Make Me Bad(51)

“You’re right. No worries. We came—that counts for something. Let’s just get you home and tucked right back in that bed you’ve slept in since you were five years old. Who needs—”

“Okay! Jeez, just hold on. Let me take off my shoes.”

“And the nightgown.”

She arches her brow. “This is just a big ploy to see me naked.”

I don’t deny it.

“Do you even have a towel for me to use when I’m done?”

“I have a jacket. You can wrap it around yourself.”

She grumbles under her breath, just loudly enough for me to make out every single word. “Arrogant jerk” is said with the utmost clarity.

She leans down to yank off her shoes and then places them neatly in the sand away from the water. When it’s time to remove her nightgown, she pointedly arches a brow in my direction.

I turn slightly to the side as she starts to lift it overhead. I can still see her in my periphery. Her bare skin glows in the moonlight and she has three seconds to get in that water before I turn and push her down into the sand.

“I’m leaving my panties on,” she announces as she starts to tiptoe forward. I peek. Her arms are wrapped around her breasts, but the rest of her body is perfectly exposed. I spot her new ink on the side of her ribs. Her smooth, pale shoulders. Her toned legs and narrow waist. Her panties are cut high, revealing the bottom of her rounded butt cheeks.

She is…unimaginably beautiful.

“It’s really not so bad,” she says, glancing at me over her shoulder.

There’s a vision if I’ve ever seen one: Madison with her long brown hair hanging untamed down her back, her legs disappearing into the water. Her eyes are on me as she rests her chin on her shoulder. She’s watching me with a hint of amusement. That mouth proves it, her soft pink lips curled up in a knowing smile.

“You should have had some of that whiskey.”

“Why?” I ask, embarrassed by how strained the word sounds.

“Because I feel great and you feel…”

Out of control.

She’s right. If I had the bottle right now, I’d take the longest swig of my life. I’d probably keep going until the whole damn thing was empty.

“Sure you don’t want to come in?”

She beckons me like a siren.

I told myself I wouldn’t. It’s not a good idea. That water is a barrier. My phone and keys are in my pocket and that means I have to stay here, on land.

She turns away with a shrug and takes a few more steps. The water slides up to cover her butt. Now she looks completely nude. Her hands release her chest and she dips forward, falling into the water slowly so she can start to swim away.

I don’t consciously realize I’m removing my shoes until they’re both gone. My jeans are off before I can even blink. I think I just shredded them. My shirt and jacket are tossed aside and I’m following her into the ocean for one reason: there are so few moments like this in a lifetime. I won’t let this one pass me by.

I run and crash against the waves, swimming fast. I catch her without much effort and reach out to grab her foot. She jerks around, smiling, and I let go.

“See? It’s not bad, is it?”

No, not at all. The water insulates us from the chilly air, and it’s almost warm now that my body is used to it. We swim for a little, keeping our distance until I find a sandbank and wave her over. She stops in front of me and stands. Her shoulders just crest the top of the water, but most of my torso is exposed to the cold air. We’re a few yards from shore and the waves are just strong enough to bob us back and forth in a constant rhythm. Our arms float at the surface of the water to keep us stable.

The water is dark enough that I can’t really see anything below the surface. I know she’s nearly naked though, and every now and then, the tide pulls out to build a wave and I catch dangerous, teasing glimpses of her pale curves cast in moonlight. The ocean is on my side. It wants me to see her. Fuck. I’m trying to keep my attention elsewhere, but just like Andy said earlier, I’m a man possessed.

We’re hardly a foot away from each other now. I force a safe distance, but the waves are trying to bring us closer together, and if I’m not careful, we’ll accidentally touch.

The tide strengthens and pulls the water out to sea and her breasts crest the surface. She bends down quickly, lowering herself under the water more, then she laughs lightly and looks away, knowing what I just saw.

It’s all so innocent and sweet. I need to scrub a hand down my face. I need this water to be forty degrees colder.

This is bullshit. My hands could be on her—I know she wants my hands on her—and yet I’m standing here, resisting.

Is she nervous being out here with me alone like this?

I want to ask her, but she breaks the silence first.

“Have you ever been skinny dipping before?” she asks, giving me her profile.

I want to lie to her, but I don’t.

“We all did back in high school.”

She frowns like I knew she would.

“I never did it alone like this, though…with just one other person.”

“So in some ways, this is a first for you too,” she says, finding comfort in that.

I know it bothers her, the idea that I’ve done more, lived more than she has. I’ve had girlfriends and intimate relationships, and she’s had the company of her books.