Page 48 of Sugar Coated Lies
“Do it.” She points at my shoes. “We’re going to dunk our feet in the water and stargaze.”
“I don’t—”
“Come on. I used to stargaze like this as a child. Mostly from my roof, but as teens, Sadie and I sometimes did it at the lake by her house.”
I don’t move. “I’m not a dunk-my-feet-in-the-water kind of person.”
“Are you scared?” Her lips form a mocking frown.
Wow. She’s even sexier when she teases me. I can’t keep up. The real her keeps slipping through and I like it far more than I should.
“I’m not scared.” I hold her cobalt gaze, which seems to reflect the stars at this moment. Wisps of hair flutter across her face.
I brush them away a second before she reaches up to do it herself.
Her cheeks turn pink as she lowers her gaze and then her body to sit at the edge of the dock. “Come on.” She pats the ground next to her.
Fuck it.I remove my shoes and socks and roll up the hem of my pants a few times. When I sit, I put a few feet between us, so I’m not tempted to roll over and kiss her. I can’t deny that if she weren’t an employee, it would be my goal.
We dunk our feet into the cool water. Come mid-July, this lake will be hot enough to bathe in, but tonight, like so many other things, it feels just right.
“See?” she says, practically glowing. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Oh, there is plenty to fear. My attraction to her, my growing need to protect and defend her, my desire to taste those lips and that sweet liquor flavored tongue.
She lowers onto her back and lifts her black hair, fanning it above her head, making her look like a dark angel in the moonlight. So beautiful and kind. “The stars are even prettier from this view.”
I’m not sure there is a prettier view than her in the world. Still, I recline on to the deck.
“What did you wish for when you were a kid?” she asks, her gaze on the night sky.
“An older brother.”
“That was a quick reply. And a strange one.”
“If I had an older brother, the weight of the family legacy would fall on his shoulders and not mine. I could be as carefree as Easton.”
She dissects my profile for a moment, her features pinched, then says, “No.”
“No?”
“That doesn’t suit you. You like to take care of people. And you’re a natural at interacting and making them feel at ease. You belong at the head of the table, family, and business.”
“Hmm.” She has a point.
“You’re a good guy.” Her gaze sweeps down my body, then back up and over my features. “You’re incredibly handsome, too,” she murmurs, then stiffens, her eyes suddenly wide. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Yep.” I can’t stop a grin from forming as my ego rockets to the moon.Fuck. I want her.Right here. Right now.I want to bury myself between her legs and make her cry my name.
We stare at each other for a long while, my smile fading as desire courses between us like electrical currents. Her breathing grows deeper, heavier. Her gaze drops to my mouth, and her lips part, her tongue darting out to lick the bottom one.
My cock twitches, and I grip the edge of the dock to keep my hands to myself.Wrong. Employee.She could be influenced by the Pappy Van Winkle I gave her at the fire pit and not thinking clearly. The 90.4 proof bourbon hits hard.
Neither of us makes a move, even though her gaze keeps eating me up and every cell in my body screams to touch her.
I’d kill to know her thoughts. Is she struggling as much as I am—burning as much?
Her pert breasts rise and fall with her deep breaths, making me want to expose them and taste her beaded nipples and sweet skin. I’m hard in an instant.
