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Rather than answer, he picked at the label on his beer bottle, carefully not meeting her gaze.
She drank the rest of her beer, then the third he thunked down in front of her, with awkward bouts of conversation interspersed. It was the most pleasant interaction she’d had with him since they’d met. Progress had seemed impossible only this morning.
“Come with me,” he said suddenly. He rose and walked out of the garage. Confused, she followed, wondering if she should have grabbed her hoody.
Without explanation, he walked through the grounds to the back of the property. She hadn’t realized how far the holdings extended. Even though it was a cold day, the treed garden and lawns were serene and lovely. On the way to wherever he was taking her, they passed a huge fountain with spouting dolphins and stone benches – all of it a complete surprise, hidden from the house as they were by the canopy of trees.
When they reached the end of the manicured lawn, he kept going, taking an overgrown path through the woods. She hesitated then followed him in, the buzz she’d gotten from the beer making her reckless. If the man was dangerous, they would have told her, right? Or she’d already know?
She followed him down the path, hopping over deadfall and puddles, jogging to keep up with his long strides.
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer, but stripped off his shirt. She slowed to a walk, trying not to stare.
Why was he getting nake
d?
Moments later she heard the quiet lap of water in the distance. They reached a gap in the trees and descended a gentle slope to a secluded beach. No road or other path led to where they stood. Across the expanse of water there was only trees and rocks, with no hint of civilization to mar the view. Birds wheeled overhead. The whisper of wind through the long grasses that flanked the few dunes made her decide she never wanted to leave.
“Is this a lake?” The beer was affecting her mental processing times.
“Yes.”
“What’s it called?”
“Mine.” He was watching her, and his lazy smile stopped her heart and sent all her blood straight to her pussy.
Oh...the lake. Duh. Earth to Minnow.
He toed off his boots, and stripped out of his filthy jeans, standing naked in front of her in all of his tattooed, pierced glory. Hell, the man had nothing to be shy about. She’d tried not to sneak a peek at his equipment, but hey, it was impressive and fucking pierced. And she wasn’t exactly a saint.
“Every go skinny dipping, Miss Korsgaard?”
“I...no.”
He strode into the water, not flinching from the cold. They’d had unseasonably early frost overnight for the past few nights. There was no way she was going in there.
Fuck. Naked Severin was bad news on the controlling herself front, especially when he turned to look at her over his shoulder and smirked before diving in. The man had an impossibly wide back that tapered down to a narrow waist, and a muscular ass that made her feel faint. And the tattoos? So many more than she’d anticipated. He came up with handfuls of sand and scrubbed the grit over his arms and hands, then smoothed his hands over his beautiful bare chest, then rinsed off.
“Korsgaard,” he called, his husky voice making her self-control waver. “Let me get this straight. When I want you to leave, you stay because it’s good for rapport. Then when it’s something I ask you to do, you refuse?” He ducked under the water again and resurfaced moments later, much farther out.
“It’s too cold for that!”
“I’m unhinged in here,” he mocked. “Don’t you want to fix me?”
“I don’t need to go skinny dipping with you to be an effective companion.”
“If you come in, I’ll answer three questions.”
“Any questions?”
“A few subjects are off limits. I’ll let you know if you stumble across one of those.”
Fuck. She was drunk. She knew she was drunk. But he was so hot and naked and bossy, and he wanted her in the water. Rather than strip naked, she kicked off her boots and peeled off her top and jeans, but left on her bra and panties.
A low rumble of sound that turned out to be Severin chuckling filled the clearing and tripped along the glass-smooth surface of the lake. Tentatively, she touched her toe to the water, and his eyes took on a wicked gleam as she shuddered.
