She made an adorable hissing sound. “You know damn well my bra is see-through, especially when wet.”
“I barely remember that.” But his grasp on her hip tightened at the memory. “Maybe you ought to remind me.”
“Oh, sure.” Her chin lifted in challenge to his words. “I guarantee you remember—”
“Exactly how much you were turned on back in that kitchen?” Keeping his tone playful was proving harder than normal with her hand on his chest, his palm on her waist. He was itching to do a lot more with her than stand by the water and listen to the chorus of crickets chirping off in the woods behind the edge of the pond.
“I, um.” It sure was fun rendering her speechless.
A.J. forced himself to unhand her and backed up. “So, I’m taking off my shorts and jumping in. I hope you’ll ‘relax,’” he said with air quotes, “and join me with or without your clothes on.”
He unbuckled his brown belt and unbuttoned his shorts before kicking them off to the side. He glanced over to see her eyes glued to his boxers so intently that if she looked much harder, she might see right through them.
“Of course you’d have patriotic underwear.” And there her hand went, trailing down from her breastbone to the waistband of her shorts again.
“You counting the stars?” He winked once she’d ripped her focus back to his face. “You can believe me when I say there are fifty. One for each state.” And with that, he reached forward, grabbed her upper arms and spun her around quickly before she realized what he was doing. He gently pinned her back to his chest and held her still, their bodies facing the motionless water. “Look.” A.J. nudged her cheek with his chin. Little fireflies blinked in the air before them, their light barely a twinkle since it wasn’t too dark out yet. Her skin was warm, and her body relaxed against him. “I can hold your hand. We can go in together.”
“No.” She shook her head. “And what are those sounds?” She tipped her head to the side as if searching to define the “sounds” of Alabama surrounding them like a symphony of nature.
“You ain’t ever heard an owl before?” He chuckled, his mouth dangerously close to her ear. Based on how her body had responded to him in the kitchen, he knew if he whispered his words against her skin, she’d go weak in the knees. He wanted to see her tremble like that again. “No bullfrogs in those big cities you lived in, either, I’m betting,” he teased at the sounds of the crying frogs.
“No, none.” He felt her body tense in his embrace, and he was worried Alabama’s normally seductive voice wasn’t quite Ana’s song. A few more days, and he was sure that’d change.
“Well, I’m going in. It’s your loss if you don’t join me, sugar.” He smoothed his thumbs down the sides of her arms, then sidestepped her to jump into the pond, remembering Grant had said it was shallow. Less than five feet deep, so no diving.
A.J. dropped to the bottom of the pond, fully submerging himself, and held his breath for a bit. He always found himself at peace when underwater.
He popped up and swiped the beads of water from his face and hair. Ana’s rounded mouth, followed by her crossing her arms with dramatic emphasis, meant she’d been worried about his length of time beneath the surface. “You do remember I’m a Teamguy, right? We have to hold our breath for a long damn time.” When he grinned, she shot him daggers. The soft, pillow kind that soothed his soul because it meant the woman cared, even if she didn’t want to admit it. “Awfully refreshing in here.”
Her nerves were still all tangled up, but he was fairly certain it was more about letting go and jumping in and not because of the truth she’d laid on him about her family.
“I just don’t know if I can do it.” Indecision warred across her face, but the cute way she wrinkled her nose told him she had an aching need to join him and relax—he could feel the imprint of that need as surely as he heard Mother Nature cocooning them with her lyrics and ambiance.
“No snappers in here.” He lowered himself in the water up to his chin and tipped his head back. “And probably no snakes.”
“Probably?” she shrieked.
Holding in a small laugh, A.J. stood up straight in the water. “Kidding.” Mostly. He cupped his hands together on the surface of the pond and then squirted water in her direction. “It’s clearly not that deep. You’re good. Promise.” He motioned to his tossed shorts. “And I have a knife in my pocket if we find ourselves on the other side of an angry turtle.”
“You’re hilarious,” she responded, but she strode closer, now mere inches from the edge of the pond.
“Come on, it feels great, and you need a refreshing swim. Nothing like pond water to clear your head.”
An inquisitive brow shot up. “Oh, is that a thing?”
“If it needs to be a thing, why then, yes.” He waded another few feet in Ana’s direction, pinning her with a determined look meant to let her know he’d not hesitate to spring up, grab her, and pull her in with him. Of course, he’d prefer her to discard her clothes first, but baby steps. “You’re coming in one way or another,” he warned. His words were playful, but the deep, rough tone of his voice did nothing to hide the lust coursing through him.
“You’re going to be my undoing, Mr. Hawkins.” She backed up about ten feet and mouthed one, two, three, then ran forward and leaped into the pond, tucking her legs to her chest.
The sight of her letting loose had his heart tightening with emotion.
When she sprang up out of the water, only inches away from him, he couldn’t help himself—he reached under the water and tickled her leg.
She yelped and leapt into his arms, right where he wanted her. “You!” she exclaimed, her nose brushing against his as his hands settled around her bottom. He held her against him and secured her legs around his hips.
“And looky there,” he began, eyes moving to her wet shirt now molded to her skin. “Shirt or not, I can see you as plain as day.”
Her chin dipped to assess her body. Her nipples practically strained through the bra and fabric, begging for his mouth to take a taste.
“I get the distinct feeling I’m the cause of that lip constantly slipping between your teeth,” he said at the sight of her bottom lip tucked inward.
With her arms slung over his shoulders, hands resting at the nape of his neck, she whispered in a sensual tone, “You may be right.”
Ana’s breathing quickened, and her soaking wet shirt only made her breasts more enticing. The sight of her almost nude like that was fucking erotic. A.J. had to fight to slow his own breathing and restrain himself from sucking her lip between his teeth instead. “I know it doesn’t make a lick of sense,” he began, his accent thickening, “with all these obstacles in our way, but I’ve never wanted anyone more than I want you.” He’d been torn on whether or not to reveal his feelings, but after everything she’d shared with him—she deserved to know what he was thinking. And he wanted her to hear it.
“Even after you learned the truth?” Broad strokes of surprise had the depth of her tone lowering to a feminine huskiness.
He kept his hands positioned beneath her ass so as not to lose hold of her, then tilted his head. “Yes, but I’m pretty sure all you gotta do is look in my eyes, and you’ll be able to read me. See exactly how I feel.” They bobbed in the water a little as he moved them side to side, never wanting to lose this moment. “Isn’t there some saying that a woman can tell how a man feels by looking in his eyes?”