Chapter Twenty-Six
Lucy
Lucy bobbed in the water, wondering what was going through Dylan’s head. She couldn’t see his face, but she was pretty sure she’d blown a few of his brain cells and he had to think it over. She had faith his not-better nature would win out.
Another minute or two went by. Lucy whistled and paddled about, acting like she wasn’t worried. In truth, her stomach was roiling. Have I gone too far? Does he think I’m crazy?
Then, he seemed to decide. He pulled his shirt off. Now she cursed waiting until twilight. She’d done that for the privacy, but she couldn’t see.
“Turn around,” he yelled.
Lucy choked on a laugh. “Seriously?”
“Maybe I want to keep you in suspense.” There was a hint of a grin in his voice.
She turned around and stared at the darkening sky, delighted that he was going along with it. The gin game and impromptu skinny-dip wasn’t the only thing she had planned for tonight, but it was a fun way to kill time. The Perseid meteor shower had started a few nights ago. They wouldn’t see many—the main shower was in August—but she thought he’d enjoy sitting on the beach, away from city lights, watching for shooting stars.
Now, though, this part of the night might eclipse a meteor shower.
There was some splashing behind her, and a ripple of water rolled up over her shoulders. She smirked a bit as Dylan pulled even with her. He stayed a respectful three feet away, but it was pretty intoxicating anyway. He was taller, so his chest was out of the water, and she had just enough light to appreciate the hard angles of his shoulders and pecs.
“I can’t believe I’m skinny-dipping.”
“With a girl you hardly know?” she asked, thinking about his shock at kissing her the day after they met.
“In general.” He threw his head back and laughed. It was the least stressed she’d ever seen him. He hadn’t looked this carefree even on their date Sunday. Like she always said, a little chaos never hurt.
“Doing new things is good for you,” she said, swimming around him, biting her lip to keep from laughing as his eyes followed her every move. He was going to try really hard to sneak a peek. Good luck with that. “Besides, isn’t the water nice?”
“Yeah, it is.” He vanished from view, before popping up a moment later to wipe water from his eyes. “Murky, too.”
“Did you just try to check me out underwater?” She splashed him. “No fair. This is an imagination-only exercise.”
“When I asked you about streaking around the dock, you considered it, didn’t you?” he asked, paddling after her.
She shrieked and swam out farther, but Dylan, with those strong arms, caught her easily. He grabbed her foot, and pulled her under, letting her surface less than a foot away from him. They shared a somewhat shocked glance and drifted apart.
“So, um, do you take many guys skinny-dipping?” he asked.
“No.” She paddled back toward the beach, and he kept pace with her. “Just you. You’re the first person I’ve ever brought here.”
When she reached a place where her feet could touch, she stopped. Her chest was a tangle of nerves. It wasn’t often she felt shy, but admitting he was the only one she’d brought to her little beach—and then getting naked with him—had rattled her confidence. Especially since it wasn’t an invitation for sex, just for some risqué fun to see if he’d rise to the challenge.
Boy, had he.
He floated up next to her. “Thanks.”
He sounded completely sincere. He must understand, then. She smiled up at him, then gasped. The show was starting. “Okay, this wasn’t exactly what I had planned. My real plan for the evening is right over your left shoulder.”
“What?” He turned, looking at the trees.
She risked popping out of the water and reached around his shoulders to tilt his head up just as another meteor streaked across the sky. “Shooting stars. See?”
“That’s amazing.” He glanced over his shoulder to smile at her. Lucky thing she’d made it back under the water. “This is great.”
“Even the naked part?”
“That took some getting used to, but yeah, even the naked part.” He laughed. “If any of my friends knew I’d gone skinny-dipping with a cute girl and didn’t make a move, they’d never let me live it down.”
“You can make a move…” When Dylan stiffened, his eyes wide, she laughed behind her hand. “After we put our clothes back on.”
He nodded, then craned his neck to stare at the sky. They watched four or five more meteors flame out overhead before Dylan got out. She kept her back turned, and her bikini top plopped into the water right in front of her. Her bottoms followed afterward, landing next to the top.
“Dylan? You should really consider pitching. You’re aim is dead on.”
He laughed. “Think so? Maybe I’ll give it a try.”
Once she had her suit back on—tying the top while swaying in the water was harder than she imagined—she called, “Okay for me to come out?”
“Yeah.”
She turned and sloshed her way onto the beach. Dylan was sitting on a log, wearing only his shorts. “I, um, wanted to dry off some before I put my shirt on.”
Lucy ran a finger along his biceps. “No complaints here.”
She pulled her shorts on, and sat next to him. The rough bark prickled at the back of her legs, but her feet were buried in sand, and Dylan was next to her. She’d put up with a lot more than prickly bark for a night like this. “When we go back to the picnic table, I made you something. For luck tomorrow.”
He put an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Want to go back now?”
“Not just yet.” She tilted her face up to his. “I need to give you a good luck kiss first.”
“Good plan.” His arm tightened around her, and his other arm slid under the back of her knees. She barely had time to yelp before he pulled her into his lap. “You want to know what I was going to ask you to do if I won the gin match?”
He nuzzled at her ear, and Lucy had a hard time focusing. “Uh…what?”
“This.” His lips trailed down her neck. “And this.”
“Your idea was better than mine, then.” She felt her eyes grow heavy, and she leaned hard against him. “Much better.”
“Let’s call it a tie,” he whispered, before kissing her softly.
A tie. A tie was good. She kissed him back, harder, and the tension in his body drained out. Pretty soon, they were going to tumble to the beach, too entwined to stay upright. Lucy didn’t think that would be such a bad thing. She’d kissed three other guys. Done more than that with two of them…and everything else with one. Despite that, none of them had ever made her see sparks behind her eyelids the way Dylan was right now.
When he pulled away to kiss her jaw, her neck again, and down to her collarbone, she murmured, “I’m glad we met.”
“Me, too,” he said against her skin. He looked up, meeting her eyes, his expression surprisingly intense. “You make me crazy, Lucy Foster. And I mean that in a good way.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. “Ditto.”
He laughed and kissed her again, before sighing and setting her gently on the beach. “Much as I hate to break this up—and I really hate it—I need to get some rest before tomorrow.”
“Yes, you do.” She tossed him his T-shirt and pulled hers on as well. “But first, I need to give you your present.”
They walked back to the picnic table hand in hand, and she motioned for him to sit before grabbing the bakery box. She’d spent two hours working in the kitchen that afternoon, but it had been worth it. She opened the box with a flourish. “Dark chocolate cupcakes with chocolate-amaretto cream icing.”
Dylan’s expression went funny. A little conflicted, and a lot of longing. That was a weird reaction to baked goods. “They aren’t poisonous. Or full of weed. I swear.”
“It’s not that.” After a pause, he sighed and said, “What the hell. Those look amazing.”
He took a cupcake, and Lucy watched, grinning, as he ate it in four bites, before groaning. “Jesus, those are the best cupcakes I’ve ever had.” He reached for another but stopped. “Are they both for me, or am I being a pig?”
“They’re both yours. I have more at home. Mom and Otis wouldn’t let me get away without making some for them, too.” She pushed the box toward him. “Have at it.”
He snatched the cupcake out of the box. He took more than four bites to eat this one, but he ate it with a desperation that Lucy found hilarious. When he was done, he patted his stomach. “Thanks. Really.”
“You’re welcome.” She reached up to wipe away a tiny bit of frosting at the corner of his mouth, before getting a better idea and kissed it away instead. He tasted like good chocolate, almonds, and vanilla.
She’d have to make him cupcakes more often.
Then she was in his lap again, and they were kissing with the same kind of intensity they had at the beach. His hand tangled in her hair, and she ran hers up his back under his shirt. Dylan’s breath caught as her fingers skimmed along his spine. Thoughts flitted through Lucy’s mind, hard to hold onto. Mostly that she felt like this was where she belonged. She wished she could stay out here all night.
They were both breathing hard, mouths hungry and searching. Dylan’s other hand traced the line of skin between her shorts and T-shirt, and she whimpered against his mouth. Did he have any clue what he was doing to her?
His answer was to pull her closer and run his hand up her back under her T-shirt. She smiled against his mouth. I’m such a bad influence.
Just when his fingers brushed against the string tying her bikini top, a light swept across the tables, and several high-pitched giggles rang out. Dylan snatched his hand out of her shirt like he’d been burned, and Lucy slid off of his lap, shading her eyes. Five Girl Scouts, probably about ten, were shining a flashlight right at them. Lucy heaved a sigh. “Shoo! I’m sure you aren’t supposed to be wandering around by yourselves.”
“That was so gross,” the girl with the flashlight said, and giggles erupted again.
The group walked off, their voices high as they discussed what they saw. Lucy rolled her eyes. “They’ll get a hundred miles out of that story, I’m afraid.”
Dylan laughed uncomfortably. “All the same, it was probably good they showed up when they did. I was…um…yeah.”
She heard what he didn’t say. She was both relieved and frustrated. “We should go, then. You need your beauty sleep.”
He helped her carry her bag to her car, giving her a soft, sweet kiss before heading to his own. He waited until she pulled out and followed her Jeep to the park gate. Once there, they turned in different directions. Lucy felt an ache behind her breastbone.
She missed him already.