Instant Temptation (Wilder #3)(70)

At that exact moment Harley warmed up to the Mountain Barbies.

A few minutes later, they rounded a corner and the water picked up speed. Simultaneously all four girls got into trouble. Lani and Tandy collided and knocked each other into the water, screaming as they went, naturally. TJ went after Tandy, and Harley went after Lani. Just as they got both of them straightened out, the other two girls steered directly into an outcrop of trees sticking out of the water.

And capsized.

There was more screaming, and lots of hair trauma. Then two otters swam right by Shelly, who got her earlier wish about being closer to TJ when she literally crawled up his body to get out of the water and away from the otters. Only she was too terrified to enjoy the experience. Harley explained that the otters were harmless to them, that they were just out looking for beaver dams to adopt, but it still took awhile for everyone to calm down.

When they stopped for the day, the girls sprawled out on the shore in the last of the sun’s warmth while TJ and Harley set up camp. Harley pulled the gear out of the kayaks, noting that the coeds had once again stripped out of their protective gear, down to their skimpy bikinis. She had ten years and ten pounds on them, and it was hard not to feel at least a little inferior.

That’s when she felt a lean hard body press up against her.

TJ’s hand settled on the nape of her neck, causing her entire body to shiver. He’d warned her that his kind of love was temporary. She’d agreed to temporary. So what was she supposed to do with the fact that it seemed like so much more? She was kayaking down Heart Break River without a paddle, but even knowing it, she had no idea how to protect herself. Even worse, she didn’t want to. She kept her gaze on the coeds, as gorgeous as the man behind her, and sighed.

“You’re beautiful, Harley.”

She let out a genuine laugh at that. She was wearing men’s board shorts, a loose T-shirt, a life vest, and completing the picture of loveliness, water booties to protect her feet, which had given her a ridiculous tan line. Her hair was undoubtedly a frizz-ball and she’d forgone her usual mascara and lip gloss in favor of full-protection sunscreen and ChapStick.

He turned her to face him. “Beautiful,” he repeated in a low tone, in his authoritative voice, the one that could make coeds jump to attention, and women the world over want to please him.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said, and smiled to lighten the moment.

He didn’t return the smile.

Suddenly she wanted to see his eyes. She reached up, tugged off his reflective sunglasses, and caught her breath. He was being serious. Dead serious. Lifting her hand, she ran a finger over his unsmiling mouth until he took her hand and kissed her palm.

Her belly quivered, and again, she ran a finger over his lips.

He bit the pad of it, and even as she gasped, he soothed the ache by slowly sucking it into his mouth.

Her knees liquefied.

He sucked again, a strong sip, the muscles of his jaw working, and she felt every single bone melt right out of her body. “TJ.”

He let her finger slowly pull from his mouth with a soft suction sound. “Yeah?” he said, gravel in his voice.

She stared up into his eyes and ended up shaking her head. “I can’t remember.”

With a soft chuckle, he moved away to strip out of everything but his board shorts so it could all dry while he worked to get camp set up. Harley moved to help him with the girls’ tent, but he was so efficient, she ended up just watching him.

She couldn’t help it.

No red-blooded woman could have.

“Problem?” he asked, shoving his damp hair back and glancing over at her.

“No.” Her eyes roamed over his body. The wet board shorts were molded to him, leaving little to the imagination, and her mouth actually watered.

He looked at her curiously, then down at himself. “What?”

Oh good Lord. To be half that utterly clueless and easy in her own skin…“Nothing!” She gathered wood for a fire, thinking she could probably start one off her own body heat alone, but that didn’t happen. It took three Frito chips, but she was feeling quite proud of herself, a feeling that turned into something else entirely when she found TJ watching her.

“Nice job,” he said as the fire flickered and crackled warmly, bathing his face in the soft glow, revealing the intensity of his eyes, his expression one that she’d never seen before.

“Only required three chips,” she told him a little breathlessly, and held up the bag. “More to eat.”

He smiled at her, the kind that tended to melt her bones.

Bad bones.

As the sun set, everyone pulled on dry clothes and cleaned themselves up. TJ stood at the fire, barbequing in a white long-sleeved Henley, faded Levi’s, and bare feet, looking more appetizing than the salmon Nick had dropped for them.

Everyone ate as if they’d never eaten before, then the girls spent a few minutes complaining about sore muscles and how exhausted they were before disappearing into their tent, leaving Harley and TJ

alone by the fire.

“You saved my ass today,” he told her. “Thanks for coming.”

“You’d have been fine.”

“I’d have lost my mind.” He slipped an arm around her and pulled her in closer so that their thighs and hips touched. “Although I’ve been losing my mind anyway.”