‘One thing we need to do before all that,’ Cole growled to Lottie as he approached. ‘This is one part of the creek we haven’t tried.’
She held her hands up to him, squealing as he scooped her up.
‘Cole! Fuck – no, I’ve got to prep dinner . . . I can’t—’
He stopped her mid-sentence, gently placing his lips over hers, waiting until she all but melted into him. As he turned, pressing her lithe body into his, the sound of her laughter echoed all the way down to the water.
I smiled, my heart aching with happiness for her – for them.
‘Want a dip before dinner?’ Jesse offered, sauntering over, removing his sunglasses as he approached and hooking them into his shirt pocket. ‘It’s kinda tradition here. The creek’s too shallow for swimming, but it’s good to dip into when it’s hot.’
I brushed aside the warnings in my head, knowing we were surrounded by chaperones.
‘It’s gonna be fucking Baltic, isn’t it?’ I said, setting down the utensils I was holding and falling into step beside him.
‘Baltic?’ he asked, confused.
‘Freezing,’ I clarified. Then, smiling as we approached the water, watching as Bailey even led Buckeye in, ‘It’s all very well you teaching me rodeo shit, but you clearly need some help with proper English.’
‘Yeah?’ he challenged as we both chucked off our boots and rolled up our jeans. The bootcut style allowed for a full roll-up to the knees. Grinning, he jumped in from the bank, sending a small cascade of water over me.
‘Bastard,’ I giggled, doing the same right back. The water was definitely cold, but it felt amazing after our long, sticky ride. Jesse turned; the guests were descending into shrieks and hysterical laughter as a water fight broke out. Struck by a sudden idea, I moved into the centre of the creek, just out of sight of everyone but him, and took off my tank top.
‘Fucking carnage,’ he laughed, glancing back to me for a moment, doing a full double take as I leant forward. My red lace bra was valiantly working overtime to keep everything inside as I dipped my tank top into the water, lifting it up before twisting the water out.
I returned his stare as it unashamedly rested on my breasts before lifting back up to my face.
‘You all right there, cowboy?’ I asked, shaking out the top before lifting it over my head and putting it back on, icy-cool against my overheated skin. I realized it was now pretty transparent, giving a neat little window to substantial cleavage.
His mouth opened a little, but nothing emerged.
‘Now, the word we’d use in proper English for this would be “gawping” – maybe even “gobsmacked”.’
Chuckling, I dipped my hands in the current and used the water to push my hair back from my face, pulling it into a high ponytail.
‘Jesus Christ, Jessica,’ he breathed, turning to adjust his jeans.
‘Nope, Greek goddess, remember?’ I added, climbing out and pulling myself up the bank. ‘Now, I’m pretty sure Lottie will be busy for a while, so you’re on fire-building duty, okay?’
He touched the brim of his hat.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Dinner was a success.
As the dying sun bled out behind the mountains, the coral sky now smudged with indigo, almost every plate was clean.
Lottie’s tried and tested Dean family recipes did most of the heavy lifting, but after spotting a couple of guests wearing band T-shirts I recognized, a sneaky change to the playlist on Cole’s Bluetooth speakers had a group of us rocking out as I took the drinks orders. The rest of the group looked on with a mix of amusement and fascination as we sang along to ‘Killing In The Name’ by Rage Against The Machine, Jesse’s smile turning to a laugh as I belted that famous repeated line with everything I had.
Cackling with the guests as the track finished, I finally let Bailey change it back over to the country playlist.
‘Something tells me that’s your anthem, right?’ Jesse appeared at my side, gathering a long rope in his right hand.
‘One of them,’ I answered with a grin, now mid-clear-up, stacking pots and pans back into the crates we’d used to bring them over.
‘You’ll have to share the others sometime,’ he said, glancing over at the group for a moment. ‘Maybe in my truck. I was thinking of upgrading the sound system anyway . . . maybe one that can cope with the drums and bass guitar you like.’
I imagined sharing my favourites, one in particular that I’d started associating with him. I wasn’t sure either of us was ready for it.
