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Grady laughed. “I think that’s the idea.”
Reese changed into her bathing suit first while Grady made small talk with his mom. When he’d changed, they grabbed some towels and headed down to the dock. She tried not to stare at his shirtless body, but she couldn’t help it. The man was an Adonis.
“Race you to the water,” Grady said, taking off at a run. He’d caught her daydreaming.
Grady had a head start and beat her to the dock. He did a cannonball and thundered into the water. Reese jumped in close behind. The cool water was a rush of relief. When she surfaced, he was a few feet away from her.
“The water is great,” she said.
“Warmer than the beginning of summer,” he said.
Reese did a slow lap back to the dock and Grady followed. She climbed up the dock steps and sat on the edge, letting her feet dangle in the water. Grady joined her, staring out at the water.
“I love this place,” Reese said. “I could stay here forever.”
“We can stay longer if you want. I don’t have to be anywhere, and I’m pretty sure you don’t need to be anywhere. And we can probably do some pretty good workouts here.”
“We could, but I’m starting to get back to work. And I think John wants us to be seen. Besides, don’t you have training camp in less than a month? Preston mentioned that you guys will be working out every day.”
“I can miss a few days.”
“Let’s play it by ear. Maybe we can stay a few extra days. I will have to clear that with John.”
Grady rolled his eyes. “John can be a real pain in the ass. And a buzzkill.”
They dried off and headed back to the cottage. As Grady had predicted, Julia had a spread of sandwiches and two different kinds of salads. One was a lettuce salad, and the other appeared to be tomatoes, onions, and feta cheese. Reese sat down and dug into both salads and took a half sandwich of what appeared to be turkey, cheese, and various vegetables. Everything tasted delicious.
“Tomatoes from the garden,” Julia said. “We have a ton of them back home, so I brought some here. I’ll be making salsa with the rest. Have you canned before, Reese?”
“Never.”
“If you ever have some time, I could show you. I think it would be fun. Did Grady tell you he cans? Learned from his grandma.”
“Mom, I’m pretty sure Reese doesn’t want to can with you.”
Reese laughed. “I would love to. Text me and we can set up a time. I love learning new things. And Grady could come along too.”
They finished up lunch and Reese helped Grady put the leftovers away and then tackle the dishes. Julia was stepping out to meet up with friends for the afternoon. She appeared to have quite the social circle, keeping herself busy. She grabbed her bag and bid them adieu.
“So now what do we do?” Reese asked. “We’ve done a hike, had a swim, and we’ve eaten lunch. Is there anything else?”
“We could go to town. There are some neat shops. Maybe stop for ice cream. There’s a great shop that has the most amazing chocolate-peanut-butter sundae. Then tonight we could sit by the water or make some s’mores in the firepit. Or we could do nothing at all.”
He was babbling and she found him adorable. “I like your first plan better.”
She quickly showered and changed into a pair of shorts and a simple tank top. She put on a straw hat she’d paid a small fortune for at a boutique in Los Angeles after she and Cam had won their last gold medal. As ice-skating darlings, they’d been tapped to do some talk shows. She been wandering the shops around their hotel and seen the hat in the window, loved it, gone inside, and before she knew what she was doing, she was handing over her credit card for the two-hundred-dollar hat.
Reese took her sunglasses, small purse, expensive hat, and phone for their trip into town. Grady had showered in his parents’ bathroom and was waiting for her near the front door.
“We need to drive. We could walk, but it would take a while and we’d die of heat exhaustion before we got there.”
Fifteen minutes later, they were in town, trying to find a parking spot on the busy main street. Grady eventually found one a few blocks away. The sidewalks were packed with tourists and residents, but Reese didn’t care. She was certain no one would recognize her, and Grady was inconspicuous too in his baseball cap and sunglasses. What caught her by surprise was when he grasped on to her hand. She liked the feel of his calloused hand in her soft one. She was sure he was simply playing the game of acting like her fake boyfriend.
Right?
“I don’t want to lose you in the crowd,” he said causally, as if reading her mind.
They stopped in almost every shop. Reese bought some handmade greeting cards and a body lotion. Grady stopped at a bakery and grabbed some cinnamon buns and apple turnovers. Their last stop was the ice cream shop. Reese loved chocolate and peanut butter just as much as Grady did, so they ordered the largest size they had to share. They found an empty picnic table out of the sun and enjoyed their treats.
