German shepherds, Labs, poodles, Rottweilers, German shorthaired pointers. Good God, I was trying to name off every breed of dog I knew. The moment she leaned into me and I felt her body up against mine, my dick instantly rose to attention. I had to turn her around to face me before she felt me jabbing her in the back with my hard-on.

I swear to God, my dick was so hard, and there was not much more room in my pants to accommodate my growing problem. As Ellie was getting settled, I tried my best to adjust myself while thinking of other dogs. Shit, I wanted to kiss her so fucking bad. It was getting harder and harder to resist her.

After I got in and sat down, the look on her face made my hard-on go down in a matter of seconds.

“Ellie . . . what is it? Are you feeling sick? Do you not want to do this?” Her face was turning green right before my eyes. Maybe there was a reason she never went out on a canoe before.

“I’m okay, just give me a few minutes here to get used to this. Just . . . go slow, really, really slow. And don’t rock the boat!” Ellie practically shouted at me. I had to laugh at her, she was so damn cute!

After about ten minutes of slowly rowing out, we finally made it to Town Lake. I could see Ellie start to relax as she sat back and lifted her face to the sun. Damn, she looked so beautiful. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket but decided to let it go to voice mail. I had sent Jeff a quick text to let him know where we were right before I rented the canoe.

Another few minutes passed before Ellie started to talk. She never moved her head and just continued to keep her eyes closed as she soaked in the warm June Texas sun.

“Please just let me get this all out before you try to interrupt me or anything, okay?” Ellie said with a slight crack in her voice.

“Okay.”

“First, I just wanted to say thank you again for everything you’ve done for me the last two days. I know we just met, but I feel . . . well, I feel like I can really count on you. Thank you so much for being such a good friend,” Ellie said as she finally looked at me.

Ouch . . . there went that “friend” comment again. Could she really not see how much I wanted to be more than friends? Fuck, what more did I need to do?

Kiss her . . .

She started to sit up straighter, and I could see her starting to tense up again. She was looking everywhere but at me. I stopped rowing and just let the canoe drift in the current. I wanted to study her. I wanted to remember this moment for the rest of my life. The way her beautiful blue eyes stood out and the way her light brown hair was starting to fall down from her ponytail and blow in the wind. The way she smiled at me. Her smile . . . I loved the way her smile made me feel. I wanted to wake up every fucking morning to that smile. I wanted to prove to her that her mother was wrong—so damn wrong.

Ellie was nothing like her mother. She was smart, innocent, caring, and beautiful . . . all the things her mother never could be. I was going to kiss her before this day was over. Yep, fuck the dogs. I was going to prove to Ellie I wanted to be more than just her goddamn friend.

“Gunner, about what my mother said. Well, um . . . I just wanted to let you know that everything she said was a lie. I mean, I’m not that way . . . I’m not a whore. I barely even ever kissed Ryan, let alone slept with him. I know you probably already figured that out by the way Ryan left me and all. It was just really important for me to let you know what she was saying was not true. Honestly, I’m not a hundred percent sure why I needed you to know this. I just did. I just needed you to know,” Ellie finished, and now she was looking right at me.

How could she even think for one minute I would ever believe her mother? My heart was breaking all over again. I was so fucking confused. One minute she is calling me a good friend, and the next she is telling me how important it is that I know she does not sleep around.

“Ellie, sweetheart, believe me when I tell you this. I never believed anything that came out of your mother’s mouth. I’m so sorry she hurt you and that you had to endure all that verbal abuse from her over the years. Please don’t ever let what she said to you ever stand in your way. You’re a strong, beautiful, and very smart young woman. Don’t ever forget that, Ellie . . . never forget that,” I said as I reached over and took her left hand in mine. I lifted it up and placed her hand to my lips and pressed a soft kiss on the back of her hand. She gave me the sweetest smile in return. I let her hand go to start rowing again.

Ellie threw her head back and started soaking in the sun again. I would never get tired of watching her. I could watch her eat, sleep, laugh, smile . . . God, you name it. I had this incredible urge to spend every spare minute with her. This was the perfect first day . . . not date, day. The perfect first day of many more to come.

As I rowed the canoe up to the shore, the guy who rented us the canoe held out his hand to help Ellie out. The way he looked at her just made my skin boil. Did he really think I couldn’t see what the fuck he was doing?

Bastard!

Ellie laughed at something he said, and I had to fight the urge to pound his face into the ground. I walked up and took her hand out from his hand. I thanked him and led Ellie away from this dickhead. I turned back around once to see him watching us walk away.

Fuckwad douchebag, go flirt with another guy’s girl.

Shit, I needed to remember that Ellie was not mine. But I was going to change that and very soon.

We walked for a little bit along the trail as Ellie told me all about her plans for college. She was going to study business, but she was not 100 percent sure that was going to be her major. After about fifteen minutes of talking about college, a young couple walked by with a baby, and I watched Ellie smile at them as they walked by. I thought about earlier when I pictured her on the ranch with our little girl and a puppy. The idea made me smile and filled me with a warm sensation. I wanted a life with her. I wanted to wake up every day and look over at her sleeping by my side. I wanted her.

Ellie was staring out at the water, and I decided I had waited long enough. I walked around to where I was standing in front of her. She looked up at me and just gave me that beautiful smile I had come to love and need so quickly.

“Ellie, sweetheart, I really need to do something I’ve wanted to do since I first laid eyes on you yesterday.”

I took my hands and cupped her soft, beautiful face. I leaned down and barely brushed my lips against her lips. Holy fuck, they were softer than I’d imagined them. I pulled away slightly, but kept my lips just inches from hers and waited just a few seconds to see if she would pull away. When she didn’t, I took that as a sign it was okay to kiss her. I leaned back in and made the kiss deeper this time. I kissed her with all the passion and emotion that had built up inside me from the moment I first saw her. She let out a small moan, which vibrated through my whole body and instantly my dick started to get hard. God, what this girl could do to me was crazy insane.

I slowly slipped my tongue into her mouth, and Ellie lifted farther up on her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. Holy fucking shit, I’ve died and gone to heaven. Pure heaven . . . I slowly started to lift her off the ground as I wrapped my arms around her. I knew my erection was pressing into her body but I didn’t give two shits. All I cared about was showing her how much I wanted her. She needed to know she was wanted.

If I died today, I would die a happy man. I’d never in my life experienced such a kiss before. I was overwhelmed by the sensation, and my whole body was on fire from her touch.

I slowly started to slide her body back down along my body until her feet touched the ground. We both pulled away from each other only when we finally ran out of breath. I was completely breathless. Ellie’s chest was moving up and down at a rapid pace. I stared into her eyes and she stared back into mine. I would remember this moment for the rest of my life.

I wasn’t sure what she was going to say or do, but the moment the smile spread across her face . . . I wanted to jump up and down and do a few fist pumps. YES!

My sweet, beautiful Ellie. I would never give up on her, ever.