“See?” Matilda grinned. “Like mermaid!”
“Don’t you swim too fast,” I warned her. “I don’t want to have to chase you.” I kicked off my shoes and tugged my T-shirt over my head.
A sharp breath spun me around.
Erin’s eyes quickly skidded away. “Oh, um…” She pressed her palm to her chest. “You, um… You should put on some sunblock.”
I rolled my eyes. “There’s plenty of shade here. I’m not getting burnt today.”
“Oh, um…” She gulped.
“Quit worrying about me. What are you waiting for? It’s boiling.” I tapped my bare foot against her sneaker. “Strip off!”
Erin twisted the hem of her T-shirt in her fingers.
“Hey.” I crouched in front of her. “You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to. I can keep an eye on Til in the water.”
“No… I want to… It’s just that…” She flicked off the bead of sweat trickling down her cheek. “You haven’t…seenme… before.”
My brows pinched together. Did she mean in a swimsuit? We’d spent loads of hot summer days by the river. Erin was usually last in the water, but she’d happily sunbathe on a towel in the long grass with Lila. Had she worn a bikini then? Maybe?
“I’ve seen you in a swimsuit loads of times,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but not since…” Her cheeks flushed hot pink. “Did you ever look at me before? Like…look?”
“Oh, um…” Bloody hell, she was right. I wasn’t prepared to see all that skin now that I knew it was a hint of what else I might get to explore someday when I was lucky. “No… actually…”
“Will you look now?”
“Imighttake a peek. I’ll be very discreet.” I tried a smile, but she looked almost green. “If that makes you uncomfortable, I can look at… the, um…” I glanced around the forest. “Well, thereare plenty of things out here to look at. Those old apple trees have enough branches to keep me occupied.”
She shoved a playful hand into my shoulder. “Cal…”
I laughed. “Come on. Get your gear off.”
The tension easing from her shoulders, she peeled off her T-shirt and stood. I looked at precisely the wrong second, catching her as she wriggled out of her shorts, bent over enough for my dirty mind to spin into overdrive. Those breasts…Glorious…Just enough spring breeze prickled at her skin, and the hint of her nipples peeked out of the red fabric.
Heat slammed into my chest. I tried to drag in air while she took her sweet time neatly folding her clothes on the picnic blanket.
Erin’s ass jiggled far too perfectly as she walked over to Matilda and clasped her hand. “Ready?” Her gorgeous smile landed on me. “Cal?”
I couldn’t look her in the eye. My cock was too damn hard for this not to be the most awkward moment of my life. “Uh, you two…” I cleared my throat. “I’ll be right there.” I turned away just enough and heaved in another big breath.
Snap the hell out of it.You’ve seen a naked woman plenty of times. She’s wearing a swimsuit.
Thatredswimsuit. Withthosekiller curves.
“Cal? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.” There was nothing wrong with acertainpart of my anatomy. “But, uh…” I motioned at my crotch. “If we could avoid that little missy over there seeing this…”
Erin’s gaze dropped. She slapped a hand over her mouth to cover the shock.
“I peeked,” I confessed. “Bloody hell, Erin. You’ve got one hell of a gorgeous body. I couldn’t help it.”
She wasn’t disgusted by it. If anything, she seemed to relax even more. She gave me a broad smile. “Comewhen you’re ready.”
My eyes narrowed, but I couldn’t pretend to be angry. I burst out laughing and waved her off. A brisk walk around the picnic blanket, mulling over the pile of invoices sitting on my desk, bored my dick to an acceptable size. I headed to the water, let my toes curl over the sandstone rocks for a breath or two, and dived in. The cool water stripped the heat from my skin in one sharp, clean rush. I broke through the surface.
