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"Maybe petite women make bigger men feel more masculine, and a skinny guy loves the idea of being surrounded by a lot of woman, an earth mother thing. I like those netsukes, how they twist and twine the characters together. It makes me think of all the ways you can manipulate soft flesh with rope. Particularly a woman who's got an hourglass shape, with the right amount of nice curves."
His gaze slid over her, telling her which woman he was thinking about. "You know," he mused. "I haven't kissed you yet. Not a real kiss."
She blinked. "That was quite a segue."
"Only if you weren't paying attention." Then he turned thought into action.
Drawing her over to a large tree, he put her against the trunk, keeping her there with the press of his body and his hands caressing her jaw, her face.
She was done insisting this was just a casual date, and not merely because her body was telling her to shut the hell up. She couldn't find words with him so close, his eyes on hers. She'd backpedal later.
He put his mouth on hers and she swam in that feeling, the heat, his hands gripping her, kneading the sensitive skin at the waistband of her jeans since he'd found his way beneath her shirt. The breeze ruffled against her cheek, and she inhaled him, her arms sliding up his back to hold on. When he lifted his head, she was lying in his arms in a standing position, her head propped on his biceps.
"You know trust is the foundation of every relationship," she whispered. "You did lie about this being a not-date."
"I can't think of you just as a friend, Julie."
/> "Why not?" She moistened her lips.
"Because I don't want to."
He wasn't being flippant. His eyes and mouth were serious.
"Oh. Okay. Good reason."
He allowed himself a tight smile but eased back, though he kept her inside the frame of his body. Brushing her hair back from her temple, she scrambled for distraction again.
"Look, a toy sailboat." She pointed to it. It had drifted to the center of the lake and appeared to be caught alongside the turtle platform.
"I think they prefer to call them models." Des turned to look with her.
"Pfft. Boys and their toys. An actual one this time." She nodded to a boy standing on the edge of the water. From his working of the controls and his distressed look, it appeared he couldn't untangle the boat from what was holding it to the platform. "It's stuck."
"It may also be out of signal range," Des mused as they moved down the slope of grass.
The boy had turned to speak to an adult male sitting under a nearby tree. Surmising it was his father, Julie watched as the boy appealed to him. The man responded with impatience, not taking his eyes off the phone he was scrolling. As they drew closer, she heard what he was saying.
"I told you that you were going to lose it if you didn't keep it close to shore. There's no swimming in the lake. If it doesn't drift loose before we go, you'll just have to leave it. I told you to be more careful."
The boy bit his lip and looked back out at the boat. "But Dan gave it to me."
"Well, it's not Dan's day with you, is it?" The sudden blast of irritation brought the man's head up. "I'm your father. Why'd you bring one of his expensive toys with you? Just to rub my face in it?" The boy flinched.
"Asshole," Julie muttered. She was already starting forward, not sure what she planned to do, but Des stopped her. Winking at her, he stripped off his shirt and started to unbuckle his belt.
Her brows lifted. "It was a nice kiss, but I'm not sure it overwhelmed my aversion to public sex and subsequent jail time."
"I'll have to work on that." Handing her his shirt, he detached the connector between the insulin pump on his belt and the cannula. Putting the pump in his pack, he pulled out a small cap that went on the now open end of the cannula. Then he secured the tube and connector end against his body with a couple pieces of medical tape.
"Wow. That pack of yours is like the bottomless bag Hermione had in the Harry Potter books."
He winked at her again. When he removed the jeans, he revealed a pair of dark blue and green plaid boxers. "Good thing I didn't wear my leopard print thong today. It would scare the ducks."
She realized he intended to use the boxers as a modest swimsuit. Well, they'd be modest until they were soaking wet. She was looking forward to seeing that, even as she glanced at the water, concerned. There were a lot of no swimming signs posted, but Des seemed unconcerned about the reasons behind that. The pond had fish, ducks and geese, so she surmised dubiously the water might not be too toxic.
He put his shoes back on without the socks. "Are you sure the water's safe?" she asked.
"I'm Spiderman. I've already been bitten by a radioactive spider." He kissed her lightly and then waded into the water without hesitation, though the ripple of gooseflesh across his arms and back suggested the morning sun hadn't yet warmed it to a comfortable temp. Some of the geese plopped into the water, paddling companionably after him. When he reached the point he couldn't touch, Des began to do a breast stroke, headed toward the boat.
