“You treat her good and she’ll treat you good. But she likes her space, too. One thing I know about women, as much as they like having you around, if you corner ‘em, they’ll fly away.”
His bloodshot eyes showed a flash of something that looked awfully painful.
“Yes, sir.”
“All right, I’ll leave you alone so you can get some rubbers.”
My mouth hung open. He punched me in the shoulder.
“I’m just kidding. You get that cream on those feet. Mutt will tease the piss out of you if you get to smellin’ like high noon in hell. She can be unmerciful.”
He walked off chuckling.
I left the store with foot cream.
Then remembered I had an Amazon app on my phone, which would allow me to buy whatever the hell I wanted. Privately.
Problem solved.
Well, problem solved … Monday when they’d arrive.
I pulled into the lot at Johnston’s Chute and took the gravel road on the far side of it, just like I had before. It looked different in the day and my Escalade was a much smoother ride than the van had been.
The road was muddy from the small storm the night before, but it wasn’t too bad. When I pulled up at her cabin, she already had the boat in the water and was carrying a cooler down the small dock.
“Can you grab that bag by the stairs and my tackle box?” she shouted to me as I hopped out of my vehicle.
Hannah was eager to get out on the water, and I was just pleased she wanted me there.
Even more than that, I was excited to have a whole day of looking at her in those shorts. That tank top. She had a ball cap on too and her hair was threaded through the back in a ponytail that swung behind her as she walked around the boat.
I did as I was asked and picked up the bags by the stairs and headed down the newer-looking dock. It swayed gently under my feet, and I did my best not to look off kilter.
“Do you know how to swim?” she asked with an accusing grin off to one side.
“Yes. I can swim. Thanks for the confidence.”
“I was just checking. I have life jackets here, but we’ll be along the banks mostly. If you should happen to fall out—or get pushed in—you’ll probably be able to touch.”
Was she planning on pushing me out of the boat? Or was that just a warning…
“Permission to come aboard?”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Get on here.” I didn’t miss the way she looked at my lips before she threw her shades on, like she was seeing me in a new light and didn’t know how to react.
Hannah took the bags, shaking her head at me. I thought that was what you were supposed to say before you got on someone’s boat.
The small vessel had two seats that were more like bar stools, tall and swiveling, and the boat was shallow and wide. There was a bigger motor in the back and a smaller one lying on the floorboard at the front.
“Why does your boat have two motors?” I asked as she untied the ropes tethering us to the dock.
“Ah, good question, Doctor. The one in the back is an outboard; it’s the main motor. The one up there lets me putter around in shallower water. It’s quieter when I’m fishing and it allows me to move around while I’m doing my thing.”
She took this seriously. Two motors. Shit.
If I was going to learn how to fish, I was glad to be learning from a professional.
“Interesting.”
“Not been on many fishing boats, huh?” She lowered the motor in the back and turned the key, causing it to roar to life.
“No. Not that many. I’ve been on bigger fishing boats in Cleveland. They’ll take you out to fish on the lake, but they’re nothing like this. I think this boat is quieter than your truck,” I teased.
“I don’t care how loud my truck is, but I care a lot about how quiet my boat is.”
She pushed forward on the throttle and we slowly moved away from the dock by her cabin. The morning sun was strong on the water and I was glad for both my hat and glasses.
She didn’t drive fast, taking her time to show me all of her favorite haunts. She called them her “honey holes” which I thought was cute.
What wasn’t cute was the look she gave me when she threatened my life and my balls if I ever shared the top-secret information.
Okay, that was pretty adorable, too.
She pulled into a narrow piece of water off the main channel and it was peaceful and calm, the current barely noticeable. Green buds sprouted on the trees, but not quite big enough yet to shade the water from the sun. Their branches arched over us like a tunnel made of wooden lace.
“It’s beautiful back here.”
“I know. I love this spot. It’s my favorite honey hole. It’s great bass fishing.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, other than that’s what she planned on catching, but I admired her zest for all of it. It lit her up.
“How do you know where to go to catch different kinds of fish?”
She cut the engine and turned in her seat, swinging her feet into the middle of the boat. She licked her lips and her neck stretched out towards me just enough. Again, it was obvious she wanted to kiss me, but she held back. So I did, too.
I wanted her to give in to it. To take what she wanted.