Page 8 of Sugar and the Skeptic
“I get it. You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Sugar.”
A smile jumps on her lips and she rolls her lips together like she’s trying to put it out, taking another mouthful of coffee and looking out at the gently lapping water. “I like your tattoos,” she says after a quiet moment.
I glance down like I didn’t even realize they were there and had to check.Dumbass.“Some like their art on walls, I like mine on my body.” When my eyes return to hers, I catch her licking her lips, and all of a sudden that release I gave myself in the shower is doing nothing to tamp down my desire for this woman. I flick the last of my coffee out of the mug and set it on the ground. “I was planning on swimming this mornin’ if you wanna join?”
Now she’s biting at her bottom lip, and I’m doing my best not to start growling and biting it for her. I walk toward the water instead.
“What if I don’t have a swimsuit with me this time?”
“Swim in your underwear.”
“What if I don’t have underwear.”
I shoot a grin over my shoulder as this wickedly delightful woman sets my skin on fire. “Then swim naked. It’s just a body, right?”
She barks out a laugh as she reaches down and pulls the dress she’s wearing over her head. Much to my disappointment, she’s wearing a black bathing suit underneath.
“Tease,” I call out, flicking a little splash in her direction as she wades into the water.
“Only where you’re concerned.”
I lift my brow, gliding back through the water as she swims near me. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I’m not normally like this around men.”
Studying her for a moment while we tread water, I tilt my head to the side. “How are you normally?”
“Guarded. When you live and travel alone, that’s how you stay safe.”
“But you aren’t guarded with me?”
She shakes her head no.
“Why not?”
“Because you look at me like I'm something you wish for. Not like I’m something you’re entitled to.”
I look at her for a long moment before replying. “That’s because I can’t stop dreaming about you.”
CLEMENTINE
Ismile. I couldn’t even stop myself if I tried.He dreams about me?This gorgeous, muscle-bound man with light brown hair and a boyish smile dreams aboutme.This doesn’t seem real.
“You dream about me?” I want to believe him right away, because the flattery of a thing like that does wonders for my ego. But the little voice inside me, the one who whispers nasty things to me in the still of the night, won’t let me have it without doubting his words. “Why?”
“Why not?”
“Um… because you could dream about anyone. Why choose an overweight hippy?”
His brow shoots up. “An overweight hippy?” He swims so close to me that our legs keep brushing together. “What happened to the confidence of the naked girl swimming in my lake yesterday morning?”
“I was only confident because I didn’t think anyone was gonna see me. But then you did, so I had to save face by acting like it didn’t bother me.”
“But it did?”
“I was embarrassed, yes.”
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” His voice lowers to a whisper. “If I could do yesterday all over again, I would.”
