Chapter 15 #2
I can’t believe I kissed Cricket. It wasn’t my intention when I convinced her to skinny-dip with me.
I fully expected a flat no to that request, like her response to LandStar’s proposal.
The kiss seems to have shocked the entire world around us because absolute silence has descended upon the lake, and I’m too distracted by the taste of her to think of anything clever to say to break it.
Thankfully the water is high enough to keep her covered, although I can see the swell of her breasts, which makes me grateful my lower half is deeply submerged.
I clear my throat to break the spell. “Would you like to try floating now that the moon is behind some clouds? I can only see your silhouette. No sensitive areas.”
“How big is the cloud?” She glances skyward.
“Very big and very slow-moving.”
“That’s what she said.”
I crack a smile. “Think of this as a trust exercise.”
“Well, that explains why I can’t do it.”
“You’re naked in the water with me. There has to be a certain amount of trust there already or you wouldn’t have agreed.”
“You did already feel me up in the woods. I suppose nudity is the natural progression of events.”
“That was for ticks!”
Laughing, she shifts to her back, and as promised, immediately sinks. My hands catch her lower back, one dangerously close to her bare ass, and lift her toward the surface. Her perfect breasts rise to my eye line. Whose idea was this anyway?
“Relax, Cricket. You’re not going to drown. I won’t let you.”
“It won’t look good for you if you do. Naked camp owner found in the arms of the primary suspect.” She closes her eyes. “Even your law firm will have a helluva time defending you.”
“We don’t handle criminal cases.”
Her legs start to drift down, and I move my hand lower to buoy her.
“Your hand is on my ass, Charles Xavier Thorpe.”
“Is it?”
“Either that or this lake has a small octopus.”
“This lake is pitch black. Nessie herself could be living here, and no one would be the wiser.” I realize my hand is still cradling her backside. “Want me to move it?”
She turns her head toward me and opens her eyes. “Only if you want to.”
Gauntlet thrown. The first kiss wasn’t planned; we could write it off as a heat-of-the-moment situation and never speak of it again. This one, however, would be premeditated. This one would say not only that we meant it, but that we liked it enough to do it again.
Challenge accepted.
I lean in for another kiss, removing my hold on her in the process. As my lips reach hers, her head slips beneath the surface.
“Shit! Cricket!”
Her head pops up and bangs straight into my chin. I bite my tongue and my mouth fills with the metallic taste of blood.
“Omigod, Charlie! I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
I can’t speak.
Her lips find mine, soft and searching. When they part, there’s a sudden painful reminder that my tongue suffered a grievous wound. I groan, prompting Cricket to draw back.
“Was that a sexy groan or an ouch-that-actually-hurts groan?”
“Can it be both?”
She threads her fingers through mine. “I know first aid. Let me kiss it better.” She takes my tongue in her mouth and gently sucks. It takes all my self-control not to?—
Pain stabs my calf, and I jerk away.
“Charlie?”
The intensity leaves me breathless, and not in a good way. “Leg cramp,” I croak.
She hooks an arm around my chest and pulls me to shallower water. “Do you need me to rub it? Your leg, I mean.”
“Let me stretch it, thanks.” My calf throbs as I flex my foot forward and back until the cramp subsides.
“A friendly reminder that bananas are always available in the cafeteria,” she says.
Leg cramps and bananas. I’ve definitely ruined the vibe. “It’s getting late. We should probably go back to our cabins.”
Hesitation flickers in her eyes. “Would you like to stay over again tonight?”
“Because of the mold spores?”
“Because I don’t want this night to end.”
Her directness sucks the oxygen from my lungs. Hell yes, I want to be in her bed, but sleep is the last thing on my mind.
“Are you sure?”
“We’re both consenting adults. I don’t see why not.” She wades over to the kayak. “But first I’d better put on my clothes. The last thing I need is to give the campers a free show.”
“It’s worth the price of admission,” I tell her.
Cricket showers first. I spend those five minutes pacing the cabin floor and reconsidering whether this is a good idea. I registered for camp under false pretenses. I snooped through her belongings to find evidence to use against her.
Nothing has to happen , I tell myself. We already proved that two people can share the same bed without having it turn sexual.
Of course, that was before the naked kissing.
She emerges from the bathroom in shorts and a T-shirt and with her wet hair wrapped in a towel. “Your turn. Hopefully I didn’t use all the hot water.”
I kind of hope she did. A cold shower will snap me out of this.
I enter the bathroom and immediately spot two frilly baskets filled with tiny bottles and other paraphernalia that weren’t here before. “Where did all this stuff come from?”
Cricket pokes her head in. “Oh, those are from Angela. She wants me to have more of a self-care routine.”
I point to the fluffy white slippers on the floor. “Does that involve owning your own spa?”
“You know Angela. Go big or go home.” She motions to the mouthwash. “You might want to gargle that too. No clue what lurks in the lake water.”
“Good point.”
After I shower, I decide to have a little fun with Angela’s products.
I apply a green face mask that smells like cucumbers, teeth whitener, and slip on the fluffy white robe and slippers.
The piece de resistance is the satin pink eye mask I wear like a headband.
Anything to hear the sound of her bawdy laughter again.
Cricket is seated cross-legged on the bed when I emerge, and I’m rewarded with a sound so raw and throaty, it lingers in the air like a punchline to a dirty joke. “I’m glad to see someone taking advantage of my gifts.”
“I’ll be honest. I’m not a fan of the chemical taste of the teeth whitener.”
“There’s no rule that says you have to use every product all at once.”
I nod. “You know what? In the right light my teeth look white enough.” I spin back to the bathroom where I peel off the strips and rinse my mouth.
Cricket’s smile remains firmly intact when I reenter the room. “If the partners at your law firm could see you now.”
“Maybe they can.” I glance around the cabin. “Is this a setup to blackmail me?”
“That’s what the recording of ‘Let It Go’ is for. You have only yourself to blame for this.”
“Fair enough. I accept full responsibility.” I settle beside her on the bed and snap down my eye mask.
“Why are you smiling?” she asks. “Picturing the smooth, wrinkle-free skin you’ll be enjoying after that mask washes off?”
“I’m having fun, which if you recall, is something you’ve encouraged me to do from the start.”
“If I’d realized your idea of fun was a cucumber mask and fluffy slippers, I could’ve hooked you up days ago.”
“Admit it. You had fun tonight too.” She doesn’t respond. “It’s suddenly very quiet in here.” I dare to lift the eye mask and find her observing me with a tense expression. “What?”
“You don’t seem like a guy in the mood for sex.”
“Can’t we enjoy the night without complicating it?”
She stares at me for a beat before sliding under the covers. “That’s fine. I’m sure it’s for the best.”
My bubble of confidence bursts. “What makes you say that?”
“Because we’re incompatible.”
That gets under my skin for reasons I don’t fully understand. “How are we incompatible?”
“You’re vanilla bean. I’m chocolate chip mint.”
My laugh comes out like a chortle. “I’m vanilla?”
“There’s nothing wrong with vanilla. It’s the most popular flavor for a reason.”
I turn toward her and prop myself up by my elbow. “You’re calling me bland.”
“Not at all.”
“People don’t have to like the same things to be compatible, you know.”
“It isn’t about ice cream flavors or movies or anything external. You’re conflict avoidant. That’s what makes us incompatible.”
“I’m a lawyer, Cricket. If I were conflict avoidant, I couldn’t do my job.”
“You can do it for work because you don’t care about it in the same way. No emotional stakes. You avoid hard conversations, like ones with your parents that you know will upset the natural order. I prefer to address things before they have a chance to fester.”
“I care about my job.”
“I didn’t say otherwise. I said you care about it in a different way.” She shrugs. “But if you’d rather not get naked again, I’ll be disappointed, but I understand.”
I’m unsure how to respond, although there are parts of my body that are way ahead of me.
“You said yourself we’re incompatible. Sex isn’t a good idea if it isn’t going to lead to anything more fulfilling.” She has no idea how hard it was to drag those words from my mouth.
But I meant them.
“Then why did you kiss me in the lake?”
‘Because I couldn’t not kiss you in that moment’ doesn’t seem like a solid answer, but if she wants emotional honesty, I’ll give it to her. “Because I was exhausted.”
She purses her lips, perplexed. “You were so worn out that your lips fell on mine?”
“No. I mean I didn’t have the strength to fight my feelings for you anymore. I finally gave in to them.”
My answer appears to rock her. “You have feelings for me?”
“I thought that’s what we said in the kayak.” A thought strikes me. “Wait, are you only interested in a fling?”
“No. That isn’t my style.” She smiles. “I guess we should’ve been more explicit.”
“Doesn’t get more explicit than naked kissing.” I pause. “Is this what you would consider a hard conversation?”
“Yes,” she says in a quiet voice. “And just so it’s clear, I have feelings for you too.”
I allow myself a satisfied smirk. “Now who’s the emotionally unavailable one?”
She flops back onto the bed. “Damn, Charlie. You keep showing me to myself.”