Page 69 of The Pretender

“It wasn’t funny.” I’m so over this whole outing.

He holds his fingers up, his thumb and forefinger spaced only an inch or so apart. “It was a little funny. Admit it.”

I’m not going to admit it.

“You’re going to hell,” I tell him.

He grabs my chin and leans in close. “I’ll save you the spot next to me.”

And then he kisses me.

Whether it’s for the camera still rolling in the boat or because he wants to, I’ll never know, but, just in case, I channel all the fear and frustration into this one kiss.

I bite his lip, and he growls, yanking me to his bare chest. “You drive me mad,” he growls out between nips, as I leave a trail of marks from my grip on his shoulders.

“Ditto.”

Our mouths are vessels of hate as we devour each other’s faces in the middle of the lake. Boaters pass us and several honk their horns, but no one stops and asks if we’re okay. The only thing to finally tear us apart is when I feel something brush against my leg.

“Ahh!”

I climb onto Sebastian, and he immediately wraps his arms around me. “What? Did something bite you?”

Here’s the thing. For the most part, I am rough and tough. I don’t need a man to kill a bug or take my trash out. It’s nice for them to do it, but I’m not for having to sleep with them to get such perks, but snakes… those bastards are on a whole other level.

“Something touched my leg.” Even I cringe when I say it.

Sebastian grins.

“Shut up,” I tell him, though he hasn’t said a word yet. “I know it sounds stupid, but I’m deathly afraid of snakes, and growing up, I’ve seen several water moccasins in these waters.”

For a second, I think Sebastian looks concerned, but then he tosses me off him. I go under the water and pop up quickly and see him swimming for the boat. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I shout, but I keep swimming, eyeing the water around me. “Are you really racing me to the boat?”

“Who says I’m not scared of snakes too?” The bastard says between laughs.

“You’re unbelievable. I cannot believe I was going to rescue you. Next time I will let your ass drown.”

Suddenly I’m met with a solid wall of asshole. When did he stop swimming? “I call bullshit,” he says, his voice hard with a hint of something else.

“Get out of my way.” I try to shove him, but he catches my arm and pulls it over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

Heaven help me, he is putting me on his back.

“I’m making sure the big, bad snakes don’t get you.”

He needs to drown or at least experience a few minutes of waterboarding.

“Oh, wow,” I say with heavy sarcasm. “My hero.”

“Damn right,” he says, just as he grasps the ladder and hoists both me and him up and out of the water.

I’d like to say I’m not impressed with his show of manliness and delicious arm muscles, but I can’t. My damn vagina tingles. The demon has charmed me yet again.

* * *

“I’m impressed,”I say, taking a bite of my burger. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”

Sebastian gives me a bored look. “It doesn’t take a genius to grill.”

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