Page 35 of Over the Moon

“You want to take a picture?” I teased. “It’ll last longer.”

She blinked a few times before putting her hands on her hips and tipping her chin up. “I was processing. I thought we were heading inside to the gym.”

“I think we should take a quick dip and cool off before we start our workout. And that didn’t look like processing, Weeze. That looked like fantasizing to me.” I laughed because her cheeks flushed pink, and it was cute as hell.

“In your dreams, Hotshot. I’ve seen a million chiseled abs.” She reached for the hem of her tank and tossed it on the ground before kicking off her running shoes.

“So my abs aren’t anything special, huh?” I asked as she stormed past me, heading for the water.

“Nothing I haven’t seen many times before,” she called out over her shoulder, her long ponytail swooshing back and forth. Her running shorts hugged her perfectly peach-shaped ass, and my mouth watered at the sight.

She dove off the deck, and I followed her as I cannonballed into the water.

“Damn you, Clark Chadwick!” she shouted, as she bounced around from the waves I made. “Can’t you just jump in like a normal person?”

I swam toward her, pushing the hair out of my face. “I’ve never been normal.”

“That’s the first thing you’ve said that I agree with this morning,” she chuckled.

“Such a smartass,” I said, moving closer.

Our knees bumped one another, her chest knocking into mine as she trod water to keep herself in place, whereas my feet easily found the bottom of the river.

“Well, it’s not like it’s the first time I’ve seen your abs. You find reasons every day to strip down.” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

“Maybe I like stripping down in front of you,” I said, my hand brushing against hers beneath the cool water.

“Please. You like stripping down in front of anyone.” She pushed her hair away from her face as the sun shone down, causing pops of golden honey to dance in her dark gaze.

“Not true. I particularly like stripping down in front of you.” My voice was gruff now because being this close to the woman was getting to me.

Day after day.

Hour after hour.

We were always together, and I was struggling with it.

“Is that so?”

“That is so,” I said.

“And why is that?” She sighed as if she were preparing for a bullshit answer.

“Because I like seeing your cheeks flush. I like seeing the way your lips part when you’re watching me. I like knowing you’re as attracted to me as I am to you. I felt it that day out on the ice. The way your heart pounded in your chest.” I’ve wanted to say it for a while now, but I knew she’d freak out.

At least out here in the water, she couldn’t run away quite as quickly.

Her tongue swiped out across her bottom lip, and she looked away. “You can’t talk to me like that, Clark.”

“Am I wrong? Are you telling me you aren’t attracted to me?”

She turned to look at me. Her gaze locked with mine. “I’m telling you that it doesn’t matter. It’s a no-go zone.”

“Oh, you’ve named it, huh? I bet you wrote it in your notebook, too.” My pinky finger wrapped around hers beneath the water.

“Clark,” she whispered, her chest moving up and down quickly now.

“Eloise,” I mimicked.

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