Chapter Thirteen
Brady
I stood outside the pop-up changing tent on the lawn, already in the gifted swim trunks Sarah had handed me, trying not to look like a teenager waiting for his prom date to appear at the top of the stairs.
The tent flap rustled. Elise stepped out.
Holy hell.
She’d gone in wearing that sophisticated silk shirt and linen slacks like she was heading to a board meeting.
She came out in a simple navy one-piece that was supposed to be modest. On her, it wasn’t.
The suit hugged every curve like it had been waiting for her specifically.
Her dark hair was pulled back, a few strands already escaping, and the sun caught the faint flush on her cheeks.
She looked powerful and unsure at the same time, and the combination hit me square in the chest.
I swallowed hard.
Down boy. Think about Roy’s greasy overalls. Mabel’s coffee. Mrs. Donnelly’s Scat face when she’s about to knock.
It helped. Barely.
“You look . . .” I cleared my throat.
She tugged at the strap on her shoulder, clearly self-conscious. “It’s tighter than I expected.”
“No, it’s perfect,” I said before I could stop myself.
Her eyes flicked up to mine. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile instead of the hungry one I was feeling.
Grandma Laura appeared out of nowhere, moving faster than any woman in her seventies had a right to. She thrust an aerosol can of sunscreen at Elise. “Here, honey. You’ll burn in two minutes with that fair skin.”
Elise took the can and turned it over, reading the label like it held state secrets. “Studies have shown that the rub-on type, especially the ones with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, provide better broad-spectrum protection and last longer in water.”
All I could imagine now was her rubbing a lotion, any lotion, all over me. I made a choked sound. “The spray’s fine, Elise.”
She glanced at me, one eyebrow raised, but there was a spark of amusement in her eyes. Did she know what she was doing to me? She lifted the can and started spraying her arms. I watched the fine mist settle on her skin and forced myself to look away because the trunks were definitely getting snug.
She offered to spray me down. I raised my arms and slowly turned before her.
Although there was nothing innately sexy about what we were doing, that’s not how it felt.
It felt a little wrong to be so turned on in front of Grandma Laura who was patiently waiting for us to hand the sunblock back, but I reassured myself that she’d once been young .
. . and hopefully she didn’t achieve grandmother status without feeling a bit of this along the way.
“Ready?” I asked Elise, offering her a hand.
She hesitated, then placed hers in mine and we headed down to the water. Two jet skis bobbed at the small dock.
“One or two,” I asked. Both options held appeal to me.
She took a moment before answering. “I’ve never driven one.”
“It’s easy enough to learn. Or I can take you out first, show you how it feels, then you can take control. Your choice.”
“My choice,” she said quietly.
“Yes.” I held her gaze. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
Something flickered in her eyes at that. Relief? Surprise? She nodded once. “You drive first.”
Tom Steele walked over and handed us life jackets. “Mandatory fashion accessory.”
We thanked him and slipped them on. I caught Elise watching him walk away.
“Dads,” I joked lightly.
“Yeah,” she said, softer than before. Then she straightened. Back to composed.
I climbed onto the jet ski and steadied it with my weight. The dock rocked gently against the hull. I held out my hand.
She took it.
Cool fingers. Firm grip.
She swung a leg over and settled behind me. The ski dipped under our combined weight. Her arms came around my waist. No hesitation. Not loose. She locked in.
I smiled to myself.
No shaking this one off.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I eased us away from the dock. The engine rumbled beneath us, low and controlled. The water near shore was calm, glassy, reflecting sky and pine trees in perfect symmetry.
Then I gave it throttle.
The nose lifted. The engine roared alive. The lake split beneath us in white spray.
Elise’s arms tightened instantly around my middle. Her thighs bracketed mine, and when we hit the first small ripple her breath caught against my shoulder.
Lake Tahoe water was glacier cold year-round. Every burst of spray that hit my arms felt like ice against overheated skin. I wondered if she felt the same shock against her legs.
I leaned into the first turn carefully, keeping it smooth.
“Faster,” she said into my ear.
I grinned. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
I squeezed the throttle.
The ski surged. The shoreline blurred. Wind ripped past us. The engine vibrated through my thighs and into my core.
We hit a wake from a distant boat. The ski launched enough to float for a split second then slapped back down hard.
Elise laughed.
A little wildly.
I hoped happily.
“Like that?” I called back.
“More!”
I opened it up fully.
The engine screamed. The nose lifted higher this time as we skimmed across the surface, skipping lightly before catching again. Water exploded in rooster tails on both sides.
Elise moved with me instinctively as I leaned into a sharper turn. The G-force pulled at us. Her body molded to mine instead of fighting it. Her nails dug briefly into my stomach through the life jacket as we carved hard.
“Hang on,” I warned.
“I am!”
We cut across the lake in wide arcs, the mountains rising blue and snow-tipped in the distance. Sunlight shattered across the water in blinding flashes. For a moment the world was nothing but speed and light and her pressed against me.
We hit a larger wake unexpectedly.
The ski fishtailed hard.
For one split second the back end kicked sideways, the hull slapping water at an angle. Instinct took over. I held on to her arm, securing her to me.
The ski caught.
Straightened.
We were upright again.
Elise burst out laughing.
“You almost killed us!”
“But I didn’t.”
Her forehead dropped briefly against my shoulder as she laughed harder.
I throttled down slowly, letting the engine hum instead of roar. My heart was pounding.
“Your turn?” I asked.
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
We switched places carefully, the ski rocking under us. When I settled behind her this time, everything shifted.
Her back pressed against my chest.
Her hair brushed my jaw.
I rested my hands at her waist.
She fit against me perfectly.
“Throttle’s there,” I said close to her ear. “Don’t chop it in a turn or it won’t steer. Lean with it. I’ve got you.”
She nodded once.
Then she hit the throttle like she had something to prove.
We shot forward.
No easing in. No caution ramp.
The ski jumped, nose high, engine screaming. I tightened my grip on her waist, laughing into her shoulder.
“Okay. Okay. Easy.”
She carved left aggressively.
Too aggressively.
The ski heeled over hard. Water blasted up in a freezing wall that soaked us both. For a heartbeat the horizon tilted dangerously.
I leaned with her, my body fully aligned with hers, guiding just enough pressure at her hip.
“More throttle. Don’t let off!”
She didn’t.
The ski corrected.
We shot out of the turn like a slingshot.
She glanced back at me with a huge grin.
“You’re insane,” I said.
“You said lean!”
“Not like you’re trying to escape federal prosecution!”
She laughed, bright and breathless, and gunned it again.
We launched over another wake.
For a split second we were airborne.
Weightless.
Then the hull slammed back down with a jolt that rattled my teeth and pressed her hard into me. Her hips shifted between my thighs as she fought the handlebars, correcting aggressively.
She drove like someone discovering freedom in real time.
Like someone who had been holding tension for years and suddenly found an outlet for it.
The cold spray kept hitting us, shocking against overheated skin. The altitude made the air thinner. Every breath felt crisper. Cleaner.
We tore across the lake fast and reckless enough to feel alive but controlled enough to stay safe. Whenever she faltered, I steadied us at her waist for a heartbeat before letting her take the lead again, watching her grow bolder with every pass across the water.
After one especially wild S-turn that nearly tossed us both, she finally throttled down. The engine settled into a low idle.
We floated there, breathing hard.
The mountains stood quiet around us. The party noise was faint on shore. The water lapped gently against the hull as if nothing dramatic had just happened.
I leaned forward, still wrapped around her.
“That’s probably all the jet skiing I can handle for one day.” My voice came out rough.
She turned her head slightly. Her lashes were clumped with water. Her cheeks flushed deep from adrenaline. There was something glowing under her skin that hadn’t been there before.
“Already?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I exhaled slowly. “Any more and I might embarrass myself.”
She held my gaze.
This close, I could feel the heat radiating off her despite the cold water. Her breathing was still uneven. Mine wasn’t much better.
She laughed softly. Not wild now. Not reckless.
Warm.
Real.
We floated like that for a moment longer than necessary.
I brushed a wet strand of hair from her cheek. My thumb lingered against her skin.
She didn’t move away.
The lake was impossibly blue around us. The view was amazing. Snow still clung to distant peaks.
But all I could focus on was her.