“Oh my gosh, drama.”
His lips curled up at the corners. “Your luck with the fish last time was unreal. I’m not worried.”
“Oh. Right. That’s why I out-fished you both four to one. Luck. Ha! Funny, the way the luck didn’t transfer to you guys, since we were fishing in the same. Exact. Spot.”
“Hilarious.”
I stood to get a better angle on my target and balanced as I flicked the lure out a few feet short of a half-submerged tree near the bank. I could envision the roots going down deep inside the lake, the perfect spot for bass to hide.
“Picked a nice spot there, cowgirl.” Carter pressed his lips together, narrowed his eyes, and reeled a little faster. “Matter of fact. Think I might join in.” He reeled the line all the way in and casted his lure out beside mine.
“Cheater.”
“Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.”
“Wow. Using soldier jargon to justify yourself?”
“Marine jargon. And, Ma’am, yes Ma’am!”
I snort-laughed. A gentle tug pulled at my line.
“Any chance these fish’ll take an order?”
“Shh. Shh. Shh.” I reeled slower, wiggling the pole the tiniest bit.
He widened his eyes at me. “Don’t tell me you have a bite already.”
“Shut it, Carter,” I whispered.
“Ma’am, yes Ma’am,” he whispered back.
I snorted again, reeling once and wiggling the pole one more time. The line went taught! I yanked the pole up to set the hook and reeled as fast as I could.
Carter slid a hand down his face. “Unbelievable.”
“Believe it, Soldier!”
He chuckled, shaking his head.
I grinned, tightening the line and loosening it, playing the fish until it tired enough to let me reel it in all the way. “A Bass.” Finger hooked in its prickly, slimy mouth, I lifted the fish beside my face and gave Carter a photoshoot smile. “Two more and I win.”
His eyes snapped back to his own line. “Don’t go celebrating yet.” He jerked his pole up and straight cackled as the line buzzed. “It’s one to one now, girl.” The line stopped buzzing and looped on top of the water. He furrowed his brows. “Wait.” He reeled faster. “No way!” He reeled harder. “Come on!”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to count your fish before they’re in the boat?”
“Way to rub it in.”
“That makes the score one to . . . oh, wait, none.” I winked at him.
He rolled his eyes in exaggeration and pulled his pole to his lap, digging through the tackle box as I unhooked my fish. I crouched toward the water and brought the fish close to my face.
“I’m totally falling for this guy,” I whispered to it, way too quiet for Carter to hear, before I released it. It dove deep into the depths and my stomach flipped.
“This reminds me so much of the night we met.” Carter’s face was glowing, the corners of his eyes crinkling again as he snipped his old line and fed new through. “When you agreed to come with me and Cory that night, I thought for sure you’d freak out at the sight of a fish.” The corner of his lip curled up in a sideways smile and my heart melted a little more. “I thought you were just Miss America. Had no idea you were Miss America, the Fishing Queen.”
Wow. He wasn’t just cute, was he?
He tugged his knot and wiped his forehead, the smallest piece of that Viking hair falling wild around his brow bone.
My breath caught in my throat.
“I mean, I didn’t know you were stubborn yet either.”
I frowned. “What’s that old saying? Nothing like the pan calling the pot black, or something?”
He winced. “Close. You think I’m stubborn?”
“Does every guy throw a pregnant girl over his shoulder and force-drive her down a mountain?”
He set his pliers down and lifted a shoulder. “For starters, didn’t know you were pregnant at the time. And that was just civic duty.”
“Soldier jargon.”
“Marine.” He winked and tugged his line. “Does my knot pass muster?”
“Pass muster? Are we in the Wild West, or something?”
“Can’t really imagine you in one of those puffy dresses, so probably not.”
“You can’t?” I asked, in an exaggerated southern accent, gasping as I covered my heart. “You’d probably change your mind if it was a white dress, soldier.”
Carter’s hand froze on his line, his jaw flicking. A white wedding dress? Perfect, Lauren! My neck heated and I reeled faster. What was I thinking? I mean, I’d been fighting thoughts about the idea of a future with him since Ren left. But this was not the right time to admit it to myself, and definitely not to him! But, the worst part was the way he was looking at me now, like he knew he’d heard it, and he was still trying to decide if I was serious, or not.
“Sorry,” I said, after he cleared his throat and detached his lure. I sat down, propped the souls of my shoes on the edge of the bow and kept reeling. “I got lost in my character. I didn’t mean to go there—”
“It’s all right,” he said, all husky, standing at the opposite end of the boat. He moved carefully to my side, casting off before sitting beside me, his shoulder pressed against mine, citric and beachy cologne mesmerizing me again. I fought the urge to bury my face in his chest.
“I can’t say I’ve imagined you in white yet, but I’ve imagined us together a lot since that lake walk.”
I focused on my hands as they reeled, but it was like they were detached from my body, doing it on their own. All I could think about was what he’d just admitted, and the intense pounding in my chest, and the swirl of warmth in my stomach because of it.
What kind of guy didn’t run from someone who sounded so desperate?
An incredible kind of guy . . . a guy like Carter. It was so easy being with him, and deep in my heart I wished he was mine. I sighed and rested my pole against
