Stef Ann Holm, Lucy Back [paper ebook reader .TXT] 📗

“Good Lord, you couldn’t get me in that water for anything,” Lucy said, her voice breaking into Drew’s thoughts.

While the outside temperature had to be in the high seventies, the water was still holding residual winter runoff from the snow. It was damn cold.

Drew leaned his butt against the side of the driver’s chair, his arms folded over his chest. “You want something to drink?”

“Do you have any bottled water?”

“Yep.” Drew pulled up the lid to the cooler and grabbed two.

Water from the cooler’s melting ice dripped from the plastic bottles. Lucy gave a throaty gasp when droplets ran down her bare, tan legs. Drew’s gaze slid across the smooth expanse of her thighs, knees and ankles.

She had on a pair of lower-riding knit shorts and her bathing suit top. Her skin looked soft and his fingers ached to run over the hollow of her throat and trace her collarbone. The shade of brown in her eyes was like caramel-chocolate, the lashes sweeping upward with a light coverage of mascara. Probably waterproof. Until he’d read Seventeen magazine, he hadn’t known something like that even existed. She’d put clear lip gloss or balm on her lips. They were shiny and very tempting.

He admired the shape of her sexy mouth, the top and bottom lip almost a mirror of the other. She didn’t have a noticeable bow to her upper lip, but rather, a fuller mouth—like Julia Roberts. Actually, now that he thought about it, in some ways Lucy did kind of look like the actress. Same hairstyle, same mouth. But the eyes were very different. So was the nose.

Telling himself to stay away from her had been good in theory, so what was she doing on his boat, long legs stretched out in front of her, butt up against the hull, and sneaking looks at him as if he were the best thing since a pair of four inch heels?

The boys on the dock were horsing around, showing off for his daughter. Nutter pushed Brownie into the water, then Brownie laid his palm on the surface and fanned them with a wide arc of spray. Matt did a cannonball and almost landed on top of Brownie.

Mackenzie stood here, laughing and basking in the attention. Her smile went straight to Drew’s heart. The flush on her cheeks was proof she was shy—to a degree. He was glad about that. There was so much he didn’t know about her. Wanted to know. Sometimes he got shortsighted, frustrated with himself and the situation. He wanted to know everything, and to know it yesterday.

“She’s very pretty,” Lucy said, putting the mouth of the water bottle to her lips. “I see the family resemblance. Who’s she related to?”

Drew swallowed, glad the next song on the CD player was loud and kick-ass. “You like KISS?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“I remember them,” she replied, giving him a sidelong glance. A hint of a question lingered in her eyes. She was just going to have to wait. He had nothing else to add. What could he say?

He and Mackenzie hadn’t thought that far in advance. He was an only child, so saying Mackenzie was his sister’s kid wouldn’t work. Maybe a cousin on his father’s side. That sounded good. But right now, he wasn’t sure if he could work out enough of the details to make it all sound credible.

The corners of Drew’s mouth pulled upward in amusement. “Of course you do, sugar. You’re only a year younger than me,” he drawled, cranking up the volume and enjoying the beat of the song.

Music drifted across the water, catching on the sun-ripened ripples, and the day was good. Drew liked simplicity, and this was one of those times.

“You’re a complicated man,” Lucy said, coming closer and looking him directly in the eyes.

“No, darlin’. I’m just the Tolman-ater.”

“You hide behind that, but there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

“Is there now?”

The pink-painted toes on her bare feet were so close to his, he could step on her foot and caress it if he wanted to. And he wanted to. But with Mackenzie and her sons, and the other boys right there, that was something he wasn’t going to do. But he could think it.

He could even fantasize about it.

“You have a scandalous past.”

Drew laughed. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“I don’t.”

“None that you’ve ever let me see. Maybe you do, sugar, only I just haven’t figured out that part about you yet.” Drew inched his bare foot toward hers, his big toe meeting her pinkie.

To her credit, she didn’t flinch or move away. She held strong and kept her chin up, brows raised. He thought she might be a little skittish after that kiss in his kitchen…and then Jacquie showing up.

Not something he wanted to think about. Damn awkward.

“Don’t play with me, Drew.”

“Well, hell, you got me.” He lowered his voice. The cleavage from her bikini top was full and round. She had nice breasts, perfectly shaped for a man’s hand. “That’s exactly what I wanted to do.”

“Funny.”

She smelled like body splash, sweet and inviting. Her hair was pulled back in a green tie, silken brown strands having fallen out in a messy caress at her cheeks, tugged by the wind as he’d opened up the twin diesel engines. He wanted to tuck her hair behind her ear, kiss the shell and trace her lobe, slowly lick the side of her neck.

The fire in his eyes must have been blazing because she stood back, took a step away. She turned, gazed at the dock and refocused her attention. Probably more to get him out of her mind than to see what her boys were up to.

Absently, her hands rose to her hair and she pulled the tie out to redo it. As her slender fingers worked her hair into a ponytail, he came up behind her, knitted his hands with hers and said against her cheek, “I got that.”

She went ramrod still, but didn’t knock his hands away.

The texture