Page 60 of Nathan
Serena tilted her head to one side and listened for a long moment. “What do you think they’re saying?”
I craned my neck and listened to the chirping. “One of them is complaining that he didn’t get to sleep in. He’s a bit grumpy, and there’s a female who is rushing the others to have their morning bath. She’s got a bit of a mum’s voice.”
Serena laughed. “What are you, the bird whisperer?”
I smiled. “We all have hidden talents.”
“A morning dip sounds nice though,” Serena said and put away the crust from her sandwich. “I wish I’d brought my bikini.”
With a grin, I joked, “We could always skinny-dip.”
Serena didn’t answer, but she pushed up from the blanket, stepped out of her sneakers, and walked to the water.
“It’s cold, isn’t it?” I asked as she dipped her toes in.
She laughed and looked back at me. “A little.”
Walking over to stand next to her, I squatted down and felt the temperature. “I’d be up for it.”
With the marvelous backdrop of birds singing and the sun rising, Serena and I grinned at each other.
“Are we doing it?” she asked.
“Why not?”
“What if someone comes by?”
“It’s a private forest with no one around.” My heart was beating fast at the prospect of swimming naked with her.
“We don’t have any towels.”
“We have the blanket, and the cabin is only five minutes away. We could swim for a while and then go take a nice hot shower after.”
She hesitated, so I took the first step. Pulling my shirt off, I let it fall to the grass, and then I opened my jeans.
Serena followed and undressed in front of me without ever looking at me. The way the rays of the morning sun caressed her body gave her skin a golden glow.
I wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, but last night we’d agreed to take it slow between us, and I didn’t want to mess that up.
Pulling down my briefs, I turned and jogged into the water before she could see the condition of excitement I was in. As a courtesy, I kept my back to her until I heard the water splashing from her running.
Turning my head, I saw a quick glimpse of her bare breasts before she dove into the water and swam like a pro. It turned me on to see how athletic she was, and my competitive nature made me set off in a chase.
Serena was a fast swimmer, but I’d done several iron man events, which included open water swimming. I caught up to her before she reached the middle of the lake.
“You don’t want to be out here,” I teased and interrupted her swimming.
Moving her arms and legs in circular movements to keep upright in the water, Serena held her head high. “Why not?”
“Jacob told me that according to local folklore, there’s a lake monster.”
She splashed water on me. “Nice try, but I’m not superstitious.”
“All right. But consider yourself warned.”
“Wanna race back to the boardwalk?”
I gave a single nod.
