Chapter 4
4
BEAU
J umping into a pond in thirty-degree temperatures sounded like the worst possible thing I could do. Jumping into a pond in thirty-degree temperatures with the most beautiful, interesting woman I’d ever met sounded like the best thing I could do.
Okay, so maybe warmer temperatures would be much better. But I’d go anywhere with this woman, including jumping off a cliff.
And that was exactly what it felt like I was doing as I stepped out of my truck and walked toward the water. Macy was already down to her bra and panties, and the bra came off, followed by the panties, while I watched.
My dick jumped to attention at the sight of her bare backside. But she didn’t glance back at me. Instead, she headed straight into the water, shrieking at the ice-cold temperatures.
Yeah, that was what I was in for. But no way was I going to stand back here and look like a pussy. I’d endured worse than this in the military. A little cold water never killed anyone.
Or maybe it did. Could this actually shock someone’s heart? Probably. But I was a strong guy. In good shape. The worst I’d go through would be a little bit of misery…and a whole lot of heaven if I got to see this woman naked.
“Do you want me to close my eyes?” she asked as I reached the water.
I’d kicked off my work boots and dropped my jacket to the ground. Now I was working on my sweatshirt. At least this would remove some of the grime from the day. I had a brief thought while we were eating dinner that I’d want to shower before I got naked with this woman.
Yes, I might have been running through scenarios where I could get her naked and on my cock right there in my driver’s seat. That’s part of the reason my erection was hard as a brick right now. I’d been building up to this for a good hour.
“No, you can watch,” I said. “Unless you want to close your eyes.”
She didn’t close her eyes. She watched as I removed everything all the way down to my underwear and socks.
When I straightened, her eyes widened at what she saw, and I knew that had everything to do with my massive erection. Yes, she made me hard. The cold water was probably about to take care of that, but at least she’d seen me in my full glory before the water temperature did me in.
I didn’t wade into the water like she’d done. Instead, I lunged in. I would have dove, but I wasn’t sure how deep it was at the bank. It was a good decision because it was pretty shallow. I might have ended up with a concussion…or worse.
I swam somewhat close to where she stood, my teeth chattering as I did so. Holy hell, this was cold. Like climbing into a bathtub full of ice cubes.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice shaking.
Her lips were trembling. Her shoulders were hunched. She was freezing her ass off.
“We can get out if you want,” I said.
She shook her head. “You have to stay for at least five minutes to get the real benefits. That’s what my friend said, anyway. I have no idea where she got that information.”
“What benefits am I looking to get?”
Besides being in a body of water naked with Macy. That was the only benefit I saw here. And we sure as hell could do that on land. But if we went back to land and she immediately put her clothes on, that would suck. I couldn’t decide whether I’d be in here, miserable, knowing she wore nothing but not able to see it, or on land, fully clothed, being able to take in her full body.
Yeah, probably the latter.
She was moving around, and it took me a second to realize she was getting closer. And closer. Was she walking toward me? Yes, she definitely was.
With any other woman, I’d have game. I’d have already found out if she wanted me to kiss her and done exactly that. But I couldn’t make that leap with this angel of a woman. The stakes were too high. If I did something to kill whatever was going on between the two of us, I’d never forgive myself.
“We could play Marco Polo,” she said.
I had no idea what she meant by that. “Marco Polo?”
“It’s a game you play in a pool. You close your eyes and find me. It’s like hide-and-seek. You call out ‘Marco’ and I have to answer ‘Polo.’”
Yeah, in any other circumstance, that would sound great. Right now, I just wanted to get the hell out of this. But she’d challenged me, and I was not one to walk away from a challenge that proved how tough I was.
“It’ll pass the time,” she said. “I can be ‘it’ first if you want.”
“What does ‘it’ mean in this case?”
“If I’m ‘it,’ I’m the one who says ‘Marco’ and you swim around saying ‘Polo.’ Being able to swim around will help keep you warm. You’ve really never played this game?”
I shook my head. “Never heard of it. But I’ll stand here while you swim around and keep warm.”
That was my stab at chivalry. As chivalrous as someone could be while freezing his balls off.
“Should I close my eyes?” I asked.
Macy nodded. “And keep them closed until you find me.”
I couldn’t help but notice she hadn’t gone underwater at all yet. The bottom half of her hair was wet, while the top half was still dry. She had beautiful long, dark hair that looked like it would feel silky beneath my fingers. It was weird, considering she was buck naked, that the part of her I was thinking about touching was her hair. But I had to start somewhere.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of water sloshing behind me. Crap, I should have gotten more details about the rules. Was I supposed to wait until I heard nothing? I could tell she was behind me and to my left. Was I supposed to pretend I couldn’t?
“Marco!” I called out.
Silence. Had I done it wrong? Seconds ticked by. Just before I was considering yelling out again, I heard it. That beautiful voice saying, “Polo.”
Was this game supposed to be hard? I knew exactly where she was. All I had to do was turn, and there she’d be.
I turned around and reached out. Nothing but water. Feeling ridiculous, I moved forward, hoping my fingers would make contact with Macy. And that had nothing to do with wanting to win this game. I couldn’t give two shits about this game.
I wanted to touch her. I was wandering around naked in what was basically an ice bath on the off chance I might get to run my hands over those curves at the end of it. Yeah, it had everything to do with touching her.
The slosh of water told me she was moving around. It also told me exactly which direction she was going. Or maybe it was just that I was so tuned in to her every movement, she couldn’t pull one over on me.
I turned and began walking in the direction of the sloshing water, arms outstretched. Did I look as goofy as I felt? Probably. And here I was, trying to impress this woman. So much for that.
Finally, I came to a stop, giving up as I heard water sloshing in a different direction. I called out, “Marco!” just to see what would happen next.
Silence. Then an extreme water slosh. Then a shriek.
My eyes popped open, and I turned toward the sound. Macy was pushing her hair back, eyes closed, but she wasn’t struggling like I’d expected.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, starting in her direction.
Her eyes popped open, then closed again as she wiped water out of them. “I went underwater. I thought it might help lower my body heat enough to make this comfortable. It didn’t work.”
“Do you want to get out?” I asked.
I was a little disappointed I wouldn’t be able to touch her as part of the game. Only now did I realize just how intense this need had gotten to touch her.
“Yeah, this probably wasn’t a good idea,” she said, her gaze flicking to the shoreline.
She started walking, using her hands as oars to move herself along faster. Even when she got to the shallower waters, she didn’t stand. She walked in a crouch.
It took me a second to realize she was being modest. She didn’t want to parade around naked in front of me.
“My eyes are closed,” I said, slamming my eyelids shut. “You can grab your clothes and get in the truck and get dressed. Let me know when you’re comfortable with me coming out.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said. “You can look.”
I opened my eyes. As if to prove her point, she’d shoved herself to her full height.
“Holy shit,” she said. “How is it possible it’s colder out of the water?”
I wasn’t sure. My body had suddenly warmed up, and I still stood in the ice bath. Her body was beautiful. The curves of her hips, the generous round ass I wanted to grab. It was all straight out of my fantasy, but even better than I’d imagined.
“God, what I wouldn’t give for a big, thick towel right now,” she said.
“Towel” was not what I thought was going to be at the end of that. It just proved that my mind was solidly in the gutter.
Shaking my head at my guy-ness, I started walking, the water reaching my thighs in seconds. She was busy scooping up her clothes, and I told myself to feast on her body while I could. Any second now, she’d be covered up again and it would all just be a memory.
She might want a towel, but I wanted a view of the front of her more than anything else. That would be left to my imagination.
By the time I reached shore, she had all her clothes in hand, but she wasn’t making a move to put them on. She stood next to the front fender of the truck, watching me as I emerged.
The chilly water probably hadn’t done my cock any favors. I didn’t dare look. I didn’t cover it up either. It was what it was. And if she wanted to see it hard again, all she had to do was lower those clothes. My body’s response would probably be immediate.
I swooped up my underwear but didn’t bother with the rest of my clothes as I continued toward her. Instead, I headed straight for the driver’s side of my car and opened the door, putting on my underwear and then getting in and starting it up so I could blast the heater. She still stood awkwardly at the front bumper, so I got out and closed my door.
“It might take a few minutes to warm up,” I said. “But it’s still a little warm in there from before if you want to climb in.”
“Should I get dressed?” she asked, looking down.
“Your body’s still wet,” I said. “It might be better if you dry off a little.”
“Okay, I’ll just stand here,” she said. “I don’t want to mess up your seats.”
“My seats can handle a little water.”
Macy looked down at her clothes again, and the move made me wonder if I was talking her into doing something that made her uncomfortable. But when she lifted her head, she wore a smile. It wasn’t just any smile, either. It was the smile of someone who was excited by the thought of what she was about to do.
Bundle of clothes and all, she climbed into the truck, closing the door behind her. That left me standing outside, wondering if I should wait to get in. It felt like I needed to give her time to get settled and comfortable.
Finally, I headed to my door and opened it, taking a deep breath before climbing in. This was either about to be the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me or the most frustrating. I couldn’t wait to see which it would be.