Page 32 of Blue Hawaiian
“Well?” She put her hands on her hips. “Are you coming in or not?”
If he stared at her a second longer, he wouldn’t be able to control his hard-on, and it would be tricky to hide it in swim trunks.
Think unsexy thoughts. Like Great-Aunt Nina in a bikini.
That did the trick. He stripped down to his trunks, set his clothes next to hers, then held out his hand. “We’ll jump in together. All right?”
She took his hand and gripped it tight. “Just like at Big Bear. We were always the first ones in the lake, remember?”
“I remember. Count of three. One. Two. Three!” He jumped, pulling Jess in with him.
On first impact, the water was so cold it took his breath away, but Jess popped up and let out a whoop of joy. Before he could catch her, she dove under the water. He searched for her, startling when she tugged on his shorts and grabbed his butt. She surfaced again and splashed his face. He chased after her, but she managed to evade him.
As they swam and dove beneath the water, he let her think she’d won. But the minute she relaxed her guard, he pinned her against a rock. “Caught you.”
She met his gaze with boldness. “The question is—what do you plan to do with me?”
With every inch of his being, he wanted to press his body against hers, devour her lips, and take her right there. As he smoothed the wet curls back from her face, he was struck by the desire in her eyes. When she parted her lips, he was ready to dive in.
The sound of voices shattered his fantasy. A group of elderly men and women tromped over to the swimming hole and began taking photos. Talk about a mood-killer.
He helped Jess out of the water, and they found a flat rock where they could sit and dry off. He noticed her staring at him under her lashes. “What’s on your mind?”
She smiled. “I’m glad I don’t have to hate you anymore.”
“Did you really spend the past five years hating me?”
“Not exactly. But it hurt to think I’d gone from being a friend to another of your flings.”
“You weren’t, I promise.” He rubbed his towel over his hair.
“Does that still happen a lot? Gabi made it sound like that’s all you do—find girls in bars, hook up with them, and ‘lose their number’ the next day.”
Trust Gabi to make him look like an asshole. “Not anymore. But for a while, that was my default.”
And one of the main reasons he’d wanted to stay away from Jess. She didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. No one did.
She pulled her tank top back on. “Why? Sure, you were kind of wild when we were kids—hell, we both were. But you never acted like a total dick. What changed?”
He raked his hand through his damp hair. “After I got back from Spain, Dad stuck me in the corporate side of Blackwood Cellars, working under Darren. He figured my dickhead older brother would whip me into shape. But it made us hate each other even more.”
She let out her breath in disgust. “That guy has been an arrogant prick from day one.”
“It was hell. I’d get off work, and all I wanted to do was get drunk, get laid, and forget I was stuck in a job I hated. Until last year, when I met someone and fell hard. Then I stopped fooling around.”
Jess paled. “Gabi never mentioned you had a girlfriend.”
Was she jealous? She didn’t need to be. He never wanted to see Natasha again.
“It’s over. It ended seven months ago.” He stood up. “Want to head back?”
She nodded but didn’t press him any further. Once they were walking, she spoke up again. “What happened? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want, but I’m happy to listen.”
He hadn’t planned to bare his soul, but he’d always been able to open up around her.
“Not much to tell. Natasha and I only dated for about eight months, but things got intense quickly. We went out on New Year’s Eve for a big romantic dinner, and I was going to ask her to move in with me. But I wanted to be honest with her, so I told her I was thinking of leaving Blackwood Cellars and going into business for myself. I was still in the planning stages, but my goal was to invest in a small winery and start my own label. No mass production, just handcrafted estate wine.”
“Really? I love that idea.”
