“Actually, he’d probably love it,” Cara admits.
“I can check for you,” I volunteer. “Since it looks like you still need to get dressed.”
Before she can muster a reply, I slurp down my coffee and take the rest of the orange with me out the screen door.
The sun is bright in my eyes as I head down the worn dirt path toward Camp Bennet, finishing my orange as I go. By the time I knock on Nate’s door, I’m sweating.
“Come in,” he says in a gravelly voice when I knock.
“Rise and shine,” I say, popping my head in.
The cabin is hot, and Nate is sitting on one of the bunks. Shirtless, in just a pair of boxers. Which means I have a direct view of his toned abs, the V that forms just above his waistband. The size of his bicep as he rubs the back of his neck with one hand.
“I—um… Morning,” I say, trying to swallow, though my throat has gone suddenly dry.
He smiles and squints. “Yeah, it is that, isn’t it. Your brother Pete kept me up last night with a bit too much tequila.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah, Tripp, too. Those guys are hilarious.”
“I had no idea you guys were hanging out last night.”Or I would’ve joined.Linney had said the kids could watch a movie, and I ended up curling on the couch with them, suggestingThe Parent Trap. We made popcorn and watched it together, and then I went to bed early.
Nate shrugs. “Just guy stuff. Ragging on me about Auburn’s football team. It was fun though.”
He smiles again, and I get this weird jittery feeling in my chest at the thought of him bonding with my family. It all feels like it’s happening so fast, the Lancolms going from perfect strangers to becoming fixtures. But while with Cara it feels unwelcome—like invasive beetles have taken over the tomato plant garden—with Nate, it’s different somehow. It’s like his confidence around the men in my family makes him…hot. I remember Willow saying something like that once. That a true test of a guy’s compatibility with you is if he can hang with the people you love.
I think about the various guys I’ve dated in LA. None of them would’ve enjoyed being holed up in my family’s grody old camping cabin and shooting the shit with my brothers. They’d have complained about the lack of a good gym nearby, or the fact that local nightlife around here consists of backyard hangouts and Big Jay’s karaoke bar.
Nate stands up and stretches, giving me a luxurious excuse to stare at his naked chest—somewhat tan, but not as tan as his arms are. Tufts of golden hair in his armpits, his strong pecs and biceps. “So, what’s up? Am I needed for something?”
“Needed?” I swallow. “No. Just wanted. Er, I mean, we wanted to know if you want to come on the boat with us. Me and Coop and the kids are gonna do some tubing. Oh, and your sister’s coming.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Cara? On a boat?”
I shrug, feeling a touch guilty. “She said she was game for it.” Which isn’t untrue.
“Huh. Okay, cool. Well, I’m definitely in. I just need to throw on a bathing suit.” He hooks his thumb into the waistband of his boxers, and I swallow again. Wow, that orange left my throat mysteriously parched.
“So I guess that fabric isn’t double duty like your shorts were the other day.”
He laughs softly. “Wouldn’t want to find out.”
I clear my throat. His thumb is still in that waistband, as if he’s about to pull them off right now. I can feel my face getting hot.
“Okay, well, I’ll leave you to it. See you in a few.”
He lifts his free hand in a wave. “See you real soon, Nikki.”
OUT ON THE WATER,the breeze tugs at my hair and cools down the heat of the sun on my skin.
Once we’re far enough out on the lake, Cooper cuts the engine.
Nate sidles up to the steering wheel.
“Any good fishing spots out here?”
“Yeah, near that old, submerged stump about half a mile from that little island,” Cooper says, pointing out toward the far end of the lake. “You gotta cut the engine and drift, though, or the pressure drop spooks the bass.”
