Page 76 of Pain in the Axe
I swam over to where I’d thrown my noodle, pushing my hair behind my ears. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“Still nauseous?”
She nodded, facing away from me in her float.
Discreetly, I pushed her farther from the shore where the kids were playing and kicked my feet underwater.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” she said softly, still not looking at me.
I stayed silent, playing dumb.
“It’s not going to work.”
When we were on the far side of the boat, away from Celine and the kids, I spun her so she was facing me. “I’m just enjoying a beautiful day with some lovely company.”
“Your niece seems to adore you. Is it true you go to every one of her soccer games?”
“She’s a goalie. Super talented,” I boasted. “The best part, though, is watching all the moms lose their minds around Finn. I love to tease him about it.”
“Huh,” she said, her tone mostly nonchalant. “I’d expect the soccer moms to be flirting with you.”
“Me? Nah. Finn is the hot brother.”
“I disagree,” she said, running her fingers over the surface of the water. “You’ve done a hell of a lot of growing up since we were kids. Have you spent the last two years mixing testosterone with your morning protein shakes?”
My chest puffed with pride. I liked where this was going. Really liked it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said with a smirk.
She scowled, obviously annoyed at me for playing dumb. “You know you’ve got that sexy lumberjack charm. You look like you could climb a tree and rescue a litter of kittens while simultaneously building a house and delivering multiple orgasms with a single wink of those ocean-blue eyes.”
“Why, Dragonfly, are you flirting with me? And for the record, I can do all those things and more. Come over later, and I’ll show you.”
She slid her sunglasses down her nose and glared at me. “No, thank you.”
“Like you should talk. You’ve only gotten sexier in the past twenty years. You in that bathing suit right now?” I said, putting a hand to my heart. “Makes it hard to breathe.”
She dipped her head back and laughed. “Hardly. I used to be so cute. Now I’m just pear shaped.”
I paddled closer, my noodle hooked under my arms, and angled in close to her. “Pears are my favorite fruit. So sweet on the tongue. The best part is when the pear is so juicy a little bit dribbles down my chin.”
A blush bloomed on her cheeks and traveled down to her chest. Her mouth opened a tiny bit, and a small gasp escaped her.
Hell yeah. I felt like I’d won the lottery.
She was thinking about it, our night together. Thank fuck, because I hadn’t been able to get it out of my head.
She narrowed her eyes, even as her chest rose and fell rapidly. “You need to stop flirting with me. I mean it.”
“Okay,” I said, arching a brow. “I’ll behave. But in exchange, you have to let me take you out this week.”
“Like a date?” She said the word like it was infected.
“No. No dates. You said that yourself. I just want to show you something special. Can you clear a day for me?”
For a long moment, she was silent, making me sweat it out. With her hands in the water again, she paddled away from me, toward the kids near the beach.
