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“Really? Where? We just fixed that thing,” he said.

“Come on, I’ll show you,” I said, already walking away so he’d be forced to follow. Zach trailed along beside me and when we reached the dock, he began searching the platform for any loose planks.

“Are you sure? I don’t see any boards that look loose,” he said, his face scrunching up adorably as he continued to look. I almost felt bad for what I was about to do, but then I thought about how good it would feel instead.

“Oh, my bad. It’s not on the dock, it’s in the water,” I told him.

“What?” he asked. He turned around to face me and I barely had enough time to register the confused look he was giving me before I was rushing forward and grabbing him around the waist, hurtling us both off the side of the dock and into the water. We broke the surface at the same time and I laughed at the shocked expression on Zach’s face.

“What the hell was that?” he sputtered, making me laugh even harder.

“It’s really hot out and I thought you’d want to cool off. If you think about it, you should be thanking me,” I explained, trying to sound innocent, but failing miserably.

“Oh! You’re exactly right. I really should thank you,” he said.

My lips quirked up at the mischievous glint in his eyes and relief rushed through me that he wasn’t angry. Zach dove under the surface of the water and I took off in the opposite direction, trying to get away. A few seconds later, I felt his hand clasp around my ankle and I let out a startled shout as he yanked me under.

He was laughing hard by the time I reached the surface again and I stared at him as I caught my breath, completely enthralled by the sound of his laughter and the sparkle in his blue eyes. His wet hair was pulled back away from his face, exposing the jagged scar that ran along the side of his right eye, pulling the tender skin down at the corner.

I swallowed hard as a mixture of emotions swirled through me all at once. Sadness for the pain he’d experienced, anger towards whoever had dared to touch him and awe at the strength and determination I know it must’ve taken to survive such a vicious attack. Of course, I was going with the assumption that he was in fact Zane. For all I knew, he could’ve received that scar from a car accident, but either way, I thought he was amazing and beautiful.

A sliver of guilt pierced through me. I was there to do a job. Micah was counting on me to do that job, but instead, I was playing around with Zach and getting to know him. I’d convinced Micah and my friends that I needed to get close to him in order to find out if he was Zane, but somewhere along the way, my reasons for getting close to him had changed.

I wasn’t exactly sure what my feelings towards Zach were yet. I knew I liked him…a lot. I liked being around him and talking with him and of course, I was extremely attracted to him. He hadn’t told me much about himself and I had a million questions I wanted to ask him. Most of which had very little to do with uncovering his identity. I wanted to know what his favorite foods were and if there were any that he hated. I wanted to know what movies he liked and if he loved to read like I did. I wanted to know what made him laugh and when the last time he cried was. I wanted to know everything.

“Oh, God! I’m so fucked,” I mumbled under my breath.

I did really like Zach and could tell that my feelings for him were beginning to go beyond that of a friend. I knew I shouldn’t allow that to continue; that I should fight it with everything I had because I had a job to do and orders to follow. But for the first time in my life, it seemed like there might be something more important than following orders and that terrified me.

There was a certain sense of security in doing what you’re told. It takes away any of the guesswork and leaves no room for doubts, because it’s someone else’s decision you’re upholding. I’d done it for years in the military and I’d done it for Micah since I began working for him. I’d always looked to my leaders for answers and I trusted their decisions. I still trusted Micah, wholeheartedly, but there was a part of me that was starting to feel like Zach was worth breaking all the rules for.

We spent the next half hour splashing and chasing each other around the lake until we were exhausted. Finally, we swam to the dock and pulled ourselves out, collapsing onto our backs, and lying side by side. I closed one eye against the gleaming sun and turned to face him. His eyes were closed, and a serene smile was on his lips. What I wouldn’t give to be able to lean over him and trace his lips with my tongue.

We lay that way for a while, soaking up the sun’s rays and letting it dry our clothes. The sounds of the water lapping against the sides of the dock lulled me into a peaceful state and I could feel myself drifting off. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before I felt a hand shaking my shoulder.

“Jeremy, you need to get out of the sun. You’re starting to burn.” I looked up, blinking against the bright sun and saw Zach kneeling beside me, a look of concern on his face.

“How long have I been out?” I asked with a yawn. I sat up, shaking my head in order to clear the sleepiness from my mind.

“Only about thirty minutes, but your skin is starting to turn pink. Let’s go home and get some sleep before we have to work tonight,” he suggested.

He stood up and then reached down, offering me a hand. I stared at his hand as I slipped mine into it. I immediately felt a tingle that traveled up my arm and my eyes shot to his, wondering if he’d felt it too. His hair hung over his face in a haphazard mess, but I could see his eyes peeking out from behind that curtain and the look I saw there said it all.

His eyes were wide and full of wonder and dare I say it? Excitement. He pulled me to a standing position and swallowed hard as I stared down at him. We were standing very close, our chests nearly brushing against each other and I could see the long dark lashes that framed his eyes and brushed against his cheeks whenever he blinked. My eyes lowered to his lips and they parted on a quick gasp. Zach dropped my hand as if he’d been burned and spun away from me.

“I’m going to get some shut eye. I’ll meet you back at the bait shop around nine,” he called out over his shoulder, not stopping to wait for my response.

I stood there as he climbed the hill and disappeared around the side of the shop. A few moments later, I heard the sound of his truck as he started it up. By the time I made it to the top of the hill, he had driven halfway around the lake. There was only one reason why he’d taken off like a bat out of hell. Zach had felt the same thing I was feeling, and he was scared. I smiled the entire way back to my cabin.

It was difficult to sleep after that, but somehow, I managed. My dreams were filled with images of Zach’s golden skin, firm muscles and tantalizing mouth. I woke up with a raging hard-on and had to jerk off in the shower, so I’d be able to make it through hours of working with him without suffering a terrible case of blue balls.

The last of the sun was just beginning to fade and the sky was streaked in beautiful purples and pinks as the stars began to peek out. The temperature had cooled off to a pleasant seventy-five degrees and I decided to walk instead of drive around the lake to the bait shop.

As I walked, my mind wandered to my friends back home. I felt guilty that I hadn’t given them or my assignment much thought over the past few days. Micah had been extremely patient, but I knew eventually he was going to want some real answers. He deserved real answers. After all, he had hired me to do a job. He was the reason I was there in the first place and I had a loyalty to him. But at some point, the line between my loyalties had begun to blur and I wasn’t sure who I was really there for anymore; Micah or Zach.

I didn’t see Zach’s truck as I walked up to the door, but he was behind the counter when I walked in. He looked at me nervously and I smiled at him. “I guess you decided to walk too?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s really nice out and I wanted to take advantage of it.” He smiled back at me and I saw his shoulders relax.

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