knee.
Jay gave my knee a squeeze, looking away from where he was going long enough to flash me a smile. He was gorgeous. The touch was enough to make the seed that I felt like begin to crack and blossom, heat curling like vines around the backs of my knees.
We began to slow, and I could just hear the rush of water beneath the growling of the UTV’s engine. When I was a little girl, I used to call it ‘The River’. But it was really just a small, muddy creek that wound its way through the middle of the property, a ribbon of red dirt and milky water that wasn’t more than waist deep on me at its deepest.
In most places, it wasn’t more than ankle deep. My dad had always warned me about water moccasins and other snakes, but in all my years of exploring, I’d never seen anything more than a bullfrog sitting fat on the bank, croaking incessantly.
If we were near the creek, then there was no way we were anywhere near the fence line. I knew that much for certain. Maybe there was a downed tree up ahead or something. It had been a long time since I was out here in these woods. Jay had been here often, and he would know better than I did where to watch out for slick mud or downed trees clawing at the sunlight.
Chapter 10
҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉
The UTV’s motor idled, purring as Jay took his hand off the wheel, and the other off my knee. My skin felt cold where his touch had been, and I was already mourning the loss of his body heat. He jumped off the UTV, moving around it to grab a particularly large branch from the ground in front of us. I hadn’t even seen it beneath the blanket of thick grass and fallen leaves.
“Good eye.”
Jay snorted out his laughter at my words, the muscles in his back rippling as he hoisted the branch and tossed it to the side of the path.
“What can I say? I’m always watching.”
And it was just like Jay to always be able to make something so innocent sound so dirty. As he climbed back into the driver’s seat, I could feel his eyes sliding over me, taking in every inch of me, from my ponytail to my cutoff shorts to my baggy t-shirt.
Even in those comfortable clothes, Jay was looking at me like I was the most sinful, scrumptious thing he had ever laid eyes on. With a wink, he put his foot back on the gas and we were lurching forward again.
The sun was starting to creep up along the horizon, painting everything in sweeps of brassy gold and pale blue. The temperature was already rising. It felt like it had gone up several degrees just in the time we were stopped to move the branch and didn’t have the breeze from motion to cool our skin.
There was a definite distracting sheen to Jay’s tanned shoulders, making the pinup girl tattooed on his arm shine in the morning light. She was wearing a cowboy hat and boots, and not much else. I could still remember the way Caroline had raised hell when she saw it for the first time.
Jay had just laughed and waved her off, saying, ‘I’m a grown man, and a grown man has needs, Mama.’ Now I knew all about those needs, firsthand.
Back in motion, and we were heading to the thickest parts of the undergrowth. Here was where the trees were entwined so tightly that sunlight had to work to get through, sending shots of bright light down onto the forest floor like spots from a disco ball. If we were to slow down, I knew I would be able to see motes of dust dancing in the sunlight.
We had been riding for a while now, and I was starting to feel the ache building in the backs of my thighs and between my shoulder blades from where I had been holding on tight, muscles rigid to keep me from bouncing and jostling too hard on the ride.
Jay turned to look at me, long and thoughtfully. “You ready to stop and take a break?” It was like he was reading my mind. Rather than try to shout over the sound of the motor, I just nodded. Yes, I was
Jay gave my knee a squeeze, looking away from where he was going long enough to flash me a smile. He was gorgeous. The touch was enough to make the seed that I felt like begin to crack and blossom, heat curling like vines around the backs of my knees.
We began to slow, and I could just hear the rush of water beneath the growling of the UTV’s engine. When I was a little girl, I used to call it ‘The River’. But it was really just a small, muddy creek that wound its way through the middle of the property, a ribbon of red dirt and milky water that wasn’t more than waist deep on me at its deepest.
In most places, it wasn’t more than ankle deep. My dad had always warned me about water moccasins and other snakes, but in all my years of exploring, I’d never seen anything more than a bullfrog sitting fat on the bank, croaking incessantly.
If we were near the creek, then there was no way we were anywhere near the fence line. I knew that much for certain. Maybe there was a downed tree up ahead or something. It had been a long time since I was out here in these woods. Jay had been here often, and he would know better than I did where to watch out for slick mud or downed trees clawing at the sunlight.
Chapter 10
҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉
The UTV’s motor idled, purring as Jay took his hand off the wheel, and the other off my knee. My skin felt cold where his touch had been, and I was already mourning the loss of his body heat. He jumped off the UTV, moving around it to grab a particularly large branch from the ground in front of us. I hadn’t even seen it beneath the blanket of thick grass and fallen leaves.
“Good eye.”
Jay snorted out his laughter at my words, the muscles in his back rippling as he hoisted the branch and tossed it to the side of the path.
“What can I say? I’m always watching.”
And it was just like Jay to always be able to make something so innocent sound so dirty. As he climbed back into the driver’s seat, I could feel his eyes sliding over me, taking in every inch of me, from my ponytail to my cutoff shorts to my baggy t-shirt.
Even in those comfortable clothes, Jay was looking at me like I was the most sinful, scrumptious thing he had ever laid eyes on. With a wink, he put his foot back on the gas and we were lurching forward again.
The sun was starting to creep up along the horizon, painting everything in sweeps of brassy gold and pale blue. The temperature was already rising. It felt like it had gone up several degrees just in the time we were stopped to move the branch and didn’t have the breeze from motion to cool our skin.
There was a definite distracting sheen to Jay’s tanned shoulders, making the pinup girl tattooed on his arm shine in the morning light. She was wearing a cowboy hat and boots, and not much else. I could still remember the way Caroline had raised hell when she saw it for the first time.
Jay had just laughed and waved her off, saying, ‘I’m a grown man, and a grown man has needs, Mama.’ Now I knew all about those needs, firsthand.
Back in motion, and we were heading to the thickest parts of the undergrowth. Here was where the trees were entwined so tightly that sunlight had to work to get through, sending shots of bright light down onto the forest floor like spots from a disco ball. If we were to slow down, I knew I would be able to see motes of dust dancing in the sunlight.
We had been riding for a while now, and I was starting to feel the ache building in the backs of my thighs and between my shoulder blades from where I had been holding on tight, muscles rigid to keep me from bouncing and jostling too hard on the ride.
Jay turned to look at me, long and thoughtfully. “You ready to stop and take a break?” It was like he was reading my mind. Rather than try to shout over the sound of the motor, I just nodded. Yes, I was
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