THEY’D BEEN FISHING all afternoon, and of course Laney had found a boulder to lie on to feed her need for sun worshipping. She lay with a sweet smile on her lips and her shirt tied just below her breasts, exposing her taut stomach. The edges of her dangerously short cutoffs were rolled up even higher. She’d always loved the sun, and as Jackson moved stealthily around her, taking pictures for what very well might be the last time they would be alone on her birthday weekend, his mind tumbled back through the years.
She’d changed in so many ways since they’d met. When her parents had separated, she’d become harsher, more wary of just about everything and everyone. Except when she was with him. When they were together she’d strip away those thorns and, it seemed to him, breathe for the first time in however long it had been since the last time they’d been together. It bothered him that she had such issues with monogamy, because she was an amazing woman and she’d make an incredible wife for some guy.
Then again, that was the last thing he wanted for her—which was what made him the selfish bastard he was. He stood on a rock beside the boulder and zoomed in on her profile, trying to ignore the pull in his gut over some guy marrying Laney. Some guy was looking more and more like Bryce.
Jackson had always loved capturing Laney’s image when she was unaware and at her most innocent, completely unguarded. Just like when they were in bed together. Through the camera lens, she was all he saw, all he felt. All he needed?
He lowered the camera, chewing on that thought. He stepped closer and ran his finger down her arm.
She smiled, and without opening her eyes, she said, “Hey, you.”
He wanted to push the truth away, to make it easier for him to let go and allow Laney to live her life with a man who was ready to settle down. But he couldn’t deny the truth. It wasn’t the camera lens that filtered out the rest of the world. It was her. Even now, with the sounds of the birds overhead and the tree leaves swaying in the breeze, it wasn’t the beauty around them that captivated him.
It was Laney.
It had always been Laney.
And, he had a feeling, it would only ever be Laney.
Chapter Four
“I GOT IT!” Laney stood on a rock at the edge of the deep water with the end of the fishing rod pressed against her belly as the tip bent with the weight of the fish.
Jackson stood a few feet away, smiling and clicking away with his camera.
“A little help?” she pleaded, straining with the rod.
With the camera blocking his face and only that smart-ass grin staring back at her, he said, “But you’re so cute.”
“I’m going to be not so cute and you’re going to be starving if we don’t catch some fish.” She reeled in a few inches of line as Jackson relented and set the camera on top of his backpack.
He climbed the boulder in two big steps and pressed his body to hers from behind, wrapping his arms around her as he kissed her neck, stealing her ability to focus.
“Jackson,” she said softly. “That’s…”
He sank his teeth into the curve of her shoulder, sending a shudder right through her.
“That’s not helping.” She couldn’t stifle a moan when he moved one hand from around her waist to the fishing pole and slid the other beneath the edge of her shorts, teasing her through her panties.
“But—oh my—” She loved when he took control, teasing her at the times when it was most unexpected. He rocked his hips, pressing his hard length against her ass as his fingers crept inside her panties and sank into her, masterfully taking her up, up, up...“That feels so good.”
She reached behind her with one hand just as the fish pulled, tugging her forward on one foot. She lost her balance, sending them both tumbling toward the water. She dropped the rod, he grabbed her, and in the seconds it took to hit the water, he’d positioned himself beneath her, taking the brunt of the fall. Gripping her waist from beneath her, he pushed her up through the surface and she gulped in air. He followed her up, all the while holding on to her and keeping her head above water.
“You okay?” He searched her eyes. “Are you hurt?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her in close, kicking his legs to keep them afloat.
“No. You?” she asked.
Relief swept over his face, and he laughed. “No. Sorry, Laney. I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t thinking.”
She pressed her lips to his, and his tongue coaxed hers open. She drank in the sweetness of their kiss, and she felt him moving them toward the shore. When his feet touched the riverbed, he held them there, immersed in the cold water from her shoulders down, as he deepened the kiss.
“The rod…” she reminded him as it floated downstream.
His eyes went nearly black. “Don’t care.” He tangled one hand in her hair and took her in another punishingly intense kiss.
“Have to…” He nipped at her lower lip, his hand slipping up the back of her shorts. “Have you. I’m sorry. I just…”
Her lips burned with the fiery passion of his kisses. Her hands slid over his back, his arms, and finally she clutched at his head. She wanted all of him, fast and hard. His body was hot, the water was cold, and when his fingers found their way inside her again, pleasure radiated through her.