He smiled as relief coursed through him. “I’m really glad you said that,” he told her in a lighter tone. “It would really have messed things up if you hadn’t.”
Finally, she smiled, just a little. “What did you have in mind?”
He shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets. “What would you think about doing a shoot on the lake?”
She looked surprised. “What, like in a boat?”
He nodded slowly. “I could take you out to some good spots, show you the whole lake, maybe spark some ideas for future shoots?”
Her little smile grew, and his chest tightened. “That sounds awesome. Lead the way.”
He wanted to smile again, but he held it back. He nudged with his head toward the road. “Come on. I docked the boat not far from here.”
She fell into step beside him, looking around at the trees and the sky as if it were something new and fascinating. What did she see that he was missing?
“How was last night?” he asked, suddenly needing to hear her speak. “Any better?”
She groaned dramatically. “No! It was worse. Brittany and Bethany wanted to relive college dance team days with Jenna, and Alexis joined in, because she ‘danced in high school,’” she mimicked with finger quotes and actually did a fair impression of Alexis, from what he knew.
He snickered and looked down at her. “What did they do?”
She returned his look with the most deadpan expression he had seen outside of an emoji. “They choreographed a dance to ‘Call Me Maybe.’ And incorporated singing into it. And they made Grace record it. It’s going viral when the wedding is over.”
Hunter laughed into a hand, fighting the urge to burst out laughing. “But was it good?” he asked when he could speak.
She shrugged, expression still carefully blank. “Sure. I mean, they’re all very athletic and talented. But twenty-seven times through that song, not counting just parts, and with them trying to get Alexis up to par… Caroline and I were dying.”
“What about Sophie?” he asked as the road opened up to the docking area.
“Sophie doesn’t have facial expressions,” she said with a sniff that reminded him of the girl in question. “We have no idea what she thought.”
He chuckled at that. “Well, at least you have Caroline, right?”
She tilted her head in consideration. “Yeah, that’s true. She played soccer at Tennessee while Jenna was on the dance team there. Honestly, my cousins aren’t that bad, and Grace is okay. But the others…” She shuddered, then caught sight of the boat, and her brows shot up. “That’s the boat?”
He bit back a grin. The speedboat was technically property of the resort, but he could use it whenever he wanted, and it was brand new. He had taken it out a few days ago for a test drive and loved it, so why not kill two birds with one stone?
“That’s the boat,” he said proudly, going out onto the dock.
Mal didn’t follow. “I was picturing more of a rowboat.”
He looked between her and the boat, then raised a brow. “Would you prefer a rowboat? I can drag one of those out if you want.”
She was on the dock in half of a second. “Nope, this is just fine. Where’d you get it?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I borrowed it.”
She gave him a look, but said nothing.
He shook his head, smiling to himself, and got into the boat. “Stop judging me, Mal.”
She smiled back and held her hands up. “Not judging. You poor, poor, very rich man.”
He rolled his eyes and held out his hands for her. “Come on, smarty-pants.”
She handed him her cameras and bag, which he promptly set on the driver’s seat, then held his hands back out for her.
She surprised him by not taking his hands, but grabbing his upper arms instead. Before she could hop in on her own, he reached for her waist and lifted her. She snorted a laugh and gave him a funny look. He couldn’t return it. He just looked at her, hands still on her waist.