Chapter Two
PARKER REEVES
Luna blinked up at me. Her big blue eyes were wide and her dark curls were pulled up in a ponytail. Her teeth were still chattering when she replied, “I-I-I…”
She clenched her jaw, shaking her head as if in annoyance with herself for being cold. “I’m fine,” she ground out through clenched teeth.
“Luna, that water isn’t much above fifty degrees. A quick way to get hypothermia is to swim in the ocean in Alaska in the summer. It’s pretty efficient,” I said dryly.
I reached for the towel I’d gotten with the blanket and handed it to her. She dabbed at her face with it before almost burrowing into herself. “You might have a point,” she said a moment later.
Her teeth had stopped chattering, but she was still shivering. “It was that boat wake,” she said.
“Yeah, three people got carried out. How many fish did you get so far?”
“Twenty-four. I should’ve stopped.”
I chuckled when I looked down at her again. Her shivering was slowing. At that moment, my heart gave a resounding kick and awareness struck me like a fiery bolt.
Luna was curled against me in a soft bundle. I wanted to hold her close, to protect her.
You want to do a lot more than protect her, my cynical mind chimed in.
Luna was cute, sexy, and downright delectable.
I saw her just frequently enough that I had to make an effort not to notice her.
She baked donuts for the local coffee shop, and she was friends with almost everybody I worked with.
There was also something familiar about her.
She reminded me of someone I’d met once.
Just once, but the memory shined bright.
Yet, Luna had crazy wild curls, while that someone had stick straight hair and a different name.
I told myself again that it was just a fluke.
“Do you want to drop your net in now and catch one more?” I managed to ask.
She glanced around. “How far until we get to the boat ramp?”
Griffin glanced over. “A few minutes. How are you doing?” he called over the sound of the motor.
“Getting warmer.”
“We need to get you some dry clothes,” I commented.
Luna let out a little sigh. “When I was little, my mom always used to tell me that I shouldn’t go too far out. Lesson learned.” She rolled her eyes.
I chuckled. “Nobody was gonna let you drift out to sea.”
“Thank you very much for stopping. You were on the beach earlier. When did you decide to go out in a boat?”
“Well, it was pretty crowded and Griffin texted me that he had his boat, so I went over to meet him.”
After a beat, she nodded. “You can’t get swept away if you’re in the boat.”
“True,” I agreed.
“I’m think I’m warm,” she said.
“Would you like to keep the blanket?” I asked as I reluctantly eased my hold on her.
“Please. I’m still wet, so without it, I’ll get cold fast.”
“You didn’t lose a thing,” I pointed out, gesturing to the net and her waders. “Smart move to take those off.”
She shrugged. “They were filling with water. I’m glad you all caught my net for me.”
She let the blanket fall down around her waist before tucking the ends of it to hold it in place. My eyes dipped down to notice her T-shirt was damp. I forced my eyes back up before they lingered too long.
I cleared my throat before standing up and handing her the handle to her net. “Drop that in the water. You can get that last fish.”
She tucked the handle to the net in a holder and let the net drag through the water by the boat. Minutes later, she let out a happy squeal when a fish swam into her net. She dragged it into the boat and started jumping up and down. “It’s a king!
She quickly freed it from the net and held it up to show it off. Griffin threw a grin over his shoulder as he steered the boat toward the ramp.
When I looked over at Luna again, she was covered in sand with a few streaks of fish blood on her arms from a busy day of catching, gutting, and cleaning fish. Her curls blew in a wild riot around her shoulders, and all I could think was that I wanted her.