Page 44 of Kind of a Bad Idea

“Yes, I was. I was being mindful of your wowies, I promise.” I pull her fully against me, molding my hands to her ass as I pin her hips to mine. “I wasn’t laughing about that. I was laughing because that’s the same thing Sprout said when I brought her here. She spent about five seconds taking in the view, then wanted to hike down and look for salamanders.”

Binx smiles. “Did you find any?”

“No. It was too late in the year, and it gets a lot colder down there in the gorge. I told her that, but she wouldn’t listen.” I sigh, the thought of my headstrong daughter taking a hint of the shine off the afternoon. “She’s really good at that. Always has been, even before the accident.”

Binx brushes a few loose hairs back into my ponytail. “Well, she comes by it honestly, Stubborn Human.”

I fight the urge to lean into the hand she presses to my face and lose the battle. “She’s going to be pissed.”

I don’t have to say what she’ll be pissed about.

We both know.

“Let’s go,” Binx whispers after a beat. “It’s been too long since I’ve felt waterfall spray on my face.”

We hike down the right side of the gorge, sticking to the sunlit side of the path, and in just a few minutes, Binx’s wish is granted.

“Smell that,” she says, lifting her nose into the air as she closes her eyes. “It smells like the world is brand new again. God, I love fall. I know it’s supposed to signal the end of things, but it always feels like a beginning to me.”

I watch her basking in the sun, with rainbows forming around her from the waterfall mist, and for the first time in a long time, wish I had my phone. I’m old enough to remember what freedom felt like pre-internet age, and resent the shit out of my cell most of the time, but I would pay a pretty penny for an easily portable camera right now. I want to capture her just like this, beautiful and unguarded in her enjoyment of this simple moment.

Instead, I settle for imprinting it into my brain. I do my best to memorize every dip and curve of her face, from the elegant swoop of her full lips to the half-moons of her closed eyes.

When she opens them, I keep staring, getting lost in the flawless blue.

She smiles, a shy smile that isn’t like her, but that I instantly love nearly as much as I love her big, bold grin. “You look really pretty right now.”

My lips curve. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

She laughs. “We should start a mutual admiration society. Or, better yet, a sketch club. I’m supposed to be teaching you to draw, remember? We haven’t had a lesson in weeks.”

The words remind me of the dozens of sketches of her lips in my sketch book. I’ll have to hide that away when I get home. Looking at Binx’s mouth is going to be painful for a while.

Probably a damn long while.

“We can do some sketching tonight,” I say, starting back down the trail, putting the sad thought aside. “I don’t have pencils or pastels, but I have plenty of ballpoint pens and blank paper. You could teach me how to draw bowls and plates or something after dinner.”

“And I’ll make you pose nude for me while you practice,” she says, making me snort as I toss a glance over my shoulder.

“Only if you do the same,” I say, loving—and hating—the idea of drawing her naked. That’s a sketch that would come back to haunt me later, no doubt in my mind.

“I absolutely will,” she says as we reach the bottom of the waterfall and step onto the cool stones in the shade beneath it. “I’m not afraid of a little nudity.”

She proves it by stripping off her shirt and reaching for the top of her leggings.

I arch a brow. “You aren’t getting in the water.”

She grins. “Yes, I am. Life’s too short not to skinny dip in every waterfall possible.”

“You’ll freeze your ass off,” I warn her.

She shrugs as she steps out of her leggings and underwear, kicking them off and leaving them on the rocks. Her bra is the last to go. She tosses it onto the pile as she turns to sway toward the pool beneath the falls, calling out, “Oh well, guess we’ll just have to hope for the best. Maybe you can fish my ass out of the water and reattach it at the cabin later, chicken.”

I laugh. “You’re not going to shame me into getting into that water. No way in hell.”

Her lips push into a pout as she cups her breasts in her hands. “No? What if I offer your cock a cozy place to hang out while you get used to the chill?” She presses them together, making my mouth go dry. “You could fist your hand in my hair while you fuck my breasts. That seems like a decent way to stay warm to me.”

I curse and she smiles.

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