minutes.”
She went up on tiptoe to kiss him on the mouth. “Make it twenty.”
Dawson chuckled as she slipped her feet into her shoes, then grabbed her bra and panties off the floor and shoved them into her purse. Knowing she was naked underneath that sexy little dress had his cock hardening all over again and it was all he could do not to say the hell with croquet and take her back to bed. But it was his best friend’s wedding. Besides, he and Kate had the whole weekend to make love.
Smiling at him over her shoulder, Kate picked up the half-eaten bowl of fruit from the bedside table and darted out the door.
Seeing Kate make off with the bowl of fruit reminded Dawson he hadn’t finished his pancakes, so he quickly wolfed down the rest of them, then went into the adjoining bathroom to take a shower. As he stepped under the spray a few minutes later, he thought of how much more fun the mundane activity would be if Kate was there with him. Then again, maybe it was better she went to her own room to get ready because if she stayed to shower with him, they’d never make it downstairs.
Pushing the images of all the x-rated things he and Kate could be doing from his mind, Dawson ignored his hard-on and finished showering. When he was done, he quickly toweled off, then pulled on jeans and a T-shirt before heading to Kate’s room.
When she didn’t answer his knock right away, Dawson thought she might still be in the shower, but a moment later the door swung open. Kate had changed into a tank top and a short, flirty skirt that showed off her long legs, and he let his gaze linger on them appreciatively.
“You’re early!” she said.
His mouth quirked. “Only a few minutes. You look great.”
She lazily looked him up and down. “You look pretty good yourself.”
“Ready to go?”
“Almost. I just have to finish my makeup. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” he said, but she was already hurrying into the bathroom.
Kate left the door ajar and as Dawson wandered across the room to stand by the fireplace, he caught a glimpse of her through the opening. As he watched, she leaned closer to the mirror to put on her lip gloss. He’d seen other women apply makeup, of course, but there was something unbelievably erotic about the way she ran the glossy pink applicator over her lips and he found himself fantasizing about having that shiny mouth wrapped around his cock. He stifled a groan as he felt his jeans tighten in the crotch.
Turning away from the bathroom, he walked over to the door leading out to the balcony and gazed out at the harbor. While he’d lived in the Seattle area his whole life, he’d never been to San Juan Island, but he had to admit it was beautiful. He’d heard there were some great places to kayak. He wondered if Kate liked to kayak. He’d have to remember to ask her.
When she walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later and announced she was ready to go, however, kayaking was the last thing on Dawson ’s mind. All he could think about was making love to Kate again.
Telling himself they’d better get out of there before he succumbed to the urge, Dawson gave Kate a smile and walked across the room to open the door for her.
When he and Kate walked out onto the back lawn a few minutes later, the croquet game was already in full swing. At their approach, Rachel and the other girls smiled broadly, as if they knew exactly why they were late.
“And where have you two been?” the bride asked, a teasing twinkle in her eyes.
Color rushed to Kate’s cheeks. “I…um…we were…”
“It was my fault,” Dawson said when her voice trailed off. “I thought we were supposed to meet you on the front lawn of the hotel. Kate wanted to ask one of the staff where you were, but I insisted we were in the right place. Turns out I was wrong and she was right. You know guys. Never can ask for directions.”
As everyone laughed, he glanced at Kate to see her looking at him gratefully.
Rachel exchanged what he was sure was a knowing look with the other girls. “Uh-huh,” she said. “Well, you figured it out just in time because it’s your turn. Go grab some mallets and stop holding all of us up.”
Dawson would have gotten one for Kate, but when he started to head over to where the mallets were, she fell into step beside him.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said softly.
He grinned. “Sure, I did.”
She smiled. “Well, I’m not sure if they believed you, but thank you anyway.”
“You’re welcome.” He picked up one of the mallets and handed it to her. “Come on, let’s go show ’em how the game is played.”
Kate laughed. “I would if I knew how. I’ve never played croquet before, remember?” She hefted the mallet. “Looks dangerous.”
He grabbed a mallet for himself, then gave her a wink. “Any implement can be dangerous if you don’t know how to use it.”
She looked up at him from beneath lowered lashes. “I take it that means you’re an expert at using your implement then?”
His mouth quirked. “I think you already know the answer to that one.”
Taking her hand, he started over to where their friends were waiting. Someone had already placed a colorful croquet ball at the starting pole for them and he led Kate over to it.
She gazed down at the big colored ball and the pole planted in the ground for a moment, then gave him a curious look. “So, I just whack the ball with the big wooden hammer?”
He chuckled, watching as she leaned over the ball like a golfer would. “Something like that, but your form is a little off. Here, let me show you.”
Dawson supposed he could have just demonstrated the proper form using his own mallet, but it was much more fun to wrap his arms around her from behind and guide her through the motion. He took his time showing her how to swing the mallet back and forth between her legs, not because he thought she wouldn’t catch on, but because it made her sweetly curved ass rub against his groin.
Off to the side, Rachel eyed them with amusement. “This looks like it’s going to take a little while,” she said to the rest of the wedding party. “Maybe we should just play through and let them catch up later.”
“That okay,” Dawson heard John say. “We can wait.”
“No, we can’t,” Kristen told her husband. She grabbed his arm and urged him in the direction of his own colored ball. “They’ll catch up in a bit.”
A few moments later, Dawson found himself alone with Kate, or as alone with her as he could with the other couples all within earshot. He couldn’t help but notice everyone seemed to be looking at them out of the corners of their eyes.
Kate turned her head to smile at him. “Guess they must think I’m a slow learner.”
His mouth edged up. “We’ll soon fix that.”
As he spoke, Dawson reached his arms around Kate again and guided her through the swinging motions a few more times. God, he liked the feel of her ass rubbing against his cock as she leaned over. And the way her silky hair brushed his cheek as she moved wasn’t half bad, either. Focusing on the fundamentals of croquet was going to take a lot more concentration than he’d originally thought.
“Now, for the first part,” he said, his mouth close to her ear. “The objective is simply to use your mallet to whack the pole so that the ball rolls through the first wire hoop over there.”
She half turned her head to give him a flirtatious look. “Are you sure it’s okay to go right for the pole like that? Shouldn’t I start off with the balls…I mean ball…and work my way up to the pole?”
Dawson couldn’t help but notice she was doing a whole lot of unnecessary wiggling with her ass as she spoke. Not that he or his cock minded. In fact, if she kept doing it, he wasn’t going to need a croquet mallet to play the game.
“We are talking about croquet, right?” he asked softly.
“Of course.” She blinked at him with innocent green eyes. “What else would we be talking about?”
He felt a grin tug at the corner of his mouth. “I just wanted to be sure. To answer your question, yes, you always start off by giving the pole a good firm whack.”
Kate shrugged. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
