I watched her as she sat down on the dock and dipped her toes in the water. The lake was only about a five-minute drive from the bar, but we didn’t talk the whole ride. Instead, she put her feet on my dash and moved them to the music as the wind whipped around her.

I didn’t know what I was expecting with Staci, but all I knew was that I wanted to know more.

She kicked her foot causing the dark water to ripple in the moonlight as I sat down beside her. She had rolled her pant legs up her calf, but she didn’t seem to care that the water was splashing against the fabric.

“Whose turn is it?” She looked over at me, and for a second, I just stared at how beautiful she was.

“It’s mine. I think.”

She nodded her head before she turned toward me and crossed her legs Indian style.

“When did you decide you wanted to be a tattoo artist?”

She blinked up at me and furrowed her brow. “A serious question?”

“All my questions are serious.” I chuckled.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Forever. I at least knew I wanted to be an artist forever. The tattooing didn’t really come along until I figured out…” she hesitated. “Well, until I figured out that your first love isn’t always true love.”

She said it so matter of factly, like she had put so much thought into what true love was, and I desperately wanted to ask her why. Why wasn’t it true love? What happened? But those weren’t questions I asked. Those weren’t questions I cared about.

“My turn.” She grinned, and it was a fake ass grin that didn’t do shit to hide the ghosts that were still clouding her eyes. “Where’s the craziest place you’ve ever had sex?”

“Damn. That’s a hard question.” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “Probably in a movie theater.”

“Really?” Staci’s laugh rang through the night.

“Yes, really. It wasn’t easy, but it can be done. You are looking at a bit of a rebel.”

She shook her head and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Do you want to dance?”

“What?” She laughed again. “No.”

“Why not?” I stood from the dock and reached my hand out for her.

“One, we’re on a dock in the middle of nowhere. Two, we’re probably about to be murdered on said dock in the middle of nowhere.” She looked behind her into the pitch-black night. “And three, there is no music.”

“I told you I was a rebel.” I reached my hand closer for her to take. “Plus, I have this thing called a cell phone that plays music.”

She slid her hand into mine as I started the music on my phone.

I pulled her into me as the music broke the calm silence that surrounded us, and her body fit against mine like a glove. She put a hand on my chest, and I was sure it was to keep distance between us.

“Is this how you woo the ladies, Mason Connor? Are you trying to woo me?”

“If I was?” I smiled down at her, and I loved that she barely reached my shoulders.

“Then you would be barking up the wrong tree. I am not so easily won over.”

“Oh yeah?” I cocked an eyebrow. “What would it take to win over the elusive Staci Johnson?”

“What was it that you said earlier? I can’t reveal all my secrets.” She smirked, and my gaze stayed glued to those lips as I fought off the urge to lean down and kiss her.

Instead, I twirled her around in a circle, and she laughed before I pulled her back against my body. We slowly swayed to the beat of the music, and she looked anywhere but at me.

“I have a feeling you don’t reveal any of your secrets.” I pushed a piece of hair off her face, and she quickly ducked her head away from my touch.

“Have you ever been skinny dipping?”

I wasn’t sure if it was the moonlight or my question that lit up her eyes, but either way, I couldn’t stop staring at them.

“Actually, I haven’t.” She looked out over the water, and I followed her stare trying to see what she saw.

“Do you want to?”

The small laugh she let out was infectious, and I found myself pulling my shirt over my head before she could change her mind.

She popped the button on her jeans, and regardless how many times I told myself that Staci and I were nothing more than friends, my dick still went instantly hard.

“Are you going to just stand there and stare at me or are you going to get those pants off?” She shimmied her jeans down her legs, and I picked up the bottle of liquor from the dock and took a swig of the brown liquid to help steady my rapid heartbeat.

The dock rocked under my weight as I kicked off my shoes into the pile of clothes she had started. My pants slid down my legs, and she pulled her top over her head. The smile hadn’t left her face since I mentioned the idea, and there was something about it that made me want to dive in head first. Into the water. Into her.

She faced the water and unhooked her bra, and I barely breathed as I watched the delicate fabric slide down her arms. It ran over the intricate ink that covered her body. I had never really paid attention before. Never really thought much about it, but it seemed her skin told a story. A story I was dying to know. A story that begged me to taste every chapter with my tongue.

She looked at me over her shoulder, standing there in nothing but a pair of tiny black panties, and every damn ounce of the alcohol left my body. It seemed that there was nothing clouding my mind at that moment except for her.

I felt sober yet staggering drunk at the same time. Intoxicated on her.

She grinned as she pushed her panties down her legs. Then without a second thought, she jumped headfirst into the pitch-black water, and there wasn’t anything in this world that could stop me from following her in.

Chill bumps broke out across my skin as I hit the water, and it still couldn’t clear her from my mind. I shook my head as I reached the surface, and there she was. Her dark black hair was pushed back by the water that soaked it and seemed to gleam under the moonlight.

“This feels awesome.” She laughed, and the sound pulled me closer to her.

“I cannot believe Staci Johnson has never been skinny dipping before. I’m shocked actually.”

“I lived in Oklahoma most of my life. There isn’t a lot of skinny dipping where I come from.”

She splashed me with water before she ran her hands over her head pushing the excess water out of her face.

“Why did you leave Oklahoma?”

I could see the hesitation in her eyes. The fear that she hid behind her shield. I had crossed the line. I knew before she even opened her mouth that she wasn’t going to tell me.

“I guess it’s time for another shot, huh?” She laughed, but it was fake and sounded horrible coming from her lips.

“You could always lie to me.” I reached out and touched her hand under the water. I was close enough to her that I could easily see her body, but I didn’t let my gaze drop from hers.

And I begged her to lie to me.