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“Anytime, babe,” Aaron Thompson shouted like the idiot he was.
“Thanks for rushing up to help,” Lori snapped back. “Good way to make use of those muscles.”
Completely missing the point, Aaron smiled and flexed his bare biceps. It didn’t really matter that it was only fifty-five degrees out and much colder in the water, Aaron was already dressed for maximum exposure in a sleeveless, skintight neoprene wet suit and a lean red life vest. Lori was pretty sure he never wore underwear. He certainly didn’t have any panty lines, though she could see the clear bulge of his manly junk. As usual.
“You finally coming for that private white-water lesson I offered?”
“Not in a million years.”
“What if I bring along a friend? I did this girl in Aspen last weekend who said she was bi. I told her about you. She seemed, you know—” he wiggled his blond eyebrows “—into it.”
“Aaron,” she bit out, then made herself count to twenty. Lots of people in Tumble Creek assumed she was a lesbian because she didn’t date much and she fixed cars for a living. She’d actively encouraged this belief in Aaron’s case, because she’d grown tired of him stopping by after his last river run of the day to show off his tight neoprene package. Especially after the time she’d caught him rearranging his goods to offer his best side just before he’d stepped into the garage.
Lori shuddered at the thought and watched Aaron’s pretty blue eyes drop lower to check out her chest. She crossed her arms.
“Aaron, listen.Please.I will never sleep with you. And I will never sleep with anyone else in front of you. Nor,” she interrupted when he opened his mouth to speak, “will I sleep with someone you know and then tell you about it. Is that clear enough? Just drop it, all right?”
“But…” He looked confused, not believing even a gay woman wouldn’t want to sleep with Aaron, god of the hot river guides. A deep crease of thought appeared between his eyebrows. “But I thought we were friends.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. I don’t even know what to say to that.”
He shrugged, all traces of thinking gone from his face. “Whatever. Just call me if you ever decide to switch teams.”
“I…” There was no reasoning with a man who was such a bizarre combination of nature boy and gigolo. “I’ll see you later.”
He winked and turned back to the work of unknotting a thick poly rope. Lori’s eyes wandered to his ass, and he must have expected just that, because he turned his head and caught her looking.
“Reconsidering?” he offered in a smooth purr.
“No! I just…” With a growl, she spun and stomped off toward the narrow path that had been worn through the grass, Aaron’s laughter fading behind her. She didn’t want anything to do with that man’s ass, but no one could help but stare at the two perfect globes of muscles perched on top of his bulging thighs. How much time did he spend working out anyway? And how long did it take him to pour himself into that suit every morning? Jesus, she’d seen the hollows on the sides of his ass cheeks.
He’d be perfect for a fling. “If only he weren’t Aaron,” she muttered to herself, then the words hit her brain and she stopped dead in her tracks. A pebble pressed against the ball of her foot so hard that she felt it through the sole of her shoe. But she didn’t move.
Aaron was perfect for a fling because hewasAaron. He was young, hot and eager. He’d do anything she asked him to. And there was absolutely no danger of it developing into something deeper. Perfect.
And not the least bit tempting.
Not like Quinn.
She pressed her weight harder to her right foot until the pebble felt like a thorn. Her thoughts of Quinn held firm, unaffected by the pain. She wanted him. And she needed the distraction, really needed it. This thing with her dad, it could go on for months. And she had nothing—nothing—to distract her. Except Quinn and his offer.
Lori lifted her foot and kept walking, keeping a close eye out for any sign of bears ahead. If it were springtime, she wouldn’t be out at all. In the spring, the bears were not only hungry, they had baby bears to protect. “Eek,” she muttered.
The river rushed and roared beside her, always louder than she expected despite that she’d grown up two hundred feet from it. Once it hit Grand Valley it was a wide, smooth ribbon, but here it jumped and dropped and boiled, finding its way through sharp rocks and steep ledges. It was a little like her life, actually. Boring and calm one minute, chaotic as hell the next.
But if her life was going to be chaotic for a while, maybe she should enjoy the ride.
So Quinn wouldn’t be a perfect fling. He was too familiar. Too nice. Too smart. But he was right about one thing, he’d be better at a fling than he’d ever be at a relationship. Lori could vividly remember walking into the girls’ bathroom at a varsity basketball game to find a beautiful blond cheerleader weeping loudly into her hands.
“He never calls. Ever! And last night my parents were gone for the night, and he didn’t even show up. We were going to do it and he didn’t even remember!”
“Quinn’s just like that,” her friend had assured her.
“He hates me!”
“No, no! He’s so smart, RaeAnne. He’s got so much stuff to think about. College. Basketball.”
The cheerleader’s sobbing had grown louder, and Lori had hustled out, wide-eyed.
