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“You’re cute when you swear.” He traces my bottom lip with the tip of his thumb, dragging it slowly.
Did someone light my panties on fire?
His thumb keeps caressing my lip, when a voice interrupts the heated moment. “Okay, can I bug you two to try a few different poses now?” Marley’s voice is a bucket of cold water dumped over my overheated body.
I clear my throat, taking a step back from Andrew. He does the same, but there’s still the heated tension between us, crackling like a live wire. I know he can feel it too, just like I did that first night.
“Right, yes,” I murmur, turning my attention back to Marley. Andrew takes a step closer to me again, taking my hand in his. Marley notices, and smiles at me, while also subtly winking at me.
I shake my head slightly, not bothering to hide my returning smile though.
“Now that we have the initial introduction photos out of the way, let’s go for a little walk. I’ll follow behind you two, and stop you every so often for posing. Got it?” Marley lifts her finger, swirling it around, motioning for us to turn and start walking. My hand is still enveloped in Andrew’s and I note the callouses and roughness of his hands.
“What do you-”
“Where did you-” Both Andrew and I start speaking at the same time, then proceed to burst into laughter. Andrew regains his composure first as we walk, toward nowhere in particular. “Where did you grow up?” he asks.
“I grew up not far from St. Cloud, a small town called Brooks Hill, about the size of Ivy Ridge.” Andrew swings our entwined hands between us. “My mom and dad still live in my childhood home. It’s only about an hour from here.”
Andrew nods thoughtfully. “Why Ivy Ridge?”
I shrug. “Why not?” Probably best not to do a deep dive into all my insecurities and past within the first five minutes of a date.
He smiles down at me, a dimple on his left cheek making itself known. “Well, I for one, am glad you picked us.”
“Me too,” I answer, trying my best to hide the flush I feel staining my cheeks. I tilt my head downward, clearing my throat as I do. “What do you do for work?”
Andrew rolls his shoulders back, and I can tell by the way his eyes immediately light up that he does something he genuinely enjoys. “I’m a carpenter. Well, woodworker is probably the proper terminology. I took over my grandpa’s business a few years back. I make tables, bookshelves, chairs, you name it.”
That explains the roughness of his hands. Not that I mind. I find it sexy that he works with his hands. “Wow, I’d love to see some of your work,” I say.
“I’d love to show you my shop,” he replies, and I don’t miss the dimple making its appearance again.
“Ooo, sounds fancy.”
Andrew chuckles, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. We continue slowly walking, surrounded by trees and bushes. It feels like it’s just him and me, but I know that’s not true, as I can hear the frequent click of Marley’s camera, and her footsteps crunching behind us. She stops us a few times, having us pose in various ways, before sending us on our merry way again. Andrew easily picks up the conversation where it left off.
“It’s really not fancy. Though it does have a couple recliners and a couch tucked in the back,” he concedes.
“Sounds way fancier than my ‘workshop’.” I make air quotes with my free hand.
“Nah, I bet yours is awesome.”
“No,” I laugh. “You’ll have to come see. I’m lucky enough to have a fridge and a piece of plywood.”
Andrew’s brow furrows for a short moment. “Hmm,” is all he says in response.
We reach the edge of a small pond, equipped with a wooden dock that appears aged, and is no longer in its best condition. It’s probably been forgotten for years, left to sit through the winter cold and snow. “Oh, this is perfect!” Marley calls, stepping up behind me.
“Uh, what?” Andrew questions. His eyes are wide in disbelief. “Mar… this doesn’t look too safe.”
“Andrew, are you kidding me? It’s fine, you know how sturdy these things are.” To prove her point, she skirts around us, stepping onto the dock straight to the middle, and jumping up and down a few times. The dock doesn’t budge, and Andrew seems to be appeased.
“Alright, fine. Josie, is this okay?” he asks, and I appreciate him asking, rather than just deciding for the both of us.
I shrug, not really all that concerned. I’m pretty sure I’ve been on worse docks. My high school boyfriend and I would do whatever we could to get out of our parents’ respective houses, and I distinctly remember one late summer night where we went to a pretty sketchy spot. It was a small pond, much like this one, and there were no houses in sight, but there was this old rickety dock. For a high school boyfriend, he was actually pretty sweet. He laid out a blanket for us, and together, we watched the stars for what felt like hours. With us being the horny teenagers that we were, there was also a lot of other stuff happening while we were watching the stars… if you know what I mean. For a seventeen year old, he sure was good with his tongue. That dock was in about ten times worse shape than this one.
“Come on, it will be fine.” I drag Andrew onto the dock by our clasped hands. He groans, but I get the feeling he’s just being dramatic.
