Page 20 of If You Come Back To Me (If You Come Back To Me 1)

His body buzzed with a sexual tension that was getting increasingly difficult to ignore. He’d told Mari he’d go slowly with her, and he’d do his best to stand by his word. He was a man, not a saint, though. And Mari tempted him like he couldn’t recall ever being tempted.

He kept her hand in his once she’d steadied herself. They picked their way down the steep, overgrown path. Several large locust, elm and oak trees blocked the view of the lagoon when they reached the bottom of the surrounding dunes. When they broke away from the cover of the trees, he heard Mari gasp in pleasure.

&n

bsp; “Oh, it’s lovely,” she murmured as she stared out onto the horseshoe-shaped body of water. Massive dunes surrounded the inlet on three sides. Its choppy waters a brilliant blue that reflected the cloudless summer sky, Lake Michigan sparkled outside the narrow mouth of the lagoon. The lagoon absorbed both the hue of the sky and the surrounding foliage, making it a deep teal. The placid waters made a perfect mirror for the lush green trees.

Marc led Mari over to a spit of sand at the edge of the water. No one else was in sight. He set down their bags in the shadow of a large white boulder and whipped off his shirt. Mari did a double take at his rapid disrobing.

“What? I’m burning up,” he said. Not just from the hot sun, either, he thought wryly as he considered the last quarter of an hour spent with Mari pressed against him, the hum of the motorcycle only increasing his sensual awareness of the woman behind him. He kicked off his shoes and waved at her clothing. “Come on. Don’t tell me you don’t want to take a dip.”

“I do.” She seemed a little dazed.

The way she was staring at his chest made him forsake courtesy. He headed toward the lagoon. He needed a slap of cold water against his skin. It wasn’t going to do him any good to stand there and watch Mari strip down to that little bikini he’d brought her, as much as he wanted to do just that.

He resurfaced from a short swim a minute later and turned toward the shore. He saw Mari standing waist deep in the water and swam toward her. She was smiling at him when he surfaced five feet away.

“Feels good, huh?” he asked.

He was captivated by her eyes as she nodded. She had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen—a rare color, like brown infused with amber.

“It feels wonderful. The water is a little warmer than the lake itself this time of year,” she said and moved her hands as though caressing the surface of the lagoon.

Marc’s gaze traveled up the path of an elegant arm and lingered on a smooth shoulder. The need to touch her swelled in him, but he refrained.

With effort.

“I see the suit fits all right,” he said as he glanced at her breasts, barely restrained behind two scraps of gold cloth.

“Get that grin off your face, Kavanaugh,” Mari said, rolling her eyes.

“Am I grinning?” Marc laughed, ruining his innocent look.

“You know you are.”

He continued to chuckle as she plunged into the water, covering herself from his gaze. She surfaced several feet away from him, standing in water that covered her from the chest down. She wiped the water out of her face and gave him a censorious look.

“It’s one of Deidre’s swimsuits,” she said reprovingly. “You know how small she is. One of Colleen’s would fit me much better. Not that I’m telling you anything you don’t know,” she said, giving him a disgusted look.

“Do you think I notice stuff like that? They’re my sisters, for Christ’s sake.”

“You never noticed that Deidre is petite and delicate?”

He snorted. “I don’t know what you remember about Deidre, but my sister is anything but delicate. She’s been known to run into the line of fire and hoist a wounded soldier over her shoulder before carrying him to safety.”

“She did that?” Mari asked, her eyes going wide.

Marc nodded, not particularly fond of this latest example of his sister’s reckless bravery. “She won the Army Medal of Honor for it. Thank God, she’s been transferred to Germany, far from active battle.”

“You must worry about her a lot,” Mari said as she took a step closer.

“Like you do about Ryan,” he murmured.

A hush fell over them. A robin twittered in the distance.

“I’m sorry about the way you found out about Ryan and me fighting after the trial all those years ago,” he said.

She glanced up at him, her sad, sober gaze tearing at him a little.

---