Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(50)

Will watched her go, watched the sway of her hips. He nearly choked when she glanced over her shoulder at him, her blond curls picking up sunlight like a halo. Except that she wasn’t any kind of angel he’d ever known.

She was better, a voice at the back of his head whispered as he turned away from her and focused on setting up their camp and building a fire. It was probably stupidly cliché for him to think of her that way, but if the shoe fit….

As soon as he had the camp set up to his satisfaction, fire crackling cheerfully, Will took his backpack and headed down to the rocks. Melody had all of her clothes and her boots laid out in the sunshine, and sat in her bare feet, fiddling with some string.

“I have my doubts about catching fish with this,” she said as he set his pack down and started unloading his damp clothes. “But if it doesn’t work, I’ll see if I can find that net thing in my pack. And who knows. I may surprise us all.” She held up the string, showing him the fishing hook from their supplies that she’d tied to the end.

“You’ll probably catch something,” Will said. “This looks like a likely spot.”

He nodded to the water. They’d made camp beside a wide, calm section of the lake. It was clear enough to see the bottom along the shore, but ran deeper just a few yards out. If he were a fish, he would definitely hang out in water like that. And if Melody came fishing, he would totally let her catch—

Will let out a breath and shook his head. He needed to stop thinking such hokey thoughts.

“What?” Melody asked, chuckling as she looked up at him.

“Nothing.” He focused on laying out the last of his clothes and removing his boots so they could finish drying too. “You’ll want to go digging for a worm to use as bait.”

“Obviously.” She continued giggling. “But I want to know why you just shook your head at yourself first.”

“I didn’t shake my head.”

“You did too. I saw it.”

He let out a breath of pretend exasperation. “Well, now I’m shaking my head because you won’t leave me alone.”

She laughed harder and stood. “You’re a puzzle, Will, my Darling Clementine.” She stepped closer to him, touching his arm as she passed. “But I like you that way.”

She headed on for the shore, leaving Will as turned around and unsettled as ever. He reached around to tap his back pocket, where the Paradise Space Flight condoms had lived ever since the day after he discovered them in his backpack. But that was even more of a ridiculous move. He should toss them in the lake to get rid of the temptation to—

“What are you doing?” he called back to the shore, where Melody was wriggling out of her shirt.

“Preparing to do battle with the fish,” she called back.

“And you need to do that topless?” he muttered, too quiet for her to hear. “Without a shirt?” he called to her.

“I’m going in after them.”

Will’s brow shot up. “Going in? To the water?”

She laughed as she unbuttoned the fly of her khakis and pushed them down. “How else am I supposed to get out far enough to get the good fish?”

“By building a pole? Do you even have bait yet?”

“Yeah,” she said, as cheery as ever as she stepped out of her pants. “I found a worm as soon as I stepped off the rocks. They must still be out after last night’s rain. See?” She held up her line. She’d already skewered a worm on the hook. “Piece of cake.”

“But the water must be freezing. Who knows what else is in there. It could be dangerous.”

“Lighten up, Clementine. You’ve already started a fire, and I’ll warm up in the sleeping bags if I have to.”

“But you can’t—”

Everything in his world stopped as she reached behind and unhooked her bra, sliding the straps off her shoulders and tossing it aside. Her breasts were full and pert, her nipples tight with the cold. She didn’t stop there. With one swift motion, she stepped out of her panties and tossed them aside as well. Will’s gaze shot straight to the thatch of curls between her legs. Desire and disbelief wrought havoc on his insides, and he was hard in an instant. How could she just strip in front of him like that? Her body was beyond perfect, pink and curved and as lithe as a fairy as she moved toward the water.

“Put your eyes back in your head, Clementine. It’s just a body,” she laughed, then squealed as she stepped into the lake. “Holy crap, it is cold!”

That didn’t stop her from wading even deeper into the water, squeaking and panting all the way. Those sounds, coupled with the layer of gooseflesh he could see breaking out all over her, short-circuited every part of Will’s brain. His erection was growing downright painful just looking at her.

“Why don’t you join me?” she asked when she was out in the water up to her thighs. “We’ll have more chance of catching fish if we work together. Besides, I’m sure you need a bath after all the hiking we’ve been doing.”

Will worked his jaw, but no sound or words came out. She stumbled over something underwater, yelped, and held her arms up. That raised her perfect breasts higher, their taut peaks shining in the sun. All he could think about was spreading her out under him and fucking her until they were both senseless. Getting any closer to her in his current state wasn’t going to help that—