Page 24 of Love Among Vines

“She’s definitely a lake dog,” he said as he wrestled the ball from her mouth. The water brushed the bottom of his ribcage. Had he taken his boxers off before climbing in?

Jade glanced surreptitiously at the pile of clothes on the dock, but it was hard to tell.

“That does explain why she always tried to leap into the reservoir in Central Park during our runs.”

Penny ambled her way back onto the dock, clearly having the time of her life. It was going to take forever to get her dried off.

“You have some paint on your neck.” He pointed to her left side.

“Oh, here?” She rubbed at the spot indicated.

“Lower. Here, let me help.” He swam toward her with long, confident strokes.

He slipped one hand behind her neck and cradled her head while he rubbed with the other. It was impossibly sensual. Her toes curled on the lake floor, probably digging up decades of silt. Could he feel how fast her pulse was hammering?

“Your heart’s beating a little fast,” he said softly.

Damn it.

“Probably something to do with being in constant fight-or-flight mode from this arctic water,” she mumbled over numb lips.

“Maybe I can help.” He closed the gap between them. The steel of his abs pressed against her.

Finally.

She shivered, and his arms drew around her like a protective shroud. Where did he find time to work out between running a winery and being a professional financial stick-in-the-mud? His biceps were the size of cantaloupes.

Since the two of them were already pressed against each other, she drew her arms around his neck. “I’m just going to say this once. Your ex was an idiot.”

A wry smile appeared, crow’s feet crinkling at the corners of his green eyes.

“What makes you say that?”

“I’ve only known you for a handful of days.

And in that time you’ve repeatedly shown up for me.

You saved me from abject humiliation at the wedding.

You drove me into the city, introduced me to someone who has the power to change my future.

Supported my weird artistic journey of self-reclamation.

I’m paying you back for those supplies, by the way. ”

“No, you’re not. They were a gift.”

“Yeah, to your fake girlfriend. They definitely exceed the threshold for appropriate gifting.”

His grip on her tightened. “I’m just trying to set you up for success. Speaking of which, we really should set up a time to look at your budget.”

She shot him a dirty look. “You really want to talk budgets right now?”

His gaze drifted down. “Not particularly.”

His hands slid lower, gripping her thighs and lifting her from the rocky floor. He wrapped her legs around his waist and glided his hands over the curve of her ass, settling on her lower back.

“Would I be out of line if I suggested adding a skinny-dipping practice kiss to your calendar?” she asked. “We want to be sure we’re comfortable with each other if we end up having to perform in public.”

“Let me pencil it in.”

His mouth claimed hers. Her back arched and she pressed herself even tighter against him.

She trembled under the brush of his fingers over her spine. His hands slipped between them, coming up to cup her breasts. He squeezed, and it stole the breath from her.

Holding on to his neck with one hand, she reached beneath her with the other and groped blindly under the water. His erection was rigid under her touch.

Rett gasped against her lips. She pumped and stroked, ran his head experimentally over her folds.

His hand slipped between her legs and was a second from exploring deeper when a speed boat roared into view.

“Rett!” someone called.

Jade gasped and relinquished her death grip on his waist. She fell into the water and dipped below the surface. When she surfaced, she ducked behind him.

“Hey, Shirley,” he called sheepishly. “What brings you over on this fine day?”

“Well, I was just about to drop a bag of apples on your dock and call it a day. I had no idea I would be…interrupting. You’re usually still at work.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, well. This one thinks I work too much.” He reached back and dragged Jade out from behind him. “Right, honey?”

“Hi,” Jade said, one hand strapped over her chest like a fleshy bra.

Shirley was a squat older woman, mid-60s, with kind brown eyes and a face filled with laugh lines. She was beautiful.

“You’ve got something green in your ear, dear,” Shirley said, moving her sun hat to gesture to the affected part.

“Must be paint,” Rett said affectionately. “Jade’s an amazing artist. She’s doing a mural for Margie’s Café, you know.”

Shirley whistled through her teeth. “I’ll have to come take a gander. You kids take care,” she said with a wave.

“Just checking,” Jade said after Shirley handed over a bag of apples and roared off in her boat. “Is this town populated entirely by some kind of cockblocking purity cult?”

“To be fair, we were naked in a public waterway.”

She sighed heavily. She was so close to finding out what it would be like to get him in bed. A lake bed maybe, but a bed nonetheless.

A phone buzzed from the pile of clothes on the dock, and Rett’s expression instantly changed. His eyebrows contracted, and he took a step toward the shore.

“I have to get back to work,” he said. “Let me grab you a towel.”

A protest was on her tongue, but she swallowed it. Clearly he wasn’t feeling it like she was. It figured.