“So, what do you think?”
Charlie jerked her eyes up to his. “Um...about what?”Oh, God.Had he noticed her staring?
“About the water being cathartic.”
“Oh.” She breathed out nervously. “Yeah. Absolutely. The water’s great for clearing your head.”Liar.
The tiny voice was right. Her head was overflowing with all sorts of inappropriate thoughts.
“What do you say we anchor here for a while?”
“Sounds good to me.” She pushed herself up. “You need any help with anything?”
“Nope.”
He moved over to where the anchor was. Quickly and efficiently, Derek placed it in the water, careful not to let it just drop.
Slightly bent at the waist, he held on to the thick rope and eased the weight into the water, guiding it safely to the bottom.
Derek’s position allowed her to study the lower part of his body. Beneath the khaki cargo shorts he had on, she could tell his legs were every bit as toned as his arms. And the way his butt looked in those shorts...
“Charlie!”
The way he said her name made her think he’d been trying to get her attention.
She jerked her head up. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I asked if you were hungry. We’ve got the stuff I brought to make sandwiches in the fridge downstairs. I can go get that and the chips and bring it up if you want.”
Now that he’d mentioned it, she was starting to get hungry. “I could eat. Here, I’ll help you.” She started to get up.
“Stay put. I’ve got it.”
A bit of frustration began to brew, but she squelched it quickly. Derek was being sweet by giving her time to just sit and relax.
Still, it would be nice if he let her do something once in a while. She hated feeling like she was a burden to him.
Before long, he was coming back up the cabin stairs, both arms loaded with everything needed for their lunch.
“Here.” She chuckled as she went to him. “Why do men always think they have to kill themselves by carrying everything in one trip?”
He bent down so she could get the loaf of bread and bag of chips from the top of the pile.
“No sense making all those extra trips if you can get it in one.”
Shaking her head, Charlie carried the items back over to where she’d been laying. Once they had it all spread out, she and Derek went to work, each making their own ham sandwiches with all the fixings.
“Your mom really went all out,” she spoke over the bite she hadn’t quite swallowed. Realizing how rude she’d just been, Charlie’s hand flew to cover her mouth until she was done chewing. “Sorry.” She lowered her eyes.
“Seriously?” Derek laughed, his own mouth still half-full.
“I shouldn’t have talked with my mouth full. It’s rude.”
“You do remember I grew up with Eric as a brother, right?”
Charlie giggled. “I’d completely forgotten about that.”
When they were younger, Derek’s mom had the hardest time getting Eric not to talk with food in his mouth.
