Bouncing drew his gaze right to her perky breasts. Luckily, she didn’t notice, her attention solely on the turtles. Which meant he could take his time checking her out, raking his eyes up and down her body in complete fascination. That she couldn’t resist a challenge added to her allure.
The best way to get Digger and Scooter into the water was to meet them there, so he tore his eyes away from Kennedy, tossed off his shoes, and walked down the bank. “What do you want to bet?” he asked over his shoulder. They were in his domain. There wasn’t anything he didn’t mind doing.
“I don’t know.” She noticed him moving toward the water and did the same.
There was never a guarantee this worked, but the playful side of him that Kennedy pulled out with ease chose right now to surface and perform. He stepped into the cold water up to the tops of his shins and splashed the fresh water onto the shore by kicking his feet. “Down here, Digger!”
Kennedy’s eyes widened. Never one to be outdone, she immediately strode into the lake, her body shivering at the contact, and kicked water right at him instead of the sandbar. “Down here, Scooter!”
“Hey!” He splashed her back.
She grinned and continued splashing him, an arm and leg involved now.
“If I win, you camp out with me tonight,” he tossed out without much thought beyond she’d hate the idea and he…liked it. “And if you win, you don’t.”
“Or if I win you…you…” She spit out water that had gotten into her mouth. “You go to the wedding with me.”
They both stopped splashing.
“I’ve been formally invited, and Andrew told me this morning he has his own invite and…” She wiped hair from her face. “I think it would be fun to go with you.”
Honored she asked, and relieved her crashing days were over, “okay” sat on the tip of his tongue. As a rule, though, he didn’t attend weddings on the ranch. He’d pictured his own wedding here and since that didn’t happen, he couldn’t bring himself to watch someone else’s.
“Do we have a deal?” She moved closer and splashed him with both hands.
His hands were much bigger, and thus his splashes more powerful. He retaliated and drenched her. Not that she seemed to care, if the smile on her face was any indication. His own cheeks started to hurt from smiling throughout this friendly competition.
“We do.” He’d tell her the truth if she won, and ask her to pick something else.
The splashing got serious after that. They laughed and sprayed each other, kicking their feet up and swiping their arms through the cold water. For someone much smaller than him, she gave as good as she got, never letting up. Water went in his mouth, up his nose, inside his ears.
She advanced on him. He dodged left. She pivoted with little effort and heaps of determination on her face. He hopped right, let his arms rest for a moment. Not because he was tired, but so she could get a good, solid splash in without immediate reciprocation.
“Don’t you dare let me win this!” Her hands went to her hips.
Big mistake.
He splashed her full force, never thinking for a second he had the upper hand or would let her win. What Kennedy lacked in size compared to him, she more than made up for in tenacity. She was heart, guts, and attitude all rolled into one impressive package.
She spewed water out of her mouth and grumbled her dislike of him. He laughed, not at her but with her. He didn’t think she saw it that way, though, and spurred on even more now, she went full-court press on him. So much so that she lost her balance.
He caught her before her backside hit the water and instead, he brought her toward his chest. She didn’t fight him. She grabbed the front of his soaked shirt and helped heave her body closer to his, causing them to crash together, her arms sliding around his waist. Him wrapping one arm around her shoulders and securing the hand on his other arm firmly on her bottom. Totally involuntary. Mostly.
If points in time were measured in pure pleasure, then this one neared the top of the list. Everything around him faded away (this was becoming customary with her), narrowed down to a simple, albeit complicated, look between them. Droplets clung to her long eyelashes and her lips parted slightly as she caught her breath.
He wasn’t sure how long they stood that way. It could have been a minute. It could have been ten. He did know he relished their position and had no plans to let her go.
“The turtles!” she exclaimed, jumping back and breaking the spell she’d cast over him.
Digger and Scooter were no longer on the sand. Nope. They were swimming in the lake away from him and Kennedy.
“Shoot! We didn’t see who won,” she said. “This is your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Totally. You were the one who started splashing.”
“Not at you. I was splashing toward Digger when you decided to launch an attack on innocent me.”
“That’s because you didn’t tell me you had a secret weapon in your pocket, which makes you far from innocent.”
“Okay, true, but it took you all of a second to figure it out, which I knew would happen.” He smiled at her, earning him a spot back in her good graces by the way she tilted her head and pressed her lips together, the corners of her mouth lifting anyway.
“I guess we’ll have to call it a tie,” she said.
“Sounds fair.”
“I’d still like you to go to the wedding with me.”
He stroked the side of his neck, then to deflect said, “I’d still like you to camp out with me.”
“Okay.”
“Shit.” She wasn’t supposed to be so agreeable, not when his nerves were shot at the prospect of watching two people get married on his family’s ranch.
“What?” Her brows furrowed in confusion.
“I thought you’d say no.” So that I could say no.
“So you don’t really want me to camp with you?”
“No, I do. But the wedding…”
She looked down and away. “You don’t want to go.”
He tucked a finger under her chin and brought her gaze back to him. “It has nothing to do with you, but can I think about it? I don’t usually attend weddings here at the ranch.”
She contemplated him, those light brown eyes of hers soft, sincere, and assessing. “Of course. In the meantime, what does camping out involve exactly?”
“A campfire, sleeping bags, stars brighter than any you’ve ever seen before.”
“We sleep on the ground?”