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“Are you kidding? The baggage is the best part.” She smirks before pressing her lips to mine.
How did I spend so much time away from her? Why? I should have dragged her out of the Jeep covered in mud to spend the evening with us. I should have shown up the next day just to let her know she’s important in my life.
“By the way,” she says, leaning back. “I’ve been in love with you, whether I want to admit it or not, from the first dance.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She presses her lips to mine again. When we pull back, she has the most beautiful smile. One I put there. It makes me feel ten feet tall.
“So, are you planning to jump?”
“Maybe.”
“Because you don’t have to. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. You never have.” She raises an eyebrow like she doesn’t believe me. “Maybe the reason you didn’t do all of this in high school is because you didn’t need to. You didn’t need to prove to anyone who you were; you already knew. I think they did too. Your self-confidence is the sexiest thing about you. And that’s saying a lot because I’m obsessed with your body.”
“You know when we get back to civilization, I’m riding you like there’s no tomorrow, right?”
“Then let’s get this done,” I say. Standing, I pull her up next to me. I pull my T-shirt over my head. It’s cold but bearable. “Come on, woman. Strip.”
She laughs and begins peeling off her clothes.
“Seems like we do a lot of things naked,” she says when we’re standing on the edge of the rock looking down at the river.
“Not near enough, in my opinion.” I grin when she blushes. “On three?”
“Hang on.” She takes several deep breaths and grabs my hand. “On three.”
“One. Two. Three,” we count together. Then we jump. For a moment, we’re in free fall. Then I’m underwater. The water is cold. My head breaks the surface, and I look for Eliot.
“It’s freezing,” she squeals. I swim over and wrap her in my arms. She wraps her legs around my waist.
“You know,” I say, slowly swimming us toward the riverbank. “Your sisters kidnapped Tessa for the night.”
“I hope you realize she’s going to come back neurotic.”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take to have a night alone with you.”
“Deputy Steele, you’re just saying all the right things tonight.”
“I have a couple of weeks to make up for.” We reach the bank. “Are you ready?”
“No, but let’s go.” We rush out of the water and head back up the hill to our clothes. It would have been nice if either one of us had thought this out better. Like leaving towels on the bank at the very least. But, nope. We have to streak to our clothes. Shivering, we struggle to redress. At least we mostly dried off on the way back up.
“We could stop for coffee somewhere,” I suggest. “And food.” She scrunches her face at me. “I promise I’ll work it off of you later.”
“Well, in that case, how can I refuse?”
We stop at the diner in town. I guess this is the first time we’ve really been out as a couple. I don’t think the pancake supper counts. It would explain the conspiratorial looks and whispering the handful of locals are doing. Eliot acts oblivious as she sips her coffee. Good. Because I plan on a lot of this happening in the future.
“Your place or mine?” she asks.
“Can we go to yours? I moved Tessa into the bedroom at mine.”
“Where are you sleeping?”
“On the couch for now. I’m hunting for someplace bigger, but finding rentals here is hard.”
“Hmm.” Her eyebrows scrunch together, and I wonder what she’s thinking. She pops another nacho in her mouth. I can almost see the gears of her mind grinding as she slowly chews. She swallows and tosses her napkin on the table. “Ready?”
