Page 28 of Heart of Dixie
“Hi.” Not eloquent, but at least the ice was broken.
All at once, Shane became a man of action. He gathered up Cody’s belongings, popped the snorkeling gear off his head, got a squawk in return. “Cody, look at the time. We have to get going. Nana’s expecting us for dinner.” He unbuckled Cody’s flotation vest and replaced it with a blue Ninja Turtles tee.
Cody automatically lifted his arms as he whined. “No, she’s not, Daddy. We’re supposed to have fish with Uncle Deke tonight.” His lower lip protruded and proceeded to quiver, but Shane already had him on his butt, shoving tennis shoes on his feet. “But-but we were gonna go swimming!”
Shane rose, surveyed the area, but they hadn’t brought anything extra; they weren’t leaving anything behind. “Another day, cub. Still lots of time before the water gets cold. We better get going so we’re not late.”
He turned to me and the raised eyebrows and smug grin told me the puny save with Cody a minute ago was nothing comparedto what I owed him now. Damn! He’d probably demand details, too. I used to like my brother when we were kids. He used to mind his own business. Now both my best friendandmy brother were girls.
So far Dixie hadn’t made a peep. But her eyes darted to my shorts again, then slid up my abs until she—oh, thank God—finally met my eyes. If she’d continued her stare another few seconds, my dick would be standing up and saying hello also. In one quick movement, she thrust out her sack as if she just remembered it. “I brought your tuna.”
Huh? “Tuna?”
“Our bags must have gotten switched at the market. There are only two cans left instead of the three you bought, though. Miss Kitty was hungry.”
Miss Kitty?
She turned to leave, then stopped to frown at me behind her, her lips plump and sensual, her hair swinging over her shoulder to highlight the profile of her breast—and the thing I wanted most in the world was my mouth on her. Anywhere. Everywhere. “Aren’t you coming?”
Not yet, but soon I hope.
She pointed to the house. “If you’ll just get my cat food, I’ll leave.”
That’s what I was afraid of. “Come here, Dixie.”
She turned back to me, but didn’t step closer. Her eyes did that seek-and-destroy thing again and my cock twitched.
“You’re ruining your shoes in the yard. Don’t you want to kick them off?”
She glanced down to where her heels were caked with dirt. “I’m leaving, Deke. I just came to switch sacks.”
I gave her another long look. The grocery bag dangled from her wrist and pressed against her chest with her oversized purse to work as a shield. Her bare shoulders peeked around eitherside of it, tan and smooth. Her legs were long and glorious in the slim, sleeveless dress that I’d come to recognize as her idea of dressing down. “Is that the truth?”
Her eyes were focused somewhere to the left of me, but my eyes weren’t moving. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She’d be leaving me soon enough, and God only knew how it happened so fast, but I worried she’d be taking my heart with her. Again. I was drinking in every image of her I got between now and then.
“Cody probably scared all the fish away, but you want to grab a pole, see if we can catch dinner?” She glanced with longing at the gear stacked to the side of the drink cooler, then down at her dress. She shook her head.
“No.”
“Good memories, huh? Out here on the water. You’re really not dressed for it, though. Maybe another day.”
She glanced at the clear water over my shoulder. “It does look refreshing. You’ve been swimming?”
I let out a chuckle. “I guess you could call it that. You want to swim, don’t you princess?”
She shook her head again, held her bags tighter. “No, I really can’t. I have to get going.” But the longing in her expression grew, and the weight of it gathered in my balls. I chuckled again, but choked on it and had to clear my throat.
“Take off your shoes, Dixie. Swim with me. No rope here, but I’m sure we can find some kind of fun.”
“You think I’m scared, don’t you? You think I won’t take you up on your dare?” Her chest heaved through the thin cotton of her dress. Her hands lowered and the grocery sack slipped to the ground. She carelessly dropped the bright leather handbag she already bitched me out for tossing in my kitchen. Her shoes flew from her feet and she took two steps closer till she was a pebble’s throw from the bank.
I smirked. “Maybe. Let’s see if the Dixie standing here today is anything like the carefree girl I knew back in the day.” I looked her up and down and her eyes heated. “Take off the dress, Dixie. Come swimming with me.”
She was thinking about it. Indecision flickered in her eyes as she scanned the open expanse leading down to the sand along the edge of the water. The argument practically shouted from her head—the list of pros in this column, the cons tallied over there. I took it as an invitation to participate and pointed off in the distance. “Shane’s place is clear on the other side of those trees, Dixie. Nobody else around for miles.”
Way too much of my time lately had been spent with a half-naked Dixie in my arms. Which wasn’t bad at all if it led to a fully naked and wriggling Dixie wrapped around me at some point. This point right here worked just fine.
At last she nodded, and her hands reached for the tiny buttons running down between her breasts.Ah, good decision.Maybe part of the old Dixie was in there after all. She paused and pinned me with a pointed gaze. “Wait a minute. I don’t have a suit, and I’m not skinny dipping alone.”
