Looking down at me, she frowns. “Did you just let me win?”
I lift a hand, shielding my eyes from the blinding sun only to be struck dumb by the sight of her. Her long, dark hair hangs in wet waves around her shoulders. Her white bra is wet and her nipples poke through. I can’t take my eyes off those perfect peaked buds. Water drips down her body, calling me to follow its path from between her breasts, over the softness of her belly and her navel. My gaze dips lower, stalling at the white cotton panties that cling to her hips, translucent from the water.
“You let me win on purpose?” she asks, dropping to her knees to scowl at me. “Do you have no pride?”
“Maybe I was suffering ill effects of hypothermia. You’re crazy swimming in that.”
“That water wasn’t half as cold as your shower this morning.” She huffs. “I could have beaten you for real.”
I laugh. “Oh, really?”
“Yes! I demand a rematch. Back to the rock.”
She starts to stand, but something catches my eye on the opposite shore, and I grab Ellie’s hand before she can get up. “Wait.”
“What?”
I put my finger to my lips and nod toward the beach by the house, where a man and a woman stand. While I can’t identify him for sure from here, I’d bet money the man is Brayden. I literally don’t know anyone else who’d wear a suit to the cabin. And the blonde with him—
“Is that Molly?” Ellie asks.
“I think so.”
Brayden cups Molly’s face in his hands and shakes his head as he looks down at her. Then he backs away. I can’t tell, but judging by their body language, it looks like they’re . . . breaking up?
Ellie squeezes my arm. “Are they involved?”
“They hooked up once, but I don’t think anything came of it.” Brayden’s not exactly an open book, so how the hell would I know?
“Does he know about her and Colton? The kid?”
“Yeah. He knows about Noah.” I tilt my face toward the sky and close my eyes.
Lying down beside me, Ellie finds my hand and squeezes it. “Thank you for bringing me out here.”
I roll my head to the side and squint away from the sun so I can look at her. “You said that already.”
“I mean it.” She laughs. “Though if I’d known where we were coming, I’d have brought a bathing suit.”
I dip my gaze down to her breasts in her wet cotton bra. “What fun would that have been?”
She sits up a little, looking back toward the shore. “They left. I don’t think they saw us, so you don’t have to worry about them knowing . . . you’re here with me.”
I frown. “Why do you think I’d worry about that?”
“Isn’t that why you didn’t want them to see me?” She lifts a shoulder. “And why we’re here and not at whatever pre-wedding family gathering the Jacksons have going on today?”
Well, shit. “They looked like they were having an important conversation, and I didn’t want to disrupt them. Ellie . . .” I wait until she meets my eyes. “I didn’t bring you out here to hide you. I brought you out here to cheer you up and get you away from everything.”
“Okay.”
Shit. “I brought you here because I wanted you for myself.” I lean forward and catch a drop of water as it rolls down the side of her face. “I brought you to the other side of the lake because it’s my side. It’s my place. And because . . .” I swallow. “Because I have some nice memories here. I brought you once, and I was hoping a visit might help bring it back for you.” I grimace. “Stupid, I know.”
She brushes my shoulder with her fingertips. “It’s not stupid.”
We stare at each other, the silence stretching between us and growing heavier until I feel like I could snap under the weight.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” I whisper, propping myself up on one elbow.
“You are?”
I nod, and then lean forward slowly and sweep my lips over hers. I pause for a beat, our mouths close but not touching, our breath mingling in the warm afternoon sunshine. I wait for her to pull away, counting the milliseconds with the beats of my racing heart before I give myself permission to lean in and repeat the kiss. Just a sweep of lips. Once. Twice. When she moves closer, she does so slowly at first, and then suddenly she’s straddling my lap. She puts a knee on either side of my hips and lowers her mouth to mine.
It cuts something free in me, and my hands dive into her hair as our mouths open. Tongues touching. Hands gripping. Hunger. Need. She shifts her hips, rubbing against my erection, and damn it, I want more. I want to roll her under me and kiss my way down her body. I want to pull off these wet scraps of fabric and slide into her again. I want to make love to her out here in the middle of the lake in the middle of a sunny afternoon as a way to tell the whole world she’s mine.
Instead I wrap my arms around her and sit up. I lean my forehead against hers, and we both struggle to catch our breath.
She pulls back slowly. “Sorry. I . . .”
“Don’t apologize.”
She shivers, shaking in my arms.
“We’d better swim back and put on some dry clothes.” My mind skips forward. To going home, to climbing in bed, to holding her all night . . .
“Just because I was dreaming of Colton doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings for you.”
But I want more than feelings. From Ellie, I want it all.
Ellie
As Levi pulls his clothes on, I grab mine. “I’m going to go back here and change,” I say, motioning toward the trees.
Levi smirks. “You’re gonna get modest on me now?”
I shrug. I want to take off my wet underwear before I put on my clothes, but despite feeling brazen when I stripped down to my panties, now I’m suddenly self-conscious. Is it because he pulled away when I wanted so much more?
I step into the trees and peel off my wet bra and underwear before pulling on my sweater and skirt. The water was cold, and now that I’m in the shade, I’m shivering.
“You okay back there?” Levi calls.
“Almost done,” I say, wriggling my skirt into place over my wet skin.
A hand covers my mouth. I’m yanked back. I gasp but the man just presses his hand tighter against my mouth and holds me closer to his chest. He’s big and strong and my body stiffens in panic, but only for a beat. In the next breath, I realize it’s Colton. I smell him. I feel him. I know him.
“Shh,” he whispers.
“Colton,” I whisper against his fingers. Thank God he’s alive. A tear slides from the corner of my eye.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you.” He drops his hand from my mouth. “But they don’t believe that, do they?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Do you? Do you think I want to hurt you?”
I shake my head again. His words are hot against my ear, and I’m torn between wanting to curl into him and wanting to shove him away. “But someone does. Someone did.” I’m shaking now, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m scared or because this is all suddenly too intense. Maybe I’m not scared for myself at all. Maybe I’m shaking because I’m so grateful he’s alive.
He wraps his arms around me tighter and squeezes so hard that it’s almost painful. “I would never hurt you.” He kisses the side of my neck, a gesture so sweet and tender that I tremble beneath his lips. “I love you,” he says. “Do you still love me?”
I open my mouth, but I don’t know how to answer that question. I love him. I’ll probably always love Colton. He was my first real love and the father of my child. But that’s not what he means. There are some breaks that no amount of healing can mend.
“You’re breaking my heart,” he whispers. “Are you in love with him?”
I won’t offend him by asking who he means. We both know he’s talking about Levi, and we both know it’s a reasonable question. I love Levi, but am I in love with Levi? Maybe the distinction is nothing more than semantics, but it seems important.
Colton presses his lips to my neck again, then bites me softly in that same spot before pulling away. “I saw you out on the dock with him. Was he touching my girl?”