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Her free hand settled on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. “Is everything okay?”
“Uh-huh. Can I have another hug, though?”
She put the big picnic basket she was carrying down and drew him into another hug, this one tighter, firmer. It was less of an exuberant greeting and more of a reassurance that she was here, with him, sharing this space and time. It was a promise of more moments like this to come.
He kissed her forehead. “Thank you, darlin’. I needed that.”
“Are you sure you still want to go out? We don’t have to.”
“I absolutely want to spend time with you, Saoirse. But I’m feeling selfish. I don’t want to share you with anyone. I know we agreed to a picnic by the lake, but could I tempt you to take a ride with me? The falls at Skalkaho Pass are pretty spectacular.”
Saoirse nodded eagerly. “That sounds wonderful.”
Chapter 6
The fallswerewonderful.
Saoirse loved water in all its forms. Until her injury, she spent every day swimming, and every night dreaming about swimming. She was more at home in the water than on land. Seeing the huge tumult of white water crashing down, feeling the spray on her face even from twenty feet away as they sat on the riverbank, smelling the sharp, clean ozone scent the falls threw off, Saoirse felt at home.
The same way she felt at Sutter’s side.
She knew it was too soon to feel any way about him beyond friendly. They’d had one date. It had gone better than she could have anticipated. There had been almost an… innocence about it. Watching a movie together. Sleeping in the same room but separately, cocooned in their respective sleeping bags. He’d given her a soft kiss when he’d dropped her off at the Ranch in the morning, which had lit her up all day. The gentle ache of it echoed the fading soreness of her bottom. Although her sleep had been interrupted, she woke feeling better rested than she had in a long, long time.
Whether it was the beautiful August day or the lingering warmth from Sutter’s affection, everything today had a special sparkle. The Littles playing on the big inflatable and then taking their swimming lessons had been especially exuberant today. Every splash and antic drew another smile out of her. There was no constant ping in her chest as her own Little pined to join in. She was satisfied from the night before. More satisfied than she could remember being after a play session.
When she got back to her room to dress for her picnic with Sutter, she’d found an email from Chairman Chess at Blunts in New York, inviting her to return and offering her a permanent position as Aquatic Director.
With a substantial salary increase and health benefits.
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back to Blunts. Doing so would mean continuing to suppress her Little. But knowing shehadsomething to fall back on made the uncertainty of her current situation sting so much less. She could sit on the riverbank, breathe the fragrant air, and enjoy the picnic packed by the Ranch’s Cafeteria—including their mac and cheese which was Saoirse’s favorite guilty Little pleasure—without the constant chew of worry at the back of her mind.
“If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?” she asked Sutter idly, her gaze tracking from the falls to his face.
His handsomeness caused a different kind of ping in her chest. The early evening sun shone on his blond hair, spiked up in front where he’d run his hands through it. It played over the strong planes of his face, kissing the straight bridge of his nose, the long dimples in his cheeks. His eyes were greener than the needles of the pine trees surrounding the river. Even relaxed, lounging on what she thought from the faint scent might be a horse blanket, his chest, stomach, and thighs were impressively firm under his black, button-down shirt. Physical appearance hadn’t meant anything to Saoirse while she was competing beyond helping her assess an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Looking at Sutter, feeling the tickle running through her belly, swirling to make her feel both dizzy and grounded, she felt like she’d been sitting in a dark room all her life and someone had suddenly turned on the light.
“Skalkaho Pass, Montana,” he responded. “There are these beautiful falls there, with a perfect spot for a picnic.”
Saoirse grinned and teased back. “I’d like to see them some day.”
Sutter rolled onto his stomach, plucked a handful of carrot sticks out of the picnic basket, and chewed one. He watched her as he ate. Normally, Saoirse would have fidgeted in embarrassment at the attention and looked away. But nothing about Sutter’s gaze felt intrusive. The same sense of peacefulness buoyed her and allowed her to look back at him with a smile.
“Ever been to London?” he asked after another carrot stick.
She nodded. “For competitions.”
“Any time for sightseeing?”
“Not much.”
“Want to come with me?”
She blinked, not sure she’d heard correctly.
“I have to work while I’m there, but there would be time for sightseeing. I’d like to show you some of my favorite places. Ride on the London Eye. See the mummies at the British Museum. Stare up at the stars at the Royal Observatory. Spank you in the dungeon of the club we’re opening.”
She blinked at him again.
“I know there are a hundred reasons why you can’t. Why you shouldn’t.” Sutter sat up and took her hand. “Don’t listen to any of them. Be brave.”
