Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Second Chance #1)(26)

Evan swam out and put first one hand, then the other around her waist, grasping her with flexed fingers. Shocked at the feel of his hands on her, she turned to dunk him first, putting her cold fingers on his solid shoulders and pushing. She hadn’t expected it to work, and for a moment, it didn’t. Putting all her weight on her arms required her to leap out of the water a bit, so she was there, hovering, her breasts kind of in his face, her arms straight, her hands on his shoulders.

Keeping his eyes on hers, and the sly, barely-there smile on his lips, he finally let her push him under. In a move she should have seen coming, he took her with him, pressing on her shoulders and sending her down. Once submerged in the murky water, those hands moved to her waist and he tugged her against him. While she couldn’t see him, she could feel him. Hard, wet muscle slid against her Lycra front, causing her skin to erupt in goose bumps that weren’t caused by the cold lake.

Her hands covered his and she moved her leg to kick to the surface, her thigh brushing against something else. Something… hard. And she was sure it wasn’t biceps or a triceps or any other sort of -ceps.

He gave her a slight boost and she popped to the surface and swept her hair off her forehead. “Sorry,” she sputtered when he came up.

He pulled a hand down his face and then back through his hair. “You should be.” A salacious smile graced his mouth. “That’s your fault.”

Before she could react to that naughty comment, Lyon’s voice cut in.

“Dad, I’m hungry.”

He jerked his chin toward the dock. “Paddle in, kiddo. Charlie and I are right behind you.”

Relieved to escape Evan—and Nessie hiding below the water there—she started to wade to the dock.

He stopped her with a hand on her wrist, pulling her to him again. “What are you wearing?”

Since this was the last thing she expected him to say, she blinked at him.

Twice.

“What?”

He glanced down. “This suit.” He gestured to the dock. “The dress-wrap thing. What happened to the hot pink one? I liked it better.”

She couldn’t think of a single response. Not one reasonable response came to mind while his hand rested on her waist, his feet on the lake floor, and her arms treading—needlessly, she might add, since he was holding her above the water.

Okay, she could think of one response. Her eyes moved to his mouth, those firm-looking lips, the way they were slightly quirked, the shallow lines around them from where he’d once smiled often.

She wanted to kiss him. Just lean forward a scant inch or two and lay one on him. The lake had ceased being cold. Her pulse had kicked up a notch. And Evan’s eyes trickled from her eyes to her mouth.

Therefore she blurted, “Rae.”

Yep. That’s what she said.

His eyebrows slammed down, his half-smile gone like a rogue wave had washed it from his face.

“What about Rae?” he rumbled.

“She…”

Something. Words would be helpful.

“Um. She hated the water,” she continued, desperate to change the subject, to remind both of them—mainly herself—who he belonged to.

And who he didn’t.

What Charlie needed—more than anything—was for them to both remember she was Rae’s best friend, or used to be anyway… but that kind of thing didn’t really have an expiration date, did it?

She couldn’t just float here, enjoy the feel of his hands anchoring her to him, and think inappropriate, sexy thoughts about his mouth and what she’d like him to do with it… Another tingle shot through her and she gave her head a small shake to realign her thoughts.

Inappropriate.

Her gaze went to the dock where Lyon was climbing up the ladder.

“Lyon does well in the water,” she said. “I think Rae would like that, in spite of the fact she never liked it.” Charlie heard how uncomfortable she sounded, which made her notice Evan noticing she was uncomfortable.

His reaction was the opposite of what she’d hoped. Rather than let her loose and swim away, his hold tightened and he tugged her an inch closer. “Thought the same thing recently. She would be proud,” he answered, too close to her, his confused-slash-incensed expression in a holding pattern.

Aware he was staring at her, his face frozen into a look she was pretty sure wasn’t happy, she pressed on.

“Rae would have liked it here. She hated to swim, which, I assure you, was more for cosmetic reasons.” She let out an uncomfortable, brief laugh. “Getting in the lake after her hair was done, or getting brushed up against by a fish—the great outdoors wasn’t her thing, you know?”

He shook his head, but whether it was in agreement or in disagreement, or in wonder at her never-ending monologue, she wasn’t sure.

“You probably already know that.” She cleared her throat. “Since you were married to her.”

His hold tightened and he dragged her even closer. Their noses were practically touching. “You making a point, Ace?”

Maybe. But she hadn’t yet figured out what it was. But, hey, she could talk her way to it.

“She liked the attention she got from the boys whenever she fussed over getting in the water,” Charlie continued blathering. “She preferred never to be this close to wildlife. Squirrels terrified her. She was a true city girl who—”