“This is nice,” Chloe said after he threw the anchor into the water. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been here before.”
“My dad likes to fish in this spot.”
“Mine was never much of a fisherman.” She wrinkled her nose and laughed. “Living right on the lake and he’d rather toss his line over the railing at Mitchell’s. Catch little trash fish so he could throw them back out.”
“How about you? Have you ever fished?”
Shaking her head, she laughed. “Not really.”
“Jane and Mindy used to go with us. But they’d always squeal and complain when Dad told them they had to take their fish off their own lines.” Cam chuckled, shook his head. “We stopped bringing them.”
“That’s funny. I can imagine what a pain Mindy and Jane would be to you guys,” she said softly, her eyes glowing as she watched him. She had this way of making it easy for him to recall long-stowed-away memories with fondness.
The moment he’d left Lone Pine Lake, he’d abandoned all those warm, happy thoughts. He’d been sullen, a grumpy, supposedly misunderstood teen with a chip on his shoulder. Believed his parents just didn’t understand him and what he wanted to do with his life. Knowing he would go absolutely nowhere in this nowhere town, he’d left.
And proved his parents wrong.
They were proud of him. He knew that, had heard it enough over the years to believe it. But he still felt like he had something to prove. What with Patrick a financial banking success and Mac the owner of his own business for the love of God, he still had to fight the feelings of inadequacy.
Chloe helped combat that, too. Her easy acceptance of him, the adoring gleam in her eyes that had irritated him when they were younger, now filled him with pride.
Filled him with lust.
“You should take your cover-up off,” he suggested casually, feeling anything but. Having her close always ratcheted the tension within him a few million degrees. The sneaking around bit aided that as well.
She sent him a look. “You just want to see me take my clothes off.”
His blood heated. Well, yeah, that was a given. But since he knew nothing like that was going down, he at least wanted to ogle her. “I figured you’d want to take a swim.”
“It looks cold.” She glanced down, leaned over the edge of the boat to trail her fingers in the water. “It is cold.”
“It’s refreshing,” he corrected, tugging his old T-shirt off and tossing it on the bow seat. “Come on. Jump in with me.”
Her eyes widened when they settled on his chest, her lips parting a little bit, as if she liked what she saw. Perfect. She needed to return the favor so he could do some ogling. He hadn’t seen her in a swimsuit yet and they lived by a lake, for Christ’s sake. “You’re going to jump in?”
He rolled his eyes, smiling. “Yeah.”
“I’m more of a wader.” She nibbled on her lower lip, contemplating him.
“You asked for an adventure, right?” Reaching for her hand, he tugged so she had no choice but to stand. “Take off the dress, Chloe.”
She pulled her hand from his and reached for the hem of her dress, stripping it off so she stood before him in a tiny two-piece that made his eyes bug out of his head. Bright green with white polka dots, it was sinfully sweet on Chloe’s bangin’ bod. Held around her neck with thin strings, tied on either hip with those same strings, Cameron was filled with the urge to untie it all…
And have his wicked way with her.
“Put your tongue back in your mouth,” she murmured, invading his heated thoughts.
He snapped his jaw shut. “You’re going to jump in with me?”
Nodding, she let him take her hand again. He led her to the front of the boat, where they stood on the bench seat, making the boat rock gently. “On the count of three,” he said, his gaze unerringly going to all those luscious curves. Her flared hips, her nipped-in waist, and those breasts that were the stuff of dreams.
His lusty, sex-filled dreams…
Clearing his throat, he counted down, squeezed her hand before he said three and they jumped in together, Chloe yelping as they flew over the calm lake. The water sucked them under, cold as she said, but it cooled his heated thoughts, the shock of the temperature wilting his burgeoning erection.
Thank God.
She popped out of the water with a shriek, coming for him as if she meant to do him bodily harm. “I think my lungs are frozen,” she sputtered, water streaming down her face, her hair slicked back. “It’s sooo cold.”