Chapter 15
I PARKED THE TRUCK IN front of Charlotte’s and was halfway to her front door before she came running out to meet me.
I loved that she was watching for me, and I loved even more the way she stretched up on her toes to kiss me.
I hugged her tight, soaking in the feel of having her in my arms for a moment before reluctantly letting go.
When I texted to set things up, I’d told her to wear something casual that she didn’t mind getting dirty.
I hadn’t expected her to show up in jeans worn so soft, I had to work to keep from running my hands over her delicious ass at inappropriate times, which unfortunately for me was going to be most of the afternoon.
In a play to stretch out our cooking time as long as I could, I’d decided this week we were making crawfish, starting with catching them.
“Nice truck,” she said, heading for the passenger side.
“Funny.” I’d borrowed the pickup from a friend. It had definitely seen better days, but I didn’t want to make the drive out to Jackson’s in my car.
“No, I mean it. I wasn’t teasing.” She grinned at me over her shoulder in a way that clearly said she was.
“The first step is awfully high for you. Let me help you.” Because two people could play that game. I gripped her waist to give her a boost, giving in to the urge to run my palm over the soft swell of her ass and finishing with a quick swat. Which might be the last thing I did before I died.
“Do I need to go over the terms of our contract with you?” She slid into the passenger seat and hit me with a smile that tugged at something deep inside me.
If she minded the way we’d blurred the lines, her expression didn’t show it, and the kiss she’d greeted me with said the opposite.
“No, counselor. That won’t be necessary.” I hurried around the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Charlotte leaned back in her seat and made go on movements with her hand, apparently content to let me run things for the moment.
I had no doubt that would change the moment she decided, but for now, she watched out the window as I drove us outside the city.
My friend Jackson had been more than happy to agree to take us out on his jon boat to check the crawfish traps.
I’d keep my hands to myself on the boat—mostly—which meant the ride out was fair game.
I reached across the console, linking our fingers together before bringing her hand to my lips so I could brush a kiss across her knuckles.
Her grip tightened reflexively, but she smiled instead of lecturing, and I relaxed.
“If I ask you where we’re going, will you tell me?” She mimicked my movement, bringing our still joined hands to her mouth and twisting them so she could press her lips to my palm.
Heat that had nothing to do with the temperature outside shot straight to my groin. Jesus, even a simple touch from this woman threatened to do me in. I loved that I wasn’t the only one pushing boundaries this time. If we both pushed, maybe that meant we could ignore them altogether.
“We’re going to catch crawfish.”
“Really?”
It was the closest thing to a squeal I’d ever heard Charlotte make, and I couldn’t hold back my smile if I tried.
When she let go, she was pure joy. I’d happily make it my new goal to make sure she let go as often as possible
“Really. My friend’s agreed to take us out on his boat for the afternoon and send us home with enough crawfish for our dinner.”
“I haven’t been on a boat since I was in middle school. My dad used to take my sister and me out on his buddy’s boat sometimes on the weekends to get us out of our momma’s hair. I loved it, but I’ve never caught crawfish.”
I’d been a little concerned that Charlotte might balk at the swamp mud or crawfish or even the waders I had in the trunk. I was so happy none of that appeared to be the case. There were still the snakes to contend with, but I had a big enough problem with them for the both of us.
“I’m glad, cher.” I would have liked to be the first person to show her this but with a woman as curious as Charlotte, those opportunities were going to be few and far between. And there was something special about a shared experience, even if it wasn’t a new one.
I pulled the truck down a dirt road that was more mud than road, grateful I’d left my car at home.
Charlotte got off on competence. Bottoming out and getting stuck wouldn’t inspire it.
Despite how hard I tried to keep things smooth, the bumps and divots in the road jostled us around, and Charlotte ended up braced on the opposite side of the cab.
It ran counter to my goal of keeping her close, but when I stole a quick glance at her, she was grinning, clearly having fun.
It was impossible for me to wish for anything else.
A green flat-bottomed boat was tied to what could only generously be called a boat launch but wasn’t much more than a ramp with a bent wooden pier that looked like it had seen one too many hurricanes.
Charlotte seemed completely unfazed by the state of things as I parked beside Jackson’s truck.
She unbuckled eagerly and was out of the truck and looking around before I had a chance to get around to her door.
I grabbed the waders from the truck bed and followed her to the boat.
My friend’s expression lit up when he saw her approach, her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a Stevie Nicks is my Fairy Godmother T-shirt and those jeans that made it hard for me to think.
I could tell from ten feet away what was going through his head, and I didn’t like it.
I should’ve hired someone to take us out.
A much older fisherman. Maybe a toothless one who’d been married for fifty years or so.
Not Jackson, who I knew would not only give me grief about Charlotte the second he realized how I felt about her but who would also flirt like it was an Olympic sport.
I picked up my pace to reach Charlotte and slipped a proprietary arm around her waist—which might make me a caveman, but fuck it, I wasn’t taking chances.
At my touch, she turned her face to me, hitting me with a smile that almost knocked me back a step.
She was beautiful under normal circumstances, but get her mind engaged and something magic happened.
I didn’t stand a chance. I was man enough to admit I was falling for her. I just wasn’t sure what to do about it.
“Hey, man,” Jackson called from beside the boat. “You made it.” He reached out to clap me on the shoulder before shifting his focus to Charlotte. “You must be Charlotte. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He took her hand, and I wrestled with the urge to clench my fist.
I wasn’t a jealous person. It wasn’t in my nature.
I hadn’t had many monogamous relationships over the years, but the few I’d had, had clear boundaries.
If I was with someone, I was honest with them, and I trusted them to be honest with me.
The irony of that thought and the fact that Charlotte still assumed I was a bartender wasn’t lost on me.
It was something I needed to deal with sooner rather than later if we were going to have any chance at building something together.
The thought of losing her tightened something in my chest. Definitely sooner.
“You, too. Thanks for taking us out. I haven’t been on a boat since I was a girl, and I’m excited.”
“Excited women are one of my favorite things.” He deadpanned as if the double entendre wasn’t just lying there.
I wondered if I could handle the boat by myself. Probably, but I didn’t know where he’d set up the traps. Still, it would be damn near impossible for him to flirt if we were on the water and he was stuck on dry land.
Charlotte rolled her eyes but smiled, taking the good-natured banter much better than I was.
“Is a pair of those for me?” She motioned to the waders I had tucked under my arm.
“Absolutely, cher.”
She stretched on her toes, pressed a kiss to my cheek, and whispered thanks in my ear in a way that made my thoughts momentarily derail.
It felt like she was thanking me for more than just the boots.
She snagged the smaller pair from my hand, turned them upside down, and gave them a quick shake before toeing off her sneakers and shimmying into the boots in a way that made me wish I’d brought the over the hip kind.
It took me a moment to step into my own pair and help Jackson untie.
He got into the boat, turning to take Charlotte’s hand to help her climb aboard.
Guiding her toward a spot near where we’d dump the crawfish but away from the bait bucket, he left me to scramble up on my own as the boat started slipping away.
I might need to rethink my choice in friends.
––––––––
I GLANCED BACK in time to see Ford climb onto the boat as we started to inch forward.
At a certain point, we probably needed to stop pretending these ingredient procurement trips had much to do with cooking lessons, but not today.
Today I was so happy to be on a boat again.
It brought back memories of times with my dad, when nothing mattered but the briny smell of the water and baking ourselves in the sun while we devoured mushed-together PB&Js washed down with Thermoses of sweet tea.
Jackson backed the boat out into the narrow channel of water between the thick marsh grasses, and the muddy swamp smell gave way to something clearer as we started to move.
I felt Ford come up behind me, carefully positioning himself on the seat next to me without rocking the boat.
I was grateful to be able to lean into him as the wind picked up.
It would be warm the second we slowed down again, but my T-shirt wasn’t quite enough when the boat was really moving.
Either that, or I welcomed the excuse to snuggle closer to Ford, which was another thing I wasn’t looking at today.