While I wait, I peel off my sweater and kick off my boots, leaving me in a tank top, jeans, and socks.I gravitate toward the water’s edge, mesmerized once more by the sight of the ancient mountains and evergreen trees in the near distance, and the way the sunlight shimmers on the dark water.
The sound of shifting rocks behind me signals Graeme’s return.“You look like you belong here,” he says quietly, coming to a stop beside me.
I’m unable to give voice to the thought looping through my mind on repeat: Ifeellike I belong here.
He sets the towels down, and I watch as he grips the back of his shirt and pulls it over his head in one smooth motion.I’ve seen him shirtless plenty of times over the years, although this is the first time since we became more than friends.The sight of his broad, hair-dusted chest has me biting my lip to keep from salivating.He catches my eye and gives me a knowing look that makes my skin heat.
“Your turn,” he says, his voice low and laced with suggestion.
I grip the hem of my tank top, prepared to pull it off, but my confidence fizzles and dies under his hungry gaze.“Don’t watch me.”
With a soft chuckle, he turns around and continues undressing.I remove the rest of my clothes, shivering slightly despite the warm air.
“Okay,” I say.My skin heats again as Graeme takes me in.My plain white bra is nothing special, but his eyes linger there anyway before dipping lower.When he first suggested swimming, I instantly regretted my choice of underwear for the day.The amused light in his eyes, paired with his pleased chuckle, has me rethinking that.
“Well, aren’t you a sight?”He’s still smiling, but his quiet tone is almost reverent.“I approve of your choice of knickers, although they’d be even better in the MacKinlay tartan.”
“This was the best I could do, unfortunately,” I say, motioning to the blue-and-white plaid.Drew and I bought matching pairs as a joke during our first week here, and I was pleased to discover they’re surprisingly well-made and comfortable.
“I suppose the colours of the Scottish flag are the next best thing,” Graeme says.He hands me a pair of water shoes, which I take gratefully.I was imagining slip-sliding or hurting my bare feet on the small, loose rocks that make up the shore.
“Now, the waterwillbe cold, and it’ll be a shock to your system at first.Let your body adjust, and tell me if it’s too much.We’ll only stay in for a few minutes this time, and we can work our way up to more another time.”
His smile dims slightly, as if he just realized what he said.He’s made a few off-hand comments about things we’ll do together in the future—we both have—and it hits harder as our time together grows shorter.
At the edge of the loch, I bounce on my toes and shake out my arms, trying to psych myself up while dispelling some of the nervous energy coursing through me.“I think I hate you for this,” I tell him.
“Nah, you love me,” he answers without missing a beat.I don’t have time to formulate a response before he takes my hand and leads me forward.I gasp the second the frigid water touches my skin.I let out a prolonged whine mixed with pained laughter as we wade in, feeling gratified by the way Graeme curses under his breath between short, sharp breaths.
“Ready to swim?”he asks when we’re waist-deep in the water.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”I release his hand, and he lets out a whoop when I dive in before him.I’m not sure which is more breathtaking: the water that’s colder than anything I’ve ever experienced, or the view of the mountains on one side and the beach on the other.Graeme and I swim around each other, giddy laughter spilling from our lips.
We face each other as we tread water, seeming to reach an unspoken agreement not to go any deeper.I wish I could capture this moment: Graeme, with droplets of water glistening on his skin and clinging to his eyelashes.He suits the rugged landscape, making me thinkhebelongs here too.
After a few minutes, we move slowly toward the shore.Graeme pauses when our feet touch the rocky bottom again.I drift toward him, and he pulls me closer, a smile tilting one side of his mouth as I wrap my arms around his neck.He grips my upper thighs and lifts me, coaxing my legs around his waist.We’ve been this close before, but it feels different this time.Our naked torsos press together, and there are mere strips of fabric separating the rest of us.
My attention shifts to one strip of fabric in particular when a gentle wave makes me rock against Graeme.The way he’s holding me places me higher than him, with my centre pressed firmly against his lower abdomen.It takes super-human levels of strength to resist the urge to grind against him and ease some of the ache that’s been a constant companion lately.
The sun glints off the water and reflects on Graeme’s face, making his eyes even bluer than usual.I cup his jaw, loving the stubble-roughened feel of his skin under my fingers as I lower my mouth to his.His hands shift from my thighs to grip my ass, fingers brushing over my bare skin where my underwear has ridden up.
The combination of his touch and the cold water causes a full-body shiver to roll through me.I laugh against his lips and pull away, meeting his eyes.“You know, if someone had told me a few weeks ago that I’d be wild swimming in my underwear in a Scottish loch while making out with a hot Scot, I wouldn’t have believed them.”
“All the more shocking that said Scot is your best friend?”Graeme asks.
“HotScot,” I say.“Don’t forget that part.”
His laughter vibrates through me, straight to my core.“I can’t refer to myself that way.”
“Mm, well,Ican.”I lower my mouth to his once more, kissing him hungrily.He groans, sending another shiver through me.
“That’s our cue to get out.”Instead of releasing me like I expect, he begins walking toward shore.I cling to him, partly for warmth, but mostly because I like the low growl he lets out when my breasts press against his chest.
When he sets me down beside the boulder where we left our things, I feel shivery yet energized.He hands me a towel and instructs me to wrap it around my waist, then takes another and wraps it around my shoulders, rubbing my arms vigorously through the plush material.
“Don’t get dressed yet, I have warmer clothes for us in the car,” he says, slinging a towel over his shoulders.He gathers our clothes, and we head for the car.He opens the back passenger door and points to a pile of clothes, telling me I can get dressed back there while he changes outside since there’s no one else around.I dry off and then strip out of my wet underwear, sighing as I slip into the sweatshirt and joggers Graeme left for me.I’ve just pulled the pants up all the way when he gets into the driver’s seat.
Our eyes meet in the rearview mirror.On impulse, I slingshot my panties at him.Even from here, the glint in his eyes is impossible to miss.
