eye contact.
“Let’s go inside.” I turn away from him and begin hustling toward the cabin.
He catches me before we reach the front door.
“I’ll get the door.”
He opens it, and I step in ahead of him.
I know I should head for the shower and then go to sleep.
I’m cold, wet, and I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience. Logical, casual Ashley has been replaced with risk-taker Ashley.
