“Care to paddle with me?” Gabe asked, gesturing to one of the paddleboats.
“Sure,” I answered. Honestly, I would have said yes to just about anything he wanted to do with me at this point. Paddle boating, necking, going back into the shed and shutting the door so he could have his wicked way with me…
I cleared my throat, and my dirty mind, and waited as he got the boat into the water, then held it in place so I could get in. Once we were both in, we started paddling out into the lake.
The men were already way ahead. It looked like they were racing, while the women were taking more of a leisurely trip.
“So,” Gabe began, “tell me all about Zoey.”
I was enjoying the easy camaraderie we shared, but wanted to be as truthful as possible with him. I wasn’t sure if what we were starting was a fling or could possibly lead to more, but the idea of lying didn’t sit well with me either way. I still wanted my anonymity, at least for a while longer, so I decided to focus on telling him about my personal life, rather than my professional one.
“Well … I have a sister, which you already know, and a nephew, Christopher. I grew up in Michigan, and went to school in Boston, which is where I was planning on staying, but when my sister found out she was pregnant, I moved to North Carolina to help her out. I’ve been there ever since.”
“What about your parents?”
I bit back a groan when my thighs began to burn.
Who knew paddle boating was so hard?
“They’re around … off and on. Once Chloe and I were both out of the house, they moved down to Florida and spend a lot of their time either golfing or traveling. Chloe was too embarrassed at first, being alone and pregnant, to say anything to them, so she called me.” I shrugged as I remembered how easy it was to pack up and move when my sister needed me. Being a writer meant I could work anywhere, and even though I didn’t make as much money when I first started out, I’d had no problem packing up my meager belongings and being there for my sister. “I lived with her after she had him, but as time went on, they didn’t need me as much, so I got my own place. My parents roll through town once and a while, and we’ll go there to visit them when they’re in town, for holidays and stuff, but now, we’re all pretty much caught up in our own lives. Chris is twelve, going on twenty, and he’s always busy with sports and his friends, and both Chloe and I work a lot, but we get together when we can.”
“They sound lucky to have you.”
“I don’t know about that…”
Gabe placed his hand on my thigh and squeezed it gently.
“Not a lot of people would have packed up their lives and moved to a different state in order to help their sister. Then you stayed and helped raise your nephew. You sound pretty amazing to me.”
I flushed, pleased at his compliment, and placed my hand over his.
“I think the relationship you have with your cousins is pretty great too. I love that you all grew up together, and you take the time to get together like this every year. You’ve got a pretty amazing family.”
Gabe looked out over the lake at his cousins and laughed as Reardon shouted out in glee that he’d won.
“Yeah, they’re pretty terrific. Reardon and Dillon were always like brothers to me, and Jasmine and Serena … sisters. I guess I was pretty fortunate that our parents all stayed in the same small town when they started their families, so that we had the chance to grow up together. It sucked when Serena moved, but they came back a few times a year to visit.”
“It makes a difference,” I said softly.
“What?” he asked, his chocolaty eyes searching my face.
“Having strong family ties,” I replied. “I think it really helps to shape a person.”
Gabe nodded, and opened his mouth to reply, but the sounds of laughter and water splashing pulled his attention back to his cousins, who were heading toward us at rapid speeds.
“My kayak works perfectly,” Reardon yelled out with a cocky grin, then tilted his head and added, “But I think Dillon’s might be broken … It’s so slow.”
Dillon laughed good-naturedly at the ribbing, then asked, “What’s for food? I’m starved.”
“Looks like we need to head back and feed the beasts,” Gabe said, and I nodded in understanding. “Would it be okay if I came by tonight, after dinner? We could take some time to get to know each other, without interruptions…”
I paused, thinking about all of the things we could do without interruptions, and he must have taken my silence as uncertainty, because he added, “Just to talk.”
I smiled then, warmth filling me at the knowledge that he was trying to assure me that he wanted more than a hook-up, that he wanted to take the time to get to know me.
“I’d love that,” I replied, then proceeded to think about all the ways I could make him change his mind about the just talking part.
Chapter Nine ~ Gabe