Page 67 of Trust

She rested her head against his chest, and déjà vu hit him squarely in the gut—along with an unmistakable feeling of fate.

Was Olivia his future happiness? A ball of wild and untamed emotions bounced in his chest like a pinball, and he knew the answer was on the other side of his painful memories.

“I told you it was boring.”

He shook himself out of his thoughts and looked into her hesitant smile. “Warm water, soft sand, you in a bikini. Yeah, that sounds awful.” He embraced her tightly and let a picture of the two of them on Kauai fill his mind. “It would be nothing less than torture to swim with the dolphins and drink ridiculous tropical cocktails together. We definitely should never go.”

“Yeah, who’d want to skinny dip in the moonlight?” She looked around and then wiggled out of his embrace. “We should just do it here and get it over with.”

Zane let out a short chuckle. And then he watched her T-shirt fly over her head. “Liv, there’s still plenty of daylight.”

“Well aware of that,” she said with a giggle. “Underwear and bathing suits are not that much different.”

His mouth went dry. “Except one is see-through, and the other isn’t.”

She slid her shorts off her legs and kicked off her sandals. “Then I guess you’ll have to defend my honor if a raccoon starts to gawk.” Taking a step back, she gave him a naughty grin. “Come on, adventure boy, join me.”

Before he could respond, she took off and jumped in with a loud whoop. Her head disappeared for a moment and then surfaced. He pulled his shirt over his head and then got rid of his shorts. He wasn’t worried about an animal eyeing his woman, but a damn stranger.

He didn’t share, and, despite his reservations, concerns, and overall wariness of getting too deeply involved, Liv was his. He strode down to the lake and jumped into the water, praying no one showed up.

Diving under the warm lake water, he cut the space that separated him from his water nymph and grabbed her ass with both hands before cresting the surface. “Gotcha.”

Turning so they were face to face, Olivia rested her hands on Zane’s shoulders. “Are you a friendly sea monster or one that consumes its prey under the cover of moonlight?”

He planted his feet and pulled her closer. “Depends on the day.”

“Speaking of monsters, how are your beasts doing? Giving you any trouble today?”

Looking up into the endless blue sky, he gave a short shake of his head. “No, I told ‘em to take the day off and stay home.”

Olivia stroked his cheek and leaned forward, bestowing the gentlest kisses. “Might as well give them the whole month off. We’ve got better things to do with our time and don’t need their company.”

“If only it were that easy.” He moved toward deeper water with Olivia anchored against his chest. “I’m never sure when the anxiety will hit, and, as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing worse. I’m a lot more comfortable having some kind of idea when the enemy will show up, and these surprise attacks are bullshit.”

“I found that cognitive-behavioral therapy worked when dealing with them after the accident. It took a fair amount of work, but eventually, I had the upper hand more often than not.”

“The head shrinker from the army said it was probably my best option. She also suggested that willing them away with my hard-headed stubbornness likely wasn’t a fool-proof battle plan.”

“Yeah, I might’ve heard something along those lines too.”

He pushed wet hair off her face and was hit all over again by her incredible light and kindness. She was good medicine, and he had a feeling that if he ever completely gave in to the feelings she inspired, it would be damn impossible to let her go. “Appreciate you, woman.”

“Really?” She leaned her face into his hand. “I feel a couple of quips trying to escape, but I’m not going to let them because this moment with you deserves better.”

“It sure does.” Knowing he would never find the words worthy, he let his mouth find hers. He fit their lips together and knew destiny was knocking like a son of a bitch on his door.

How long would it take him to dig up enough courage to answer?

Deciding those mental machinations could wait for another day, he focused on her passionate response to his kiss. Her small hands dug into his shoulders, and the low moans that escaped filled the air around them, igniting his need.

Ending the kiss reluctantly, he pulled her into his chest. “I think we’ve fulfilled the outing requirement for the day.”

Laughter spilled out of Olivia, and he swam for the shore. “We can move on…”

“To the ravaging,” she finished as she clung to him like a monkey.

“I was gonna say sweet, sweet lovemaking, but we can go with your idea.”

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