CHAPTER 19
BLAIRE
T he cooler was digging into my hip by the time Ruby and I made it down to the lake. Her chatter was nonstop, talking my ear off about all the things she was going to do in the water. I was mostly trying not to trip over a tree root while balancing both the cooler and Ruby’s hand in mine.
When Colt had invited me to a day on the lake, I’d almost told him no. Based on the riot of nerves in my stomach, I probably should have. But Maggie was going to be here, and I’d promised her I’d come.
Laughter and music drifted up before we even hit the edge of the trees.
The inviting water stretched out before us, and I could see both the Calloways’ dock and June’s from where we stood.
McCoy’s truck had been backed up down near the water, the bed loaded with more coolers and an entire arsenal of pool noodles and floats.
Colt was standing with his back to us, barefoot at the edge of the dock, talking to McCoy and laughing at something I couldn’t hear.
The sun caught his shoulders, tracing every line of muscle, and my steps faltered, the cooler thumping gently against my leg while I failed to remember how to breathe.
He wore dark green swim trunks, and his hair was curling at the nape of his neck from the water.
As soon as we got close to the water, Ruby immediately broke free, tearing off toward the lake.
Colt turned at the sound, caught her up with one arm as soon as she made it to his side, and swung her straight in the air as she laughed.
He smiled at me over her shoulder, an easy smile which made my stomach flip, and then he kissed Ruby all over her little face before he set her back down.
She kicked off her flip-flops and jerked her dress over her head before she cannonballed into the water where McCoy waited.
Ruby loved like she jumped, full tilt and with no hesitation. There was no part of her that didn’t go all in, no moment she hung back and considered the temperature, or the depth, or whether anyone was watching and tallying her mistakes. She was pure momentum, all hope and faith, and I envied her.
I was just like Ruby once, diving headfirst into everything without counting the cost. What I wouldn’t give to bottle that courage, to press it between her palms like a firefly that wouldn’t dim when life inevitably tried to steal it away from her.
My gaze caught on Colt’s abs tensing as he shifted, and the corner of my mouth lifted.
So he does still have the abs.
Every slight movement he made registered like a flare in my peripheral vision. He tilted his beer to his lips, his eyes finding mine over the bottle’s rim, and suddenly I was back on that porch two nights ago, the moonlight catching in his hair.
And now he stood there, shirtless and so at ease, while I felt every nerve ending in my body light up again.
Wanting Colt was easy. Wanting him where his little girl could see was reckless, but I couldn’t stop.
“Uncle Coy!” Ruby screeched, and her voice drew my attention, snapping it away from her father, as McCoy lifted her in the air above him.
Maggie’s voice carried across the water before I even spotted her. “Where’s Blaire?” she called, all mock drama, and a second later, her head and shoulders appeared, paddling around the edge of the dock on an inflatable donut.
She was balancing a Solo cup between her knees and rowing herself with her arms.
“Oh, thank God.” She stopped as soon as she saw me. “I’m so glad you and Ruby are finally here. I was about to be bro-brained into oblivion.”
McCoy dropped Ruby into the water beside him and splashed Maggie so hard, lake water sloshed all over her and her drink.
“Damn it, McCoy!” She nearly capsized, clutching the float’s sides, and her cup fell straight into the water. “Do you have any idea how long it took me to make that margarita? There’s real lime in there, you animal!”
She flailed a leg at him, splashing wildly, and he simply wrapped his hand around her ankle and jerked her off the float.
Ruby laughed, begging McCoy to throw her again, but I looked away from them as Colt made his way over to me, pausing at the back of McCoy’s truck and pulling out two beers from the cooler in one hand. He twisted off one of the beer caps and offered it to me without a word.
I took it, trying not to let our fingers brush, as he passed it over. He said nothing at first. He twisted open his own beer, tilted his head back a little, and took me in with a look that said he also remembered every single word we’d said on that porch.
“It’s about time you all got here,” he finally said. His voice was so low I swear it rumbled in my chest. “I thought I was going to have to come to my parents’ house and haul you two out myself.”
I shrugged. “Your mom was helping me and June with some ideas for the online shop, and Ruby was coloring with your dad. I didn’t want to interrupt them.”
Colt nodded, seeming lost in his head, before he reached out, his hand brushing against my shoulder before he wrapped it around the cooler. “Here, let me take that.”
“Thanks,” I said, awkward now that my hands were empty, holding the beer like a shield. I looked back at the water, where Ruby was sprawled out across Maggie’s float and Maggie was pushing her as she swam behind it.
Colt set the cooler on the tailgate, then turned back and pointed his beer directly at my middle with a little flick of his wrist. “You’re overdressed.”
I glanced down at my cutoff shorts and tee, and I was suddenly acutely aware of how small the bikini was underneath. I took a drink of my beer, letting the coldness wash away the sudden flush in my cheeks.
“I’ve got my bathing suit on,” I said as I looked past him, but it was impossible to miss his grin.
“Then take the rest off.” He leaned against the dropped tailgate, bracing on the edge. Everything about his posture was relaxed, but there was an edge to his focus that made me want to squirm.
“I’m going to.” I hesitated, shifting my weight and glancing back down at my shorts.
“Blaire, you used to swim in this lake in your underwear. You’re telling me you’re shy now?” He grinned, the dimples denting his cheeks.
“Blaire! Get in!” Ruby’s voice rang out from the lake. She was still on the float, now balancing on her knees, and waving her arms for me to join her. “We have to dunk uncle Coy!”
Colt’s gaze flicked to the lake, then back to me. “See? You’re needed in the lake.”
I rolled my eyes, but that only seemed to make his smile deepen. He waited, beer bottle balanced against his thigh, watching me with an amused look that got under my skin.
“I’m coming!” I called out to Ruby, completely ignoring Colt, and I tried not to even glance in his direction as I reached for the button on my shorts.
He caught my hesitation and leaned in, dropping his voice even lower. “Do you need a hand? I’m more than happy to provide assistance.” His eyes dropped to my waistband before he took another slow drink of his beer.
My stomach fluttered as I moved in front of him, and I looked anywhere but at him as I reached to his side and set my beer on the tailgate.
“I’ve got it handled,” I muttered as I slid my thumbs into the waistband of my cutoffs. It took some wiggling to get them over my hips while Colt just leaned there in obvious amusement.
As the shorts gave way, so did the last thin pretense that I wasn’t hyperaware of his eyes on me.
The air was humid today and it licked right up my bare legs.
I tried to keep my focus anywhere but on Colt, but he made it nearly impossible.
He tracked me without apology, his head tilted a little, lips quirking at the corners, like he was watching a show meant for him alone.
I yanked my T-shirt up and over my head before I bunched the clothing together in my hands and hurled them straight at his chest.
He snatched them out of the air with one hand, laughing, the sound so damn genuine, as he pressed my tangled bundle of clothes to his side like they were some sort of trophy he’d won.
He didn’t bother to hide the way his gaze dragged down over me.
His eyes burned over every inch, lingering at the curve of my hip, the dip of my waist, until they stopped right at the spot where my bikini top barely contained me.
The heat of his stare ignited something low in my belly, and I had to squeeze my thighs together to stop the ache.
His eyes dropped to the movement, and I could see his throat work as he swallowed.
“Happy?” I crossed my arms, which only pushed my breasts higher, straining against the light blue fabric, and his eyes darkened as they jumped back up.
“Very,” he said, voice rougher than before, and the word grazed down my skin. How could he make something so innocent sound so dirty?
I reached back beside him for my beer. I did it unhurriedly, letting the bare skin of my stomach slide across his forearm. His muscles jumped beneath my touch, and the sharp hiss of his breath catching fueled me. He held still, but I could feel the tension radiating from him.
I straightened and brought the bottle to my lips.
I took a long sip before I swallowed and ran my tongue over my bottom lip.
His eyes burned into me the entire time, and even though the sun was hot on my shoulders and Ruby’s laughter rang out around us, all of it seemed muffled compared to the singularity of Colt’s attention.
His fingers flexed around his own bottle before he lifted his other hand and ran his fingers over that damn mustache, and the effect was so heady I nearly dropped my beer.
“It’s good to see you didn’t actually lose your abs.” I pointed the neck of my beer to his stomach which somehow was far more defined than it had been when he was eighteen.
“You really were worried about that weren’t you?” He grinned as he arched an eyebrow.