If Jake had known he could spend a vacation making love to a beautiful woman, he might have taken one years ago. But he wasn’t ready to open his eyes Friday morning after exhausting himself with Clem all night. After they’d fallen asleep, his dreams had been invaded by vivid memories of her pale skin and soft moans. The kind of dream that would make him happy to never wake up if it weren’t for the fact she was currently running her hands along his chest, whispering at him to open his eyes.

He kept his lids shut tight, taking in the sweet smell of her loose curls as the strands brushed over his face. He reached out blindly and caught her by the waist, disappointed to find out she was already dressed.

Easy enough to fix.

“Wake up, Jake. I’ve got a surprise for you.” Something soft, like a feather, tickled his stomach, spiking a new wave of arousal. Last night’s “inspiration” had been a scene from her book that involved her riding him like a cowgirl. He didn’t even need to ask what was in store now. Whatever she wanted, the answer was hell yes.

He opened his eyes and blinked twice. There was a feather all right, but it was dangling from a little yellow rubber fish with a hook attached to the end. “Uh, babe, I’m up for just about anything but can we at least use something that doesn’t have a barb?”

She laughed, drawing his attention to her soft, sensual lips. She was so beautiful, he could barely think straight. “Get dressed, I’m taking you fishing.”

“I thought we already established that I hate fishing.” He swung his legs off the mattress and stood up with a stretch. He felt her gaze on him as he walked naked to grab clothes from his bag. For three years, she’d barely been able to look him in the eye any longer than it took to order a pint. But in just a few short days, she’d opened up in a way he hadn’t know was possible. And judging by the sly grin on her face, there was a lot more he had left to discover about her.

“You only hated it because you had no idea what the heck you were doing. I’m going to teach you what your father and grandfather should have you when you were a kid.”

He pulled on a pair of boxer briefs, then hunted for a clean T-shirt. “I still need to improve the potato cannon.” Yesterday’s test shot had been pretty good, but even Clem had reacted with a mysterious shrug, as though he were missing the obvious. He didn’t even want to think about how much cellular data he’d burned through trying to figure out what was missing, but none of the millions of websites out there seemed to offer anything different than what he’d already figured out on his own. It was clear Clem was itching to help, but he refused to hear her out. Yeah, the whole thing was ridiculous, but knowing none of the guys she’d dated in the past were willing to jump through these kinds of hoops to be with her pissed him off. How many fools had passed up the chance to be with a woman like her because they didn’t have the guts to put themselves on the line?

“You’re either going to figure it out or you won’t,” she said wistfully. “Looking at instructions online isn’t going to help at this point. So, let’s go have some fun.”

“Okay, you win.” Saying no to this woman was getting harder each day. By the end of the week, he’d probably hand over the ownership papers to the Holy Grale if she asked for them. But the fact was, it was easy to make someone happy when there was an expiry date on the relationship.

More was the one thing he couldn’t give her, no matter how good things were between them. Then again, more was the one thing she wasn’t asking for. She didn’t flinch when he’d told her he was only interested in sex. Even with the complication of pretending to be in love in front of her family, she hadn’t shown any sign of wanting more.

“Good answer. I’m going to fill a thermos of coffee. Meet me by the boat when you’re ready.” She sauntered out of the room with more energy in her step than he’d seen any other morning since they’d been there.

He dressed quickly and found her loading his fishing gear into the small aluminum boat. It was so early, there were no signs of life coming from the next lot. A shallow gray mist hovered over the still water, coating the surrounding trees in a gothic blanket.

“Need help with that?”

Clem tossed another life jacket into the boat. “No, it’s all done. Jump in.”

Ten minutes later, she cut the engine. They were in a reedy corner of the lake near a small sandy island. Wet wisps of hair clung to her forehead, framing her smile. Her gray wool sweater was too big for her, but he liked the way she looked in it. Cozy and happy. The morning chill was still clinging to the air, but the sun was just starting to peek out between the green hills with the promise of another hot day.

“Some days I wish I could have a little island like this to escape to. Not all the time. Just sometimes, you know?”

Jake wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him or to herself. “You picked a beautiful spot.”

“We’d be better off with live bait, but since we didn’t plan ahead, we’re going to stick to lures,” she said, tying a small blue one to the end of his line. “The most important thing is to not be impatient.”

She handed him the rod.

“Patience has never been my strong suit. I’m not used to waiting around for something to happen. I’d rather be doing everything I can to make things go my way.”

“That might work in business, but not fishing. It’s healthy to give up control and just let things be every once in a while.”

He cast the rod and stretched out his legs. She must have seen that as an invitation because she crawled across the small boat and settle between them, leaning her head against his thigh. They’d engaged in these kinds of small, intimate touches around her family with increasing frequency over the last few days. Hands resting innocently on knees while sitting around the campfire. Quick pecks on the cheeks before dinner. All in the name of maintaining their ruse. But there was nothing innocent or sweet about the kind of contact between them when they were alone. As soon as they shut their cabin door, it was pure, burning passion.

The press of Clem’s cheek against his jeans should have made him uncomfortable, but he found himself stroking the soft curls off her face like they were an old married couple. In two days, they would be back home. Back to their regular lives where touching each other in any way wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t going to waste any of these last few opportunities while he was here.

He traced the curve of her ear, watching the smile pull at the corner of her lips. “No book today?”

“Nah. Thanks to you, I think I’ve finally got a handle on the characters.”

“Glad I could help.”

“You have. More than you realize. And not just with the book. Having you here has helped me find the confidence to speak up and set boundaries with my family. I forgot how much I actually liked being around them when they aren’t swarming me like mayflies. And I think they’ve finally realized they don’t need to keep setting me up with every single man in our zip code. That’s something that’s going to last long after this trip. And that’s exactly why I want to show you how to fish properly. Give you something that will stick with you after we break up.” Her body stiffened. “I mean, after I tell my family we’ve broken up.”

“Have you figured out what you’re going say to them?”

“That you’re not over your ex and not ready for any kind of commitment right now. Sticking close to the truth seems simplest at this point. They might give me a hard time about it, but it’s okay because I think they understand now that I’m capable of finding the right person for me without their help.”

“Clem—”

“No, it’s okay. You don’t need to say anything about how I’m a nice girl and if things were different… I already told you I’m not the kind of woman who loses my mind over a guy because of great sex. This week has been wonderful for what it is and you’ve been nothing but honest with me. I don’t expect you to change your stance on relationships after a couple nights. Besides, I’m not even sure I would want you to. We agreed this would only be about sex, and I’m okay with that.”

The words sounded so wrong, it was like his body tried to put up a shield against them. But what could he say? She was right. Not that he was hung up on Kelly, but that he wasn’t going to be ready for a relationship. Only, the reasons he’d had for feeling that way seemed more distant than the sun rising over the mist-covered hills. It was so much easier to picture himself coming up here year after year with the woman in front of him than to remember the guy who worked too hard and always had an excuse for not taking a holiday.

The line tugged before he could wander too far down that rabbit hole. “I think we’ve got one.”

“Reel it in!”

She sat up and grabbed the small net while he pulled in the line. The silvery fish hooked onto the end of his line was at least a foot long. “Not too bad,” he said, admiring the creature. “I think we could actually get this one on the grill this afternoon.”

She brushed her hair off her face with a grin. “See? I told you I could make you fall in love with fishing.”

Not just fishing, he thought to himself. And that was the problem.