Page 39 of Everything I Crave

“I can’t believe she didn’t come over! But I bet our date will be number one gossip tomorrow overcoffee. Too bad all they have is that we ate pizza together.” I laugh as Gunnar puts the truck in drive.

“Hopefully no one will have the rest of our date to gossip about, I don’t share well.” The heated look he gives me over the center console sets my body on fire.

“Oh really?” I raise one eyebrow in his direction, and drag my hand up his thigh.

He sucks in a breath when I get too close to his cock, and moves my hand back to his knee. Just like I thought. He’s still scared to touch me.

“You’re all talk, Gunnar Keaton.”

He takes a sudden turn off the road that leads to a trailhead I’ve never seen before. “We’ll see about that.”

Parking the truck off the side of the road, he heads to the truck bed leaving me in the cab. He grabs a cooler, and a bag; my curiosity is peaked about what he's doing. He returns to me, taking my hand and flipping it so my palm faces up, then he puts my flip flops in my hands.

Not what I was expecting.

“You might want to wear these, darling.” He heads back to his truck bed and shuts the tailgate before standing at the entrance of the trail waiting for me.

I lean down to undo the strap of my wedges. “You know, you could tell me what we’re doing, or where we’re going. I’ve lived here my whole life and never knew this trail existed.”

“It’s private property,” is all he offers me for explanation.

“Fine.” I toss my wedges back into the truck now that I have my flip flops on. “I’m just saying, it would have helped if you told me, you know, packing wise.”

He starts down the trail and says, “I didn’t need help, darling. Got it covered all on my own. Let’s go, it’s a short trail.”

I jog a little to catch up to him, his six foot plus frame means his one step is more like six of my steps.

I’m just about out of breath from trying to keep up when the trail opens to a clearing at the bottom of a small waterfall into a pond. My jaw drops open.

“Gunnar, this is -”

“Amazing, like me?” he offers with a twinkle in his eye.

I give him a sideways glance. “Not where I was going, but yes, this is breathtaking. How did I not know this existed?”

“The old owner of The Bar also owned this land, he wanted to expand over here somewhere before he got sick. I have the old plans in my office, but since he bought it under The Bar’s name, it was included in the sale. Maybe one day I can follow through on his plans,” he says as he walks around setting out a blanket and a dessert picnic on a nearby rock that we could use as a table.

“Gunnar, that would be perfect. This spot is perfect forsomething. I don’t know that I would ruinthe beauty of it with a big building and demolishing the surrounding forest, but it would be beautiful.”

“The plans don’t call for demolishing anything. He actually wanted to set up small tree house like cabins, closer to the ground, offering a more private, catered meal type of vibe instead of a big room with tables. Everyone would have their own private room. It’s pretty cool, but I think I would do it as a boutique hotel, not a restaurant. Since I have the experience from the inn with my family I think I could pull it off.”

I don’t know much about owning a restaurant, or running an inn, but I know something like this would take off in Nashville, either as a restaurant or inn. The tourists would eat that up here too. He'd be booked every weekend, even in the snow. Nothing is better than getting snowed in with someone you love. Add in a treehouse and you have the makings of a romance movie.

“Come on, enough business talk, we can do this any time.” He hands me the bag with what I’m assuming is my bathing suit. “We came to swim.” He smirks.

I open the bag and instead of finding a bathing suit, I find a hot pink lacey lingerie set with boy shorts and matching bra. “Oh you think you’re funny?” I ask. “You think I won’t?”

He pulls me in close to whisper in my ear. “Oh, I’m really hoping you will.”

“What happened to the shy Gunnar who moved my hand in the car?” I ask.

“He’s not driving anymore, and can have more control over himself. Go change, darling.” He winks and pulls his own shirt off by the back of his neck followed by his shorts and dives into the pond in nothing but his black boxer briefs.

I strip my clothes off slowly, excruciatingly slow, keeping eye contact with him the entire time. When I'm down to just my panties and bra, I saunter off behind a tree to put the laceybathing suiton, leaving him behind in the pond awaiting my return.

“I hope you’re coming -”

I step out from behind the tree, wearing nothing but the hot pink set. His jaw drops, and he stops talking immediately.

---