There was something calming about the gentle splash of the water as the oars cut through the surface, but also profoundly satisfying. Rowboats were the culmination of generations of refinement of a basic concept. It was the simplest, most elegant solution to the problem of how to propel two people across a lake.

Of course, those simple pleasures paled in comparison to the flood of chemicals that washed through my brain every time I looked at the beauty sitting on the bench across from me.

I’m a lucky man to have attracted her attention, I thought. Although I really have Rex to thank for that.

The puppy had been spoiled rotten since I brought him home, but I vowed to give him another treat after picking him up from Logan’s. If it weren’t for him, I might not have had the courage to move on.

“Whatcha thinking over there?” Madison asked. She wore a small smile that was never far from her face. There was something inside her that wouldn’t let her feel gloomy or depressed, and it shined through at every opportunity. Some women had resting bitch face, but Madison had resting happy face.

I mentally shook myself. She wouldn’t want to hear what I actually thought of her. It was already too involved for something that was supposed to be a simple fling.

“Thinking? There’s no time to think when a slave driver forces you to row her around the lake. I’m melting away over here.” I exaggerated wiping my brow, despite a complete lack of sweat. “My arms are about to fall off from all of this rowing.”

“Psh. It’s not my fault you’re a wuss. I distinctly remember your claiming the oars all macho-like when we got in this thing. If you’re struggling that hard, then let me take a turn.”

The grin on her face let me know she was in on the game.

“You think it’s that easy? You’ll be sore in the first five minutes, and then I’ll have to row you all the way to the hospital. No, I’ll just suffer in silence over here.”

Madison crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, you don’t think I can handle it, is that it?”

I stuck out my tongue as I heaved us forward with a strong pull on the oars. “I don’t think you can, Princess.”

“Princess?” Her eyebrows flew up. “That’s it, switch me. I’ll show you princess.”

“Oh, I couldn’t let that on my conscience.”

Her voice dropped from its put-on airs. “Carter, seriously, switch me. I’ve never been in a rowboat. I want to try it.”

I shrugged. “If you want. Come over here.”

Madison crouched in the small craft. It wasn’t big enough to be stable like a ferry, but at least it wasn’t a canoe. As she crossed the gap between benches, she leaned too far to the side.

“Whoa!”

She overbalanced, and the boat rocked violently to the side. I swooped forward and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her back to safety. Madison fell into my lap, her back against my chest and her head on my shoulder.

The boat rocked from side to side, gradually settling to stillness on the calm waters.

“Hello,” I said to the woman in my arms. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Shut up,” she said. “I mean, thank you.”

She couldn’t have landed in a better position. Our faces were only inches apart, and my lips were drawn to hers as if by magnetism.

The kiss by the fountain earlier was tame in comparison. It started slow but rapidly grew in intensity. Madison’s lips opened for me, soft pillows that promised more.

It wasn’t long before she shifted in my lap, giving us a better angle, and incidentally pressing herself more fully against my body. I held her upright with my right arm, but I sent the left drift down her side, exploring her curves through her shirt.

Madison’s hand started on my neck, pulling my face to hers, but it left to wander. She traced lines across my chest, swirls across my side, and then hooked her thumb in the waistline of my jeans.

“Careful,” I growled. “We may have more privacy than earlier, but there are other boats all around and people on the shore.”

Her eyes were wide as she looked up at me. “Be careful? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Even as she spoke, her palm slid over my thigh and pressed against my manhood where it lay between us.

“If you keep that up, I’ll ravish you right here and now.”

The innocent look faded, replaced with smoky eyes that promised the world. “Maybe that’s what I want.”

Our lips crashed back together, and I let my hand fall over her ass and pull her harder into me until she moaned into my mouth. The sound was majestic, the situation like a dream.

This is incredible.

After so long off the dating market, building so many expectations in my head over how things would go when, and if, I finally rejoined the single world, Madison was a breath of fresh air. Everything seemed so uncomplicated with her, even as the attraction between us blossomed. If it felt good, why not do it? We had only a limited amount of time together, so why not enjoy it?

The thought was blissful in its simplicity and purity, and yet… At the same time, that whatever this was had to end because of an artificial deadline sent a twinge of regret through my heart.

Eventually, despite the escalation, teasing, and daring to go further, our torrid make-out session wound down.

“You know, now that I’m over here, I really don’t want to move,” Madison said. She reached out and grabbed the handle of the oar on the left side of the boat. “There’s no way I can reach both oars sitting in your lap like this, though.”

“Hold on,” I said. I shifted my hold on her and then took the handle of the other oar. “Try paddling that one, and I’ll paddle this one.”

Our first attempts were woefully pitiful. Madison couldn’t see what I was doing behind her, so matching our strokes was an exercise in futility. For the first few minutes, the boat traveled in wide, lazy circles as we laughed our asses off.

“Uh-oh,” I said.

“What?”

She looked where I was pointing. Another boat, carrying a couple blissfully unaware of our extreme paddling difficulties, had crossed our path.

“Paddle backward!” I pulled on my oar as hard as I could.

The boat rocked and wobbled as we tried to slow ourselves. When we were a few feet away from colliding with the other boat, the occupants finally noticed us.

“Hey, man, watch out!” The man in the other boat gave a hard pull on his oars, and we just missed striking them. “Dumbass.”

His comment cut my apology short. I called after them instead. “Arr, you’ve escaped us this time, but watch out or we’ll come and loot yer booty.”

Their expressions changed from annoyed to shocked, and the man rowed harder, pulling away.

Madison leaned out of my arms and put her hands around her mouth as a makeshift megaphone. “That’s right, you scallywags. Turn tail and flee for your lives!”

The other boat pulled far enough away that we couldn’t hear their complete response, but a snippet floated across the water. “What psychos…”

Madison and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“That was ridiculous,” she said.

“Do you think we could have gotten their deposit too if we’d taken over their boat and brought it back?”

“It just might work. We could be the Central Park Pirates. I’ll be Captain Madison the Magnificent.”

I frowned. “I don’t know. I think Captain Carter has a better ring to it.”

Madison’s jaw dropped in horror. “Is this a mutiny? On my own ship? How dare you!”

“It’s only a mutiny if we don’t hijack another boat first. I’ll let you be commodore of the fleet.”

She snuggled into my chest. “You know what? That sounds like a lot of work. I think I’d rather just stay right here instead.”