Page 28 of Chasing Paradise

At least my panties were simple black cotton and covered my whole ass. No cheeks peeking.

Reaching under the water, I made sure my boobs were securely where they were supposed to be, then made my way to shore.

The problem was that Wick didn’t have the decency to turn away, to give me at least the illusion of privacy.

Nope.

As I walked out, water cascading down my mostly bare body, his gaze was on me.

Not just glancing, either.

The man’s eyes were doing the whole up-down. Slowly.

And I swear the skin his gaze moved over warmed while goosebumps managed to pebble up on my skin.

A shiver—that somehow managed to be both cold and heated at the same time—coursed down my spine, making me take a deep breath to try to calm my system down before it got too carried away with itself.

Unfortunately, that deep breath caused, you know, heaving. And Wick’s gaze was drawn like a moth to a flame.

I couldn’t seem to force my feet to move any closer. Not with my sex aching, my heart racing, my blood heating.

It was Wick who recovered first.

“Here,” he said, digging into his backpack and coming out with… a towel?

How the hell did he fit so much stuff in that thing?

But before I could let myself really give that much thought, he was on his feet, closing the distance between us, opening the towel, and wrapping it around my back.

Then, gaze drifting down, he held both ends over one of my breasts, waiting for me to take it.

It took an embarrassingly long time to do just that, quickly tucking it to the side of my chest, then taking what felt like a necessary step back.

“Thanks. For the protein bar and the toothbrush. I hope that was mine, anyway. Because I used it.”

“I had an extra,” he said, gaze slipping away. Again, there was just that… something in his voice and demeanor that nettled at me.

“Oh, more protein bars,” I said, dropping down next to the fruit that had multiplied with Wick’s return. Though these bananas looked a lot more ripe.

“Chocolate or peanut butter?” he asked, holding one of each out to me.

“That’s a silly question,” I said, snatching the chocolate. “Should we be eating two of these in one day? We’re going to run out faster.”

“It’ll be fine.” He ripped open his bar and took a bite. While I just… watched him chew. Like some freak.

“Where’d you go?”

“To get more fruit.”

“For most of the day?”

To that, I got a shrug.

“Any idea what time it is?”

“About five.”

“Any idea what time the sun sets around here?”

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