“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.” I kicked off my shoes and reached for my belt buckle. “Your turn, Aves. Unless you need help?”
The challenge landed exactly as intended. Her chin lifted—that stubborn Dumontier pride—and her fingers went to the straps of her sundress. She held my gaze as she slid them off her shoulders, and then shimmied the fabric down over her breasts and hips before letting it pool at her feet.
Fuck me.
She stood there in nothing but her bra and underwear, and I completely forgot how to breathe. I’d seen her naked before. But there was something about this—about her standing at the edge of a lake in the middle of nowhere,looking at me like I was the only man in the world—that made my chest feel too tight for my ribs.
“You’re staring,” she said, but she was smiling and her eyebrow was cocked like she’d caught me.
She had no idea how right she was.
“Damn right I am.” I closed the distance between us, catching her jaw in my hand and tilting her face up. “You’re fucking gorgeous, you know that?”
The blush crept up her cheeks, visible even in the darkness. “You’re just saying that because you’re about to see me naked.”
“I’m saying it because it’s true.” I kissed her—soft and quick, but with a promise of more. “Now finish what you started, Sunshine. We’ve got a bucket list item to check off.”
She reached back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall. Then her underwear. And then she was standing before me, completely bare.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Could barely remember my own goddamn name.
“Liam.” Her voice was teasing. “You’re still wearing pants.”
Right. Pants.
I stripped out of the rest of my clothes so fast I nearly tripped, which made her laugh—this bright, delighted sound that echoed across the water. And then we were both standing there, naked as the day we were born, grinning at each other like idiots.
“Ready?” I held out my hand.
She took it. “Ready.”
Our excitement made us giddy as we ran into the water. It was warmer than I expected, but still had a bit of a chill that took your breath away until you got used to it.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, wading deeper. “This is insane. We’re actually doing this.”
“We’re definitely doing this,” I said, following her until the water reached my waist. “Although I’m mostly just here for moral support.”
“And to stare at my ass.”
“That too.”
She laughed again and dove forward, disappearing under the surface. I watched her move through the water, sleek as a seal, before she surfaced a few feet away with a gasp.
“Liam, come on. It’s amazing once you’re fully immersed.”
I dove after her.
The water swallowed me whole. For a moment, I floated in the nothing, suspended between one breath and the next. Then I broke the surface and found her treading water beside me, her hair slicked back and her face alive with joy.
“Skinny-dipping,” she announced. “Officially in progress.”
“Not checked off yet?”
“I feel like there should be more…swimming. Or something. To make it count.”
“Swimming,” I repeated. “You want to swim.”
