The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [180]
Gabe noticed. Damn, but he noticed.
He shifted the tiniest bit so that his hand could cuddle a full, round cheek, and felt the shock of the touch all the way to his throbbing groin. She panted, but not with excitement.
“Lizzy?” His voice was muffled, thanks to having his face buried in lush breasts. His hand on her bottom continued to caress her, almost with a will of its own.
Her arms tightened, her legs shifting to move around his hips in a jerky, desperate attempt to get closer to him. The movement brought the open, hot juncture of her thighs against his abdomen, and he sucked in a startled, strangled breath. If they were naked, if he slipped her down just a few inches, he could be inside her.
He was losing his grip on propriety real fast.
“Lizzy,” he said, speaking low to keep from jarring her, “you’re afraid of the water?”
Her growled, “No…yes,” almost made him smile. Even now, she tried to hide behind her prickly pride.
“It’s okay. There’s nothing in here to bother you.” Nothing but him, only she didn’t need to know that.
“I’ve never…never swam in a lake before.”
Her lips were right above his ear. She sounded breathless, and her voice trembled. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he crooned, and then, because he couldn’t help himself, he turned his face slightly and nuzzled his nose against the plump, firm curve of her breast.
She screamed, making his ears ring. In the next instant, she launched herself out of his arms and thrashed her way wildly to the floating dock. The back view of her awkward, hasty climb from the water didn’t do a thing to cool his libido. She seemed to be all long legs and woman softness and enticing freckles. The suit, now wet, was even more revealing. Not more revealing than a bikini, but that didn’t seem to matter to his heated libido. He watched her huddle on the dock, wrapping her arms around herself, then hurriedly survey the water.
He owed her an apology. That made him disgruntled enough to grouse, “I’ll be deaf for an hour. You screech like a wet hen.”
Lizzy shook her head, and her teeth chattered. “Something touched me. Something brushed against my leg!”
Gabe stalled. So she hadn’t screamed over his forwardness? From the looks of her, he thought, seeing how wild-eyed she appeared, she probably hadn’t even noticed that he was turned on, that he’d been attempting to kiss her breast. Making a small sound of exasperation, Gabe said, “It was probably just a fish.”
She shuddered in visible horror. “What kind of fish?”
He looked around, peering through the water, which was stirred up from her churning retreat. “There.” Pointing, he indicated a small silvery fish pecking at bubbles on the surface of the lake.
Lizzy carefully leaned forward on her hands and knees, making her breasts sway beneath the wet green suit. “Is it a baby?”
He kept his gaze glued to her body. His tongue felt thick and his jaw tight. “No. A bluegill. They don’t get much bigger than that.”
Her gaze lifted and met his, forcing him to stop staring at her body. “What’d you expect,” he asked, “Jaws?”
Her face heated. To Gabe, she looked sexy and enticing and adorable, perched on the edge of the floating dock, her bottom in the air, her eyes wide and her cheeks rosy. Her brows angled. “Are you laughing at me?”
“Nope.” He waded over to her then leaned on his forearms. No way could he join her on the dock. His wet cutoffs wouldn’t do much to hide his erection. “I didn’t realize you were afraid of the water,” he told her gently. “You should have said something.”
After a deep breath, she sat back. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “I was embarrassed,” she admitted with a sideways look at him. “I hate being cowardly.”
“It’s not cowardly to be unsure of things you’re not familiar with.”
“Will you still answer my question?”
Annoyed that she wouldn’t forget her purpose