“Screw this.”
Ignoring his warning, she moved quickly across the campsite, tracing his steps into the trees, only to emerge on a grassy shoreline.
Dark water lapped at the shore, reflecting the deep blue-black velvet of the sky, the gentle ripples frosting silver at the crests. She drew in a breath. It was a lovely view. But not quite as lovely as the male figure moving deeper into the water. All she could make out in the scant light was his silhouette, but what a silhouette it was! Broad shoulders and back, tapering down into a trim, narrow waist ...
Was he naked? She squinted, hoping for a better look, but it was impossible to tell.
He sank down before she got her answer and began to swim in a picture-perfect overhand crawl. She watched, mesmerized as his powerful arms rose out of the water and entered again, propelling him along without a sound.
She caught movement in the corner of her eye just before something swooped down toward her. She ducked and squealed in surprise.
When she turned back to the water, Nick was nowhere to be seen. She scanned left and right, searching but to no avail. The seconds ticked by as she waited for him to resurface. She listened carefully, too, but the only sounds she heard were the soft lapping of water against the shoreline, the warm summer breeze rustling the leaves, and the muted chirps of whatever nocturnal creatures were dancing in the air above her.
“Change your mind?”
Nick’s voice, coming from just to her right, startled her. She might have screamed a little.
“How did you ... you were just ...” she stammered out, her heart beating a mile a minute.
Then, she remembered that he was a Navy SEAL. Water and stealth were big parts of his training.
“No, I didn’t change my mind. I was just curious; that’s all. Did you have a good swim?”
Green eyes bored into hers from the darkness. “Yes.”
“Why are you hiding in the shadows?”
“Because you’re standing next to my clothes.”
She looked down, and yep, there were his jeans and T-shirt in a pile near her feet. A bolt of lust lanced through her as several naughty possibilities occurred to her, each of which involved her seeing him naked. Then, she reminded herself that she was there to do a job—not to ogle a gorgeous, naked Navy SEAL—even if it no longer felt like a job.
“Oh. Right.”
She was glad the darkness hid the heat now burning her cheeks, which were probably close to glowing as brightly as the coals in the campfire. She turned and walked back into the woods.
She’d barely taken five steps when Nick’s amused voice called out, “Wrong way, city girl. The campsite’s to your right.”
“I knew that,” she mumbled. She totally hadn’t.
Nice, Bree. You see one almost-naked man, and it shorts your circuits.
Maybe Toni had been right. Maybe she did need a little less work and a little more play.
Nick returned to the site a short while later, fully dressed. Only his damp hair suggested he’d been in the water. It was hard not to imagine him naked, water glistening over his body, clinging to each delicious ridge and dip ...
“I could teach you, you know.”
She nearly choked on her water. “Teach me what?”
His eyes narrowed. “To swim.”
“I told you, I know how to swim,” she said irritably. “I just didn’t want to, okay?”
“Okay.”
She immediately felt bad for snapping at him. It wasn’t his fault she had a fear of water. “Can we make s’mores now?”
“Sure.”
He pulled out a knife and quickly whittled the ends of two sticks to sharp points. He handed one to her and then proceeded to show her how to properly roast a marshmallow. Her first two attempts failed miserably, resulting in blackened flaming balls of goo, but he was patient, and her third try was a golden brown puff of perfection.
“These are really good,” she told him, licking a dab of melted chocolate from her finger and feeling a flash of desire when his eyes latched on to the movement.
“It’s the mountain air. Everything tastes better out here.”
Do you?
His green eyes snapped up to hers, reflecting the flames and making it look as if they were filled with fire. She then realized she must have spoken her untoward thoughts aloud.
She cleared her throat and tried to cover her oops. “Do you ... really think so?”
Her heart beat once, twice, as she waited for him to answer. She wondered if his thoughts were running along a similar channel, followed closely by a mental image of him between her thighs. A needy heat pooled in her core.
“Absolutely.”
Was it her imagination, or was his voice huskier than it had been?
The awkward silence stretching between them was heavy with possibility.
His jaw clenched, and then he looked up toward the sky. “It’s almost time for the meteor shower. Are you up for it?”
“What? Oh. Yeah, sure. Of course.” The quick change in topic cleared some of the lusty fog permeating her thoughts.
He walked over to the platform and tugged on a rope, releasing a rolled-up rope ladder. He had her ascend first, assuming the role of protective safety net if she should misstep. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her ass and almost wished he’d do something more. He didn’t.
The platform wasn’t terribly high in the overall scheme of things, but it was positioned perfectly to look through a clearing and out over the lake. Darkness had fallen completely, but the sky was clear, and the light of the moon provided enough to see by after her eyes adjusted. Once they were up there, he lifted a tarp to reveal a telescope.
“You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“What can I say?” he said with a shrug. “I’m a geek.”
Of all the words she could
