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My eyes snapped to his, the rumble of his voice lingering on my skin, oozing heat into my blood, long after he’d finished speaking.Who took care of me?
“I take care of myself,” I mumbled truthfully, suddenly feeling like I was reliving a scenario that hadn’t actually happened.
He nodded. “That was what you said. Then you paused and added that you always take care of yourself at the end of your shift by treating yourself to a croissant at the coffee shop next door.”
“I do love a good croissant.” Fake me sounded far too close to real me.
“I asked every night? And you looked me in the eye and confirmed by very suggestively repeating the words.”
“How clever of me.” I chuckled.
“You didn’t mention what time you were getting off, so I went to the coffee shop and waited for two and a half hours, and I’ll never forget the look on your face when you walked in and saw me.”
“I never expected you to actually be there,” I said, knowing exactly how I would feel because I only ever counted on myself.That was the safest way to never be let down.
“And I would’ve waited another two and a half more for a chance to share a croissant with you.”
At some point, my gaze had become tangled in his, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to break away. We were in the middle of unknown territory—a fake relationship between veritable strangers—but somehow, we were floating. Like the canoe in the middle of the lake. Far from the shore where our story would have no legs to stand on, but we weren’t sinking. Far from it. There was something powerful and buoyant, keeping us afloat and drawing us closer.
A small yelp from a kayak several feet to the side of us broke the moment and claimed our attention. A young girl squealed and laughed as she tried to out-paddle her dad, who was pretending to chase her.
“So, does our first date pass muster?” Decker drawled, sliding the oars back into the water.
With flying colors.And if I wasn’t careful, I’d be waving a white flag of surrender for a man I wasn’t actually dating. A man who didn’t even live on the same side of the country as I did.Talk about the most irresponsible thing I could do.
I let my head fall from side to side, pretending to think about it for a moment before I shrugged and answered nonchalantly, “I guess.”
“Oh, you guess?” He rocked back, both affronted yet smiling.
“It’ll do,” I teased and reached for my phone out of habit; he’d trusted it back to my care when we reached the parking lot closest to the lake.
All of a sudden, his arm moved quickly, the oar flicking the surface of the lake and sending a gentle spray of water in my direction. I yelped and ducked to the side, cautiously straightening a moment later when I was sure he wasn’t going to send another wave in my direction.
“Did you…did you just splash me?”I shoved my phone back into the safety of my pocket.
“I stopped you from working.”
“Yeah? Well, another thing you should know about me is that I’m very competitive.” I notched my chin higher. “So, it’s only fair that I even the score.”
I reached for the side of the canoe, determined to send a spray of water back at him. Except I was too exuberant with my movement, forgetting the ground underneath me wasn’t solid.
The canoe dipped, dunking my hand into the cold lake.
“Shit—”I panicked and reared back in the opposite direction which only made the situation worse.The canoe rocked to the other side. I slid off my seat as water sloshed over the edge.
Oh my god.I was going to send us into the lake. All for the sake of getting back at him.
I started to reach back for the other side.Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop.
“Reese—”
I barely heard my name before I was covered—pressed against something much harder and more stable than solid ground. Something hot and breathing. Something that instantly claimed all of my attention.
Him.
Decker was pinned above me. His arms spread wide, gripping each side of the canoe and forcing it to steady. My gaze dragged slowly from the center of his chest, up the cords of his neck, his pulse thumping just as wildly as mine, up to the noticeable flex of his jaw, the proximity of his lips, and finally reaching his eyes.
If he’d been concerned at all, I didn’t see it. Instead, the only thing in his gaze was hunger. Strong and potent like gasoline the way it affected the fire churning low in my body.
