He shrugged. “Depends on how good the winds are.”
“Yeah, not like a weekend road trip up north.” She relaxed back. “I’m thinking of crawling in that hammock and taking another nap.”
“I’ll join you,” he said, feeling a little exhausted himself. Normally when he made the trip down here alone, he would get right to work fixing whatever needed repairing. But this trip, he was on vacation.
He wanted to enjoy every moment with Jules. They tossed their empty paper plates into the big, covered bin under the stairs. Then he climbed into the hammock and pulled her down beside him.
She laughed when they almost spilled over, but he steadied them quickly enough. He’d spent so many hours in the hammock, it was like riding a bike to him.
“There.” He held onto her. “Is this what you wanted?”
“Yes.” She sighed, and he felt her completely relax. “I think it’s more than that. I think I needed this. Things were getting too… big.”
“Life is big. But taking time like this helps you realize some of the things you thought were too big, weren’t.”
“Exactly.” She rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him. “Why did we wait five years to do this?”
He thought about it for a moment before asking. “Have you ever danced the tango?”
She half sat up and looked at him in shock. “Hold the phone… You can dance?”
He shrugged. There was one point in his life he would have been embarrassed about the admission. He no longer was.
“An old girlfriend made me take a class with her that she’d won in a raffle,” he explained. “In the tango, just before you make the first move, there’s this sort of… flirtation that happens between partners. A couple beats filled with eye contact, elevated heartbeats from the closeness of one another, the anticipation of the first beats of the music.” He shifted to look down at her. “That’s what the last five years have been. We’ve been building up to the dance.”
She shifted slightly until her body covered him, then her lips brushed across his.
“I don’t think I want to wait any longer,” she said against his mouth. “Why don’t we head inside?”
He moved so quickly; they ended up sprawled on the soft white sand below the hammock. Thankfully, he was quick enough to twist their bodies so that she landed on his chest instead of under him. Still, whatever breath her request hadn’t knocked from him, the fall took out of him.
“Are you all right?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah,” he said with a wheeze, causing her to laugh some more. “Okay, dip in the pool to wash the sand off first, then we head inside.”
She nodded in agreement, and he rolled until they were both clear of the hammock above them. Then he playfully picked her up in his arms and rushed to jump into the deep end of the pool, still holding her tight.
She gave a brief squeal before they hit the water with a splash. As their limbs tangled, his desire for her grew to an almost unbearable level.
They came up for air kissing, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her mouth fused to his.
“We’re clean. Let’s go,” she said breathlessly.
He nodded in agreement, unsure if he could trust his voice. Then he gathered her in his arms again and swam towards the stairs.
He climbed out, still holding her.
“You can put me down,” she said as he started towards the back door.
“I’m good.” He smiled down at her. “Grab us a towel?” he asked as they passed the towel hooks that sat right outside the door.
He kicked the outside door shut as he started up the stairs. She used the towel to dry her hair, shifting slightly in his arms as he headed back to the bedroom she’d picked out.
When he got there, he slid her down until her feet touched the ground. She tossed the towel down and reached to pull her wet swimsuit off, but he stopped her.
“I like to unwrap my own gifts,” he said as he kissed her again. Their bodies heated as their hands ran over bare skin.
He untied the swimsuit top that she was wearing and it dropped to the ground with a wet plop. He cupped her bare breasts in his hands, enjoying the way her nipples puckered for him.