Chapter Ten
Grant
It had been quite a day. I was supposed to be pushing Kara away from this life. Instead, I was drawing myself closer to her. She was a hard worker, determined—unless there was a dead bird involved. She worked as hard as I did, but looked a hundred times better doing it.
We were finally done with the wood. Technically, we could have been finished earlier.
I was already a season ahead on stocking wood for the winter, but it was better to get ahead and stay there.
Besides, if this place ended up being hers, I wanted to make sure she was well supplied.
A sentiment that made me want to kick my own ass.
“One last chore,” she said, looking pointedly toward Tuck, who was basking in his stinky glory under a tree. He had long, thick fur and a stubborn streak that had me dreading this particular task.
I grabbed the dog shampoo from the porch step. “The bucket I use is in the shed.”
Kara furrowed her brow. “Why not bathe him in the river?” She gestured to where the river flowed slowly, fifty or so yards away. “It’s warm enough out, isn’t it?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but she was already walking in that direction, calling Tuck along with her. “Kara, wait.”
She didn’t even slow down.
Stubborn woman.
“This will work better. We swam here as kids all the time,” she called over her shoulder, taking Tuck by the collar.
I jogged to catch up. “Kara, if you try that, Tuck will—”
Too late.
As soon as Tuck’s doggy brain clued in to where they were headed, he took off, dragging Kara behind him. He might have been old, but he was still built like a tank. Kara stumbled forward rather than letting go of his collar, and with one big splash, the two of them were in the water.
All the way in.
Tuck happily ran into the water, but Kara went in headfirst.
I ran to the edge of the water, only to see her surface a moment later.
Kara ran a hand over her face. “Holy crap, that is cold.”
“Are you okay? That dive wasn’t exactly up to Olympic standards.”
“I’m fine,” she said, glaring at me like this was somehow my fault.
“Might as well clean him now that you’re both in there.” I leaned over the edge of the bank to hand her the shampoo.
She waded toward me, the water getting shallower as she went. Her clothes were plastered to her body, giving me a very detailed clue about what was underneath. I could see the points of her nipples through her shirt, and I fought not to stare.
She stepped closer, and I could feel the chill of the water radiating off her skin in contrast to the heat rising in my chest. She reached for the bottle, but rather than grabbing it, she went for my wrist. Her cold fingers latched around me with a force I couldn’t counter even if I’d realized what she was doing in time.
With surprising strength, she leaned backward and took me off balance.
“Fuck.” I scrambled for footing on the muddy bank, trying to stay out of the water.
Tuck came bounding over, soaking wet, thinking this was a great game, and tangled himself around my legs. I stumbled forward, and then it was over. The water rushed up to greet me, and I was surrounded by the cool current of the river.
I surfaced and shook my head to clear the water from my face. When I opened my eyes, I found Tuck on the bank—muddy and wet, his tongue lolling out to the side. He was ten times dirtier than he’d been before we started. Kara was in the water beside me, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“You’re going to pay for that.”
A smile spread across her lips as I lunged for her.
She screamed and tried to dart out of my reach, but I was faster. I had her around the waist in an instant, my hands closing around her enticing hips before I tackled her back under the water.
We both surfaced inches from each other, laughing and out of breath. She sent a half-hearted splash in my direction, but the look in her eye had shifted. Her hand found my hip under the water, her body drifting closer, though I wasn’t sure she even realized she was doing it.
There had been a moment earlier, while we were chopping wood, when I’d wrapped my body around hers and guided her through the motion, that I’d sworn she wanted more than our fragile peace treaty.
That she wanted to taste my lips as badly as I wanted hers.
I’d come to my senses at that moment, and stepped away.
Now, with her clothes clinging to her skin and her gaze steady on mine, I didn’t think I could stop myself.
All the reasons this was a bad idea floated out of my head. I moved forward, closing the last foot of space between us. I was close enough to see the beads of water clinging to her eyelashes, the way her green eyes had gone darker.
She drew in a shaky breath, and I reached out, wrapping my hand around her hip and pulling her flush against me. I paused, giving her time to tell me to fuck off if she didn’t want this.
Instead, she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine.
I groaned, wrapping both arms around her waist and pulling her impossibly closer. I shuddered under her touch. Part of being a loner was the lack of human contact, and my skin was lighting up from just a graze of her skin on mine.
Her lips were as soft and sweet as they had always looked.
I could smell the sweat and work of the day on her skin.
I angled my head, deepening the kiss, and the soft gasp she made was the green light I’d been waiting for.
I slid my tongue against her lips, and she opened for me, meeting my intensity with her own.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling herself closer, half grinding against me, half climbing me like a tree. I grabbed her under the ass and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around my waist, locking them tight behind my back.
“Someone’s excited,” she murmured against my lips.
I paused, then realized what she meant. For the record, I was hard as a rock—but that wasn’t what she was feeling. I reached between us and grabbed the shampoo bottle that had floated nearby during our scuffle. I held it up.
She laughed, throwing her head back, and took it from my hand. “I’m a little relieved, this bottle is twice the size of my arm.”
“And how do you know I’m not?”
She smirked, reaching out her hand and running it over my length through my jeans.
My breath caught on a grunt. She made an approving humming sound in her throat. “More than enough to get the job done.”
Her hand felt good, even through wet denim, too good if I was being honest. “We should get this dog washed before the sun goes down,” I said, my voice strained.
“Then we can finish what we started.”
She kissed me once more, slow and lingering, like she couldn’t quite get enough, before sliding her legs down my hips and stepping away.