Page 36 of Sweet Summertide

“One.” She counted for herself, knowing he wasn’t bluffing and stood. “Two.” She teased her hands up his stomach and chest. “Three.” She paused and closed her eyes. “Four.” She peeked up and saw him close his eyes too. She kissed his lips and stole the gun right out of his hands. “Five. You better get going,” she said and moved away from him. “Six.”

“Alright, I give up. Just do it already.” It was Teddy’s turn to put his hands up in surrender. She took full advantage of having him to herself, drenching him with the water and soaking every inch of his body and pink swim trunks.

With the blaster cleared of contents, she dropped it and ran toward the dock, screaming the whole way as he chased her into the water. She soared off the end of the dock and he followed her right in, landing a foot away from her. His hands reached out for her waist and pulled her in before she could get her bearings.

They bobbed together in the refreshing water. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he encircled her waist with his strong hands. Their bodies pressed together below the waterline. Her toes barely touched the smooth pebbles beneath her, but Teddy carried most of her weight.

“Come to the firefly parade with me tonight?” he said low.

“Like a date?”

“Like, my date.”

She liked how possessive he was, like she was the only creature in the world he craved, and she was starting to thirst for him too. Her kiss was her answer, and she was very agreeable.

CHAPTER 19

The manin the mirror’s reflection looked calm and cool in his creamy linen shirt and pants, but Theodor’s blood was swarming red-hot with anticipation in his veins. He washed his hands in the sink and pressed cold water into the skin on his cheeks. Resting his hand on the sides of the sink bowl, he locked eyes with himself. “It’s just a date. You can do this.”

Show time, he thought and ran his fingers through his loose hair. He had coiled it into an easy knot at first, but Holly seemed to prefer his hair down, so he changed his mind and his style. Because his father hated Theodor’s long hair, he was accustomed to slicking it back whenever he had worked at the firm. Here, in Christmas Cove, there was nothing holding him to anyone else’s standards anymore. If he wished to wear his hair loose, he would.

A soft knocking came at his cabin door, and he said goodbye to the reflection in the bathroom mirror. Outside, Holly waited. A single pane of glass and the sheer curtain separated him from his date. The silhouette teased him. She was obviously wearing nothing since her every curve was visible in the shadow.

Opening the door, he now understood why her shape had appeared naked. She wore a red, skin-tight dress that huggedher beautiful body and left little to his overactive imagination. The square neckline suited her well, and the long hemline stopped just below her knees. His hands covered his heart. “You’re so lovely, it hurts.”

She smiled and kicked one foot up towards her bottom and highlighted her gold, sparkly flat sandals. “Thanks. I thought you might like this dress.”

He nodded, unable to form a sentence that would sound gentlemanly. He liked the dress very much, but his mind was busy imagining what it would look like in a pile on the floor of his cabin instead of stretched across her skin. He presented his hand to her, and he pulled the door shut behind him with his other. “Have you ever been to a firefly parade before?”

“No. I think this is a new thing since the Foundry opened last year,” she said as they began to walk towards the Foundry’s main structure, Harbour House. The packed gravel pathway, lined with little solar lanterns, made the short trip up the hill an easy one, though neither of them was in a hurry with all the scuffing heels against the ground. “I never had anything like this in the city. Too much light for fireflies.”

“When I was little, Millie and I would stay in the pasture after the horses had gone in for the evening. If you stood really still in the long grass, lightning bugs would hover right in front of your face. I swore they were little fairies put there to sprinkle magic on the world.”

“I like that,” he said and threaded his fingers through hers. Dusk was settling into darkness and the fireflies were already dancing around the property. “I have no thoughts about fireflies, none as nice as yours anyway. I figured it was an Ohio thing. Like something that normal people have in middle-America. Come to find out, my whole life, I was only a couple hours train ride away from experiencing them for myself. Manhattan is great, but it’s like living in a bubble sometimes.”

“I get what you mean. You can be so close to something and not even see it, not even know it’s there to be seen.” Holly nudged his arm with her elbow which he took to mean she was seeing him in a new way.

Being in her presence felt so natural at some times, and like torture at others. He considered the double meaning of what she had just said. Was he too close to see what was really happening between them? Was she? He nudged her back as they came to the front of the barn-like building.

Outside the Harbour House, the activities director, Thandie, handed out lanterns no bigger than a coffee mug, along with bug-catching kits; a medium-sized mason jar and a net. Beside the path, there was a table with baskets filled with individual snack packs of little sandwiches, fruit, and cheese, a choice of either water or a split of something bubbly.

Releasing Holly’s hand, Theodor took the basket and added two little champagne bottles. In his free hand, he held the lantern allowing her to have the mason jar and net. Other guests had already begun their parade. Theodor and Holly followed behind the group in front of them, giving themselves enough space to speak without being overheard by other folks.

Plunged into darkness within a minute, they entered a section of the property where newly planted trees lined the route and lush green and white ground-cover spilled over the edges of a gravel path. The lantern was just enough to illuminate their feet without interfering with their ability to see the lightning bugs springing up from the ground.

Holly pointed at every firefly she saw, her excitement seemingly growing with each passing second. He could have watched her hips sway back and forth all night. Better than that, he could watch her lips curl up at the sides and brighten her eyes forever. “You know, you’re pretty fun to be around when you’re not trying to destroy me.”

“Well, right now, I’m too busy concentrating on catching a fairy to be bothered with scheming of any other kind.” She turned and he held the lantern to her flushed face. She bit her smiling lower lip between her teeth and her eyes were wide with joy. “I could go back to tormenting you if you’d like, but the pixies won’t wait.”

Little did she know that her mere existence was torment enough. “That won’t be necessary,” he said. “I do want you to get your prize before they all go to bed tonight though. Should we go up a little further?”

They paraded up the trail until it turned back down towards the lake where a large gazebo glowed in the half-moonlight. Several guests stood under the gazebo roof while others sat in the lawn area enjoying their snacks.

“Let’s stay on the path for now, see where it goes. This area is busy.” As he spoke, a child ran between them, flinging his net through the air. If he was chasing a bug at all, it certainly wasn’t a firefly, as there were none near them, but the kid’s enthusiasm elicited a giggle from Holly.

“I think that’s a good idea,” she said with the laughter still present in her words.

Around the next bend, there was a fork in the path, one way hugged the shoreline, and the other meandered up a low hill between two cabins. She veered towards the less traveled, up-hill route, and he was happy to follow her. Just ahead, dozens of fireflies hovered about the grass, floating skyward and falling back down. The little bugs blazed in spurts of electricity that matched the little sparks he had been experiencing throughout his own body since earlier that afternoon.

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