Page 35 of Sugar Coated Secrets

He stands several feet away, the house towering behind him. “I’m glad you like it.” His chest puffs out with pride.

“This lake looks bigger than the one with the make-out dock.”

He chuckles. “I like the sound of that. Where is this dock? I need to visit it.”

“It’s the one at the lake on your parents’ property, where you took me when we first met and tried to kiss me,” I remind him.

Daire took Everleigh there once. She said things got steamy between them, but Daire’s snotty ex, Tennessee, interrupted them before anything could happen.

Easton’s smile widens, his gleaming teeth visible from here. He looks in his element, rugged and sexy with his tousled hair. “Why do you call it that? We didn’t make out that night. Unfortunately.”

“Everleigh came up with it, and we didn’t make out because I wasn’t falling for your act.”

“How do you know it was an act?”

I roll my eyes and return my gaze to the view. A stone path weaves through the trees to the lake where a thin long dock stretches a good distance into the blue depths. I point to what looks like a small island with an outhouse.

“What is that in the middle?”

“A floating dock with a small cabin.”

“What is it for?”

Leaves crunch with his steps as he walks to stand by my side. “My grandmother always wanted a floating dock like the one at her childhood summer camp. My grandfather had this built for her. She loved to swim out there during the day and sunbathe. At night, she loved stargazing. She swore the stars were the best during the fall and winter, but it was too cold, so my grandfather had a cabin built for her. You can’t tell from here, but it has a huge skylight.”

I sigh and cup my heart. “That’s so romantic.”

His lips quirk with a crooked grin. “Yeah, I guess it was.”

We stare at the floating dock both lost in our thoughts for a moment. A cold breeze cuts through my sweater, and I draw my arms close for warmth. “You said your grandma swam out there in the fall. Wasn’t it too cold?”

“She swam out there during the summers. In the fall, she took either a canoe or a small motorboat.”

“You couldn’t get me to swim in that lake.”

Easton smiles with amusement. “Why not?”

“Alligators? That floating dock is far away. You could get eaten. Your grandma could have been eaten.”

He lets out a belly laugh and hooks his arm around my shoulders. “Sadie, I love the way your mind works.”

“There are alligators in Georgia.”

“Barely.”

“But there are. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Come on.” He tightens his grip on my shoulder. “Let me show you the house.”

I let him guide me up to the wooden deck that leads to the window-covered back of the house. “How far is this from the estate?”

We took the separate entrance Everleigh had mentioned to get here, but all I could see were trees.

“Too far to walk, but I have an off-road vehicle I can take through the woods to get there in about ten minutes. Otherwise, you have to drive to the main entrance.”

I nod and glance around. “Do you get bears around here?”

“Never seen one. Or a serial killer in case that’s your next question.”

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