Page 33 of A Cowboy Home for Christmas
“No, we just selfishly put ourselves first and —” She groans. “Not here. Please.” I hear the pain in her voice, and it breaks me.
While I spent months dedicated to figuring out what I want, I’ve sprung my plan on her. Too soon. Without the talk we should’ve had before jumping in bed last night.
I slide my hand in the water, bring up a scoop and splash it on Lauren.
She shrieks. Her head whips to the side. Her hands go up in defense mode.
I splash the water at her again.
“Barker!”
“Yes?”
She points at me. Her eyes dart from mine to my hand resting in the water. “Don’t you dare.” Her stern tone turns me on. But that’s not what this is about. She shouldn’t feel like she has to avoid me. And we’re allowed to have fun whether we’re sleeping together or not.
“What are you going to do about it?” I ask.
“You will pay.” Her mouth breaks into a smile.
“Is that a threat?”
“Take your hand out of the water, Barker.”
I funnel a bigger handful at her.
She shrieks and wiggles so hard she falls off the inflatable, throwing the floaty off the balance. Her side whips up and my side flips over, taking me down with it. I sink into the shallow lazy lake. When my head breaks the surface, Lauren’s laughter greets my ears.
“You jerk.” She rubs the water out of her eyes. A huge smile steals her lips. Those damn droplets course down her skin.
Another person’s inflatable hits my legs. “Oh, sorry.” I pull our inflatable to the edge of the lake.
“I can’t believe you dunked me in the water.” Lauren drags her hand over her ponytail, funnelling out the water.
“Me?” I press a hand to my chest. “You fell in all on your own.”
“To escape your splashes.”
“Well, if you keep avoiding me, I’ll carry you to the biggest slide here.”
“Do you think so?” She has a defensive glimmer in her eyes.
“We’re family first. Family before whatever happened last night. We’ve never avoided each other, and we sure as hell aren’t about to start now. Got it?”
She nods. “I’m sorry I took off without telling you.”
“It wasn’t your finest moment.”
She gnaws on her lower lip. “You know, since you brought up the slides. The girls are too small for them, and I’ve actually been dying to go on the biggest one. Are you up for it?” This is the Lauren I wanted to spend the day with.
“Absolutely, but you owe me an explanation.”
“Absolutely.”
“Alright.” I glance down the lake of people riding inflatable’s. “Now, how the hell do we get out of here?”
***
LAUREN
