Shit.
I’m completely in over my head and it’s too late to retreat to shallow waters.
The explosion of adrenaline and energy makes me restless. I want to touch her, bring her closer.
Her ember eyes burn. Waiting. Curious. She’s silent as we balance, chest to chest, on the round rocks littering the bottom. Her hand travels up my arm and rests on the center of my chest.
Under the water, I cup her ass firmly and press her against me. Eliza gasps when she feels how hard I am for her. She blushes that adorable pink and I wait for her to put some distance between us when she shocks me. Herpalm slides over my trunks with a boldness I didn’t expect, gripping me gently.
Eliza’s raspy voice runs straight to my cock. “We need to even the score, Mr. Rawlings.”
She slips into my swim trunks, and I tense, my fingers digging deeper into her soft flesh. It’s slow and torturous. The feel of her hand on me, stroking and tracing my tip with her thumb, is better than anything I could’ve imagined. There’s no rush in the way she gently kisses and licks the side of my neck. I get lost in her rhythm, every fiber coiling with the urge to let go. Her other hand fists the hair at the back of my head.
Fuck.
Who knew I was into rougher touches? She increases the pressure and her strokes are faster. The heat coming off me could warm the entire lake.
I’m going to snap from the pressure building at the base of my spine until she presses my face to her breasts. I wrap my lips around her cold pebbled nipple. I’d spend hours devouring this woman.
Eliza twists her fist and grinds against me until the hot ball of energy unfurls and travels through my body with such force, it nearly knocks me off my feet.
My arms move to hold her securely and she wraps her legs tightly around me. We’re still, my face buried in the crook of her neck, lost in time until our lips are purple.
Something in the water must have rotted my brain because two days later I end up taking her to ride a tandem bike on a paved, smooth, straight path along the shoreline.
“I look ridiculous,” she says, after I make sure her helmet, elbow, and knee protection are properly fastened.
“You look like I’ll be less worried about you and be more focused on riding the bike.”
“Aww, does the ice-cold city boy care about me?” Her laugh is cut short when I start peddling.
“We’ll go slow. I promise.”
My mother’s eyes narrow and she leans forward as if she can see me better through the tablet camera.
“You’re…” She pauses and blinks at me, taken aback. “Energized?”
“Must be the ocean air. I went cliff diving the other day.”
“Cliff—” The satisfaction I get from the shock on my mother’s face is priceless. “Wonderful, son. I’m glad you’re having fun. Just, please. Find the kind of fun that gets you home in one piece, alright?”
“I don’t know, mother, I saw some people skydiving. It got me thinking.”
“Carter Rawlings,” my mother snaps.
“Relax, you won’t have to come down here and scrape me off Route 1.”
“If this is your way of twisting my arm, it might work.” She smiles affectionately. “But only because you look good. Let’s talk about it next month.”
The news adds to my excitement about the little secret project I have been mulling over since Eliza told me about her passion and how little faith she has in making it work. She’s willing to let her brain cells dieworking on the stock and orders at the fish shops because she desperately wants to be employed.
Eliza’s on the couch, sketching a large chalet bathroom with the box of colors I got. It makes me irrationally happy.
“Why don’t you put your designs out there? You hate it at the store.” I perch next to her, admiring her work while I play with the strands escaping her ponytail.
“I don’t know where to start. I never thought I could make a living out of it. Jared and my friends never…Anyway.” She corrects herself. “I’ll look for another office job after I move out.”
“There’s no hurry.” My answer comes fast. A visceral reaction to her leaving. A feeling of immediate loss. I tap the tablet and Eliza’s Interior Design website fills the screen. It’s a mix of her sketches, pictures of this cabin, and pieces she refurbished.
