Page 86 of My Heart To Heal

I feel his eyes on me as he tries to catch up but not overtake my thoughts.

‘Um, it’s chilly but kind of nice with the sun working this hard.’

‘Hmm.’ Putting down my plate, I stand, then head inside and grab a couple of towels. Heading back out, I don’t overthink it as I make my way to the water’s edge, put down the towels, and unbutton my jean shorts.

‘Miss, what are you doing?’

Nick catches up to me, and I smile at his bewilderment.

‘I feel like a swim.’

‘But, I um…’

‘You what, Nick?’ I grin and shimmy my shorts down over my hips and ass until they drop to my ankles, and I step out of them. Nick’s attention follows them — his attention fixing on my legs.

‘Missy…’

‘You comin’?’

I don’t take off my tank.Instead, I reach underneath it to remove my bra.

‘You’re killing me here, Miss.’

Laughing as I drop my bra to my shorts on the ground, I back away toward the water as Nick groans and pulls off his shirt, then drops his shorts and follows me in just his boxers. Goddam, the man is a god.

‘Oh my,fuck,’ I gasp as we get toe-deep in the water. ‘You said chilly.’

‘It is chilly.’ He laughs.

‘Nick, that’s not…No, no,’ my protests turn to squeals as he scoops me up into his arms and walks into the water, laughter spilling freely from him between his gasps as the cold water makes its way up his legs. ‘Nicholas Barber, don’t you dare.’ As much as I don’t want to be thrown into the cold water, I also can’t help laughing along with him. ‘Nick, no!’ I shriek as he launches me into the lake, and for a moment, everything stops.

Bubbles rush past my body, and the cold steals my breath away, but it feels good. It’s like I’m washing it all away, ready to start over, start fresh.

As I surface, pushing back my hair and steadying myself on my feet, I see the concerned look in his eyes — he doesn’t know if I’m going to be mad at him or not.

‘You’re going down, Barber. You know that?’

I use both hands to send a wave of water his way as he dives and starts to swim away, and I chase, both of us laughing. He stops, turning to face me, and I swim close to him.

‘Can you still put your feet down?’ I ask, and he nods yes. I can’t, so I tread water in front of him until his hands come to my waist, and he steadies me, holding me up.

‘Miss, I…’

‘I’m okay, Nick,’ I assure and his eyebrows lower. ‘I am. This is the most okay I’ve ever been, honestly.’

‘But so much…’

‘Sweetie, I thought we might kiss out here, maybe get a little handsy. I want to have this conversation with you, but if we’re just going to talk right now, can we get out? I’m freezing.’

He smiles, then nods, yes and releases me. We swim back to the shore, and he holds my hand as we get out of the water. Then he wraps me up in a towel and rubs my arms to warm me up.

‘Let’s go inside. You should take a shower to warm up.’

He keeps hold of my hand as we walk into the cabin, then into the bathroom, and he turns on the shower.

‘You know, theremay not be enough hot water for two separate showers,’ I say playfully, and he smiles but shakes his head and backs away a little.

‘We need to talk first, Miss.’

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