“It was dark. How could I know for sure?”
I leaned forward to swat at his leg.
“See! There you go again. The first time was a lot gentler.”
I covered my face to hide my laughter. Sandy giving Duke a three-swat pat on his rear end after her dance should give her ample reason to be embarrassed tomorrow morning. Though, I didn’t think she’d remember any of it.
“Okay, I have a gym bag in the back with two shirts and two pairs of shorts. One pair is dirty and the other is not. You can take your pick.”
“It’s December. I’m not jumping into a lake with you. It must be a swimming pool or no deal.”
He looked offended. “Swimming pool? That’s not how they did it in the movie. It was definitely a lake.”
I gaped at him. “I don’t do frozen lakes.”
“It wouldn’t be frozen. It’s early. There might be a few ice chunks, but that’s it.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“I didn’t say this bucket list would be easy. I only said it would be worth it.”
“You didn’t say any of that. You forget, we only just met. I’m not driving to some mountain lake in the middle of the night with you. I need a place with witnesses.”
“Geez, you’re feisty.” He checked his watch as though he was unsure about something before saying, “Fine. My parents have a pool. We’ll go there.”
“Of course they do.”
“Lucky for you.”
“Is it outside? Won’t that be freezing?”
He hesitated, before speaking carefully. “It’s outside, but they have it covered. It will be cold either way.”
With those promising words, I allowed him to lead me up the mountain on the east side of the city. Minutes later, the old, white, beat-up Toyota Tacoma passed through the gate of the Wild Rose subdivision in the hills along the east bench, overlooking Salt Lake City. I watched as Duke rolled down his window and punched in the passcode. He studiously ignored my gaping as we passed home after multi-million-dollar home.
We pulled into a driveway with a towering three-level home with eaves and alcoves and balconies…you name it, gracing the front. The front boasted a beautiful mix of creamy rock and stucco, lit in the dark by warm, glowing lights in the eaves. I didn’t even know what it was called, but Duke drove us through an arched, rounded, covered bridge connecting the house with some other garage or building and parked in an area behind the house. He killed the engine and I looked out on a courtyard complete with a basketball court and a swimming pool with a cover over the top.
I looked at Duke who only scratched at his neck almost sheepishly.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, just waiting for the butler to come catch my door.”
“Butlers don’t do truck doors, Kiss Cam. But I can grab it for you.”
My fingers clutched the door handle. “I’ve got it.”
The crisp winter air nipped at my face as I stepped outside onto a cobblestone driveway. I turned to face Duke as he rounded the truck.
“Is there really a butler?” I assumed he was joking, but now, taking in the twinkle lights over the pool area with the amazing slide made fancy by decorative rocks, I couldn’t be sure.
“No,” Duke said.
“There is a maid, though, right?”
He ignored me, his hand light at my elbow, propelling me toward the building I had first mistaken for another garage. He punched the code on the pad outside the door before leading me inside.
A boat house.
