She took another step back at the evil glint in his eyes. “Um… yes?”
Ethan lunged for her, and she squealed. He picked her up and walked to the bank of the water. “Are you sure?”
She clung to his neck. “Ethan, please don’t toss me in with my dress on! Let me take it off first!”
He raised an eyebrow at her, contemplating. Then, to her relief, he set her back down and waited for her to pull her dress over her head. As soon as she had it off, he hauled her back into his arms and stepped up to the bank. She squealed and expectedto be tossed in, but to her surprise, he jumped in with her still in his arms.
They hit the water, which was shockingly cold. He released her under water and they both surfaced at the same time. As soon as she broke the surface, she hollered.
“Holy shit, that’s cold!”
He chuckled and pulled a hand over his face to wipe the water away. “What did you expect?”
“I expected it to be hot with how hot it is outside.”
He nodded toward the waterfall on the far end. “It’s all mountain run-off. We’re basically swimming in snow that just melted. Just keep swimming. You’ll warm up in no time.”
“Or go numb so I can’t feel it.”
“Or that.”
He swam more toward the middle, nodding at people and asking them how they were doing. She followed him, watching his muscular arms pull him through the water. His physique was perfection. He was the replica of the heroes she wrote into her books. The ones that seemed imaginary and unattainable. The ones that couldn’t possibly exist in this world.
Yet, here Ethan was. The exact epitome of a sexy hero from a romance novel with his amazing body and sunny personality. His perfect smile and outgoing nature.
Perfection. Every inch.
Was there anything this specimen of a man couldn’t do? He seemed to be good at everything, and she fell a little more for him with every passing minute.
Who knew that going to Wintervale would offer her more than a clear head and a good writing space? It offered her a companion as well.
They got closer to the waterfall, and Lily stared up at it as she treaded water. After only a few minutes, she was already growing tired.
Damn, I’m out of shape.
She looked over at Ethan, who wasn’t breaking a sweat. In fact, he wasn’t moving at all.
“Can you touch?”
He nodded. “Yep. You can’t?”
“No.”
He stepped closer to where she was treading water and took hold of her arm, pulling her close to his body. “Let me help,” he whispered.
She wrapped her legs around him, and she was suddenly warm. Not from the heat coming off his body, but because of the heatinher body. She swallowed hard and stared into his eyes with her arms wrapped around his neck. They were mere inches apart as he held her against him in the water.
Need stirred deep within her. If it weren’t for them being in the water, he would feel it pooling between her legs. She pulled her lip into her mouth and tried to force the thought away.
There were too many people around for anything to happen. Plus, it was a small town. If there was anything that was true in her romance novels, it was that gossip ran rampant in small towns, and she doubted this place would be the exception.
But he already had her pulled up against him, and he didn’t seem to care what anyone else would think. She forced herself to look around to see who was watching, only to be surprised to find the retreating forms of the last few people leaving on the trails or hopping into their cars and heading down the dirt road.
The sun was setting fast, and soon there wouldn’t be any light left.
“Shouldn’t we be getting back?” she asked softly.
“Probably,” he murmured. His eyes were unwavering and burned into hers. He didn’t even blink.
