“Always trying to see the sunshine, aren’t you?”
Hew waves me on and I follow him until we arrive at a clearing with a large shade tree at a river’s edge. I drop my bike on its side and walk to the water. In this area, the Napa River gathers in a wide and deep pool of clear water. Hew stands under the tree and removes his camera from his backpack, then sets it aside. Then he takes out a rolled-up white sheet.
“And you yelled at me for trying to steal a tablecloth.”
“It’s a sheet from our room. The difference is I’m actually going to return it.” He flips it into the air and I grab the edges. Together we pull the fabric flat and place it on the ground. I plop down and Hew joins me, then sets the bag of food between us.
“You wouldn’t have stolen that tablecloth anyway.”
“Ha!” Even though it’s true, I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I’ve been a decent person by all normal standards, but it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t, at least in my mind I think I could. Would that change who I am?
“You wouldn’t because you’re a good person. I can tell.”
“Things aren’t always black and white. It wouldn’t make me a bad person if I took it, I would still be the same. Even good people make mistakes.”
“Even though you know the difference between right and wrong, you still would do it?” he asks doubtfully.
“Maybe it would make me happy.”
“Maybe, but you might die of guilt. And where does it stop? First you take a pretty tablecloth, then the pretty table, then a pretty camel named Humpapotamus, and before you know it, you’re running your own theft ring of circus animals.”
He’s joking, of course, but I sense a serious tone.
“How do you know I don’t already? Maybe it’s my real job,” I say as I unpack the lunch bag. “Have you ever stolen anything?” I pop a strawberry into my mouth.
Hew rocks back on his haunches and takes a swig from a water bottle. “Yes,” he admits and looks down.
I sit up straight at his answer. “Care to elaborate?” I push a wrapped sandwich in his direction.
“No.” He takes another drink of water, looking uncomfortable.
I let it go, even though I don’t want to. I’ve let many things go in the last few days, and I wonder how long we can spend this much time together and not really share those things about ourselves that make us partly who we are. People aren’t just made of rainbows and sugary-sweet candy, though I wish that were the case. Half of who we are is written by our mistakes, mishaps, and imperfections.
“Can I tell you how starved I am?” Changing the subject, I open my sandwich and settle my back against the wide trunk of the shade tree.
We eat in silence. Hew devours his sandwich while I work on the fruit and a few bites of my own sandwich, when he finally says, “What if I told you that I stole a car?”
“What?” I stare at him.
“Would you still think I’m a good person?”
Hew’s eyes won’t leave mine, and he’s not winking at me in the way we do when we’re telling our playful fibs. Not that he did that as much as I did. And from his expression, I think he’s not only telling me the truth but also testing my response. It’s easy to see that he’s nervous about what I’ll say.
“Of course I do.”
“I could be a serial killer and you wouldn’t know it,” he jokes and relaxes back, staring off at the mountains.
“I could say the same to you.” I turn toward him.
He shakes his head and sets his jaw.
“Look.” I move closer and place my hand on his shoulder. “We obviously both have our pasts, but that’s not important right now. I don’t have to know every bad thing you ever did in your life to know that you’re a good guy now. People change, grow up, get smarter, move on. In ten years I could be completely different, but I’ll never be the person I was yesterday, or even this morning. I don’t want to be. I want to try to be better with each second I’m alive.”
Hew still doesn’t say anything. Like before, he’s drifting off to that place in his past where he possibly stole a car and did who knows what else. I want to erase that hurt, soothe the frown between his eyes, and the ache in his heart. I’ve been there, too, known plenty of my own heartache. I know he has a good soul; I can see the regret in his eyes, in everything that we’ve shared. He can’t hide his true self, even behind a fake name or any other silly thing we make up in our little world. So I do the only thing I can to change the trajectory of this moment; I abruptly stand.
This fails to get his attention, so I begin to strip. I kick off my shoes and set them aside. When I peel off my shirt and it hits the grass, I do have his attention. He isn’t someplace else anymore. He’s right here with me and fully focused on my hands as I unzip my cutoffs and they slide off my hips, falling to my ankles. I step one foot out and then the other, then launch the shorts straight up into the air with the tip of my toe. At about ten feet up, the shorts begin their descent and land on Hew’s head.
He smiles through the leg hole and I turn and flash him my backside, wearing my Friday panties. They’re the yellow ones, printed with swirling rainbows.
“Your mopey stormy talk brought out the rainbows.” I shake my ass and then take off running. At the edge, I leap into the deep, swirling water of the river. It’s chilly as it splashes around me, and I sink underneath to dunk my head. When I pop up and clear my eyes, Hew is now standing under the tree staring at me.
“Come on!” I yell and wave. “The water feels fantastic.” I float around, flapping my arms.
Hew turns away and I think he’s still upset, but then he flips his T-shirt inside out and over his head and I get a full view of his wide shoulders and lean muscles, and the dimples at the bottom of his back. God help me! Every inch is strong and defined, and that ache I felt yesterday is tingling in my Fridays again. Hew throws the shirt aside, and it lands in the branch of a tree.
He looks over his shoulder and smiles. I scream for him like a horny housewife at a strip club. He said he doesn’t dance unless he’s trashed, but I think I see him wiggle his hips when he unzips his jeans and bends all the way over, pushing them to his ankles. He’s wearing his boxer briefs. Dark blue ones.
Hew turns, taking his time, allowing me to ogle him. I can see every curve and line of him, even beneath his trunks. His size is large, outlined in the shadows. Desire consumes me as I drink all of him in. He races forward and when he reaches the edge of the river, he leaps, doing a cannonball into the water.
Chapter 37
He
I open my eyes underwater and swim until I find Shea’s smooth, shapely legs, then pull her under. Before she submerges, I hear her scream. She playfully fights with me until I release her and we bob above together, wrapped in each other’s arms.
“Glad you decided to join me.” She shifts closer.
“You shouldn’t swim after eating. I came to save you.”
That tension is back. The one where we’re having difficulty breathing the same thick air with our chests heaving like one of those damn romance novels my sisters read. I focus on her, caressing her chin with my palm and stroking her cheek with my thumb. “Every second I’m with you, I feel like a better person. You make me believe it’s possible that I can move on from every mistake I’ve ever made and live in your world.”
Shea inhales a quick breath, her gaze sealed to mine. I gently drag my thumb over the corner of her peach lips and she dips her chin and kisses my palm. Her cheek slides into the cup of my hand as she looks up at me from under her long, wet lashes, head tilted. Her wide eyes are beautiful, and as vibrant a green as the grapevine leaves in sunlight. I can’t take any more of being careful around her. I want her. Not just for now, but for always.
My lips come down on hers and immediately our bodies arch into each other. Like flipping a switch, every emotion that I’ve been holding back releases into this kiss, urging my lips to work over hers in a panic of passion. Her chin, her neck, her shoulder,
and back to her lips again. And the most astonishing part is that she’s kissing me back. She’s allowing it. She wants this as badly as I do. Her hands work over my chest, my shoulders, and tangle into my hair. Each touch sends me further into a race to make her mine. With heavy breaths, she nips at my lip with her teeth, and I lose it and grab her ass, lifting her. Her legs wrap around my hips, locking behind me so I can press my dick against her. I slide my hands over her skin and into her panties, looking for the treasure at the end of her rainbows.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get out of there!” a man shouts.
We disconnect and whip our heads around in the direction the voice. It’s a police officer, standing behind his open cruiser door on the opposite bank of the river. When I see his uniform, my heart stops. The last thing I need is a run-in with the cops.
“No swimming here, this water runs into the reservoir. Can’t you read the damn signs?” He waves to one near him. It’s clear as day and I missed it.
Shea and I look at each other again and we cover our mirroring smiles. Despite being scared shitless, I can’t help it. I feel like a sixteen-year-old who’s just been caught by his parents with his pants down, making out with his girl. We quickly drag ourselves out of the water, dripping wet, and run for our bikes. I grab my backpack and shrug it on, then toss my camera into the bike’s basket. Shea grabs everything else and jumps on her bike and takes off. I hop on my bike and pedal quickly to catch her. We’re a half a mile away from the cop when we break out laughing hysterically, still half-naked.
“We just got busted by the cops!” she says.
“We suck at being good.” It’s like we’re partners in crime.
She looks me up and down, raising her eyebrows when she stops to look at my trunks. “Welcome to Naked Biker Gang.”
“Do I measure up?”
“Ha! I’ll let you know.” She blows me a kiss and leans into her handles, grits her teeth, and pedals faster, taking off.
Our getaway has transitioned into a race. And being the competitive person that I am, I can’t let her win. I lean into the breeze and chase her. A few moments later I sail past, giving her a victorious face.
“Race to the Jacuzzi!” she yells, pressing hard to take the lead. We’re neck and neck for about a mile, and then we both seem to run out of steam. We’ve ridden farther than I realized. Our racing turns into meandering and joking, stealing smiles and waving at passing cars that honk for our partial nudity, until we return to the bed and breakfast. We drop our bikes in the side yard, and I grab her and kiss her the way I did in the river. I’ve been craving her since then, since the beginning when we first met. Her tongue teases mine, and her hands rub over my chest and down my back. She pulls away and begins stepping backward, beckoning for me to follow.
“Why do I feel like you’re playing hard to get?”
“Because I am.” Shea grins and with that response, I tackle her, lifting and tossing her over my shoulder. Her knees kick at my chest and her elbows beat on my back.
“Put me down!” She giggles, but then she starts to play dirty. “I’ll give you a wedgie!” She tugs at the waistband of my briefs, threatening me.
“Argh! You’re killing me, woman!” But I don’t give in, I nudge open the tall fence door with my knee and walk into the backyard, where there is an in-ground pool and Jacuzzi.
“Fine, you get it!” She pulls the elastic hard, lodging the fabric between my ass cheeks and I scream, drop our belongings in the grass, and reach up to tickle her. She loses it, squirming and yelping, which causes her to laugh harder.
“Stop. Stop!” she squeals.
I do and I lower her so that we’re face-to-face, her arms draped around my neck, and we kiss again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice we’re not alone, and take in all the people I didn’t realize were in the pool area. Some are lying out in the sun, sipping wine or reading books. Collectively, they look over and frown. We’re being loud and obnoxious, so I pull away, allowing her to slide to the ground. She flips her messy hair over her shoulder, coming down off our make-out high, and takes in the scene, too.
“Oops.” She hides her face in my chest and snorts.
I lean down to her. “Let’s be on our best behavior. Try the good thing.”
Shea nods, accepting the challenge. We collect our mess from the ground, lift our chins, straighten our postures, and walk across the pool deck as though we’re actually wearing bathing suits.
We drop our items off on two lounge chairs and make our way to the Jacuzzi. We slip into the hot water and take our place next to each other, positioned so we’re looking out over everyone.
Chapter 38
She
“Of everyone here, who do you think is our crappy neighbor?” I whisper to Hew, needing a distraction so I can keep my hands off him. Hew looks over, seeing right through me, then grabs my hand and places it on his knee. I smile and lean in close.
“If they’re here, they’re probably figuring that we are.”
“Probably.”
“Based on the number of rooms in the B&B, there’s a fifty-percent chance that they’re here. That’s if they haven’t checked out yet.”
I look at each couple, considering if they could be the one who had knocked on our wall when Hew and I couldn’t stop laughing. We didn’t mean to be loud. Both times were accidents.
“What about couple number one?” I nod to the farthest. They are sitting at a bistro table, probably in their midthirties, playing with their phones.
“Hmm, I don’t think it’s them.”
“How can you tell?”
“They’ve got bags the size of Texas under their eyes, they’re sucking down wine like this is their last day of vacation, and most importantly, they’re the right age to have a couple of screaming kids at home, which explains the first two items. I bet what we did wouldn’t even faze them.”
Hew slides his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer, and I snuggle into the curve of his body feeling safe and brave, allowing my hand to explore his lower half below the bubbling water.
“I think you have some freaky carny gifts of your own.” I look around to find the next couple. “What about them?” I jut my chin to a fifty-something couple lying back on two loungers. The lady is short, heavy, and wearing a T-shirt Bedazzled with wineglasses, and her nose is pressed into a dirty book. Her husband’s hairy chest and rounded tummy are bright red from a raging sunburn. His head is hidden underneath a fishing hat, covering his closed eyes.
I turn to face Hew so he has to look over my shoulder. His gaze jumps to me before it returns to them.
“How can I concentrate on bad neighbors when you’re here tormenting me with those magic hands?”
“If you wow me with your talents, maybe I’ll wow you with mine.”
He smirks. “Challenge accepted.” His gaze goes back to the couple, and I continue to stroke his thighs, his hard abs, his chest and hips, being strategic about accidentally brushing over his shaft, knowing it will drive him even crazier.
He continues his observation with great difficulty. “The woman’s not the type to complain. She’s sweet and often likes to see problems from someone else’s point of view. But,” Hew pauses, “the man most definitely is a complainer, loses his temper easily, even though he’s a nice guy when you get to know him.”
“How did you decide that? You’re like Sherlock Holmes or something.”
“Nah, just guessing on that one. They remind me of people in my family.”
Hew continues to talk, doing his best to concentrate on our conversation, but every so often his eyes become hooded and his body sinks a little deeper under the water, giving me more area to massage.
“And what about that last couple?” They’re sitting closest, and the woman is typing on her laptop while the husband is talking on the phone.
“Hmmm. She’s definitely a strong contender, based on the sideways glances she’s giving her husband. She’s wor
king on vacation, and the way her shoulders bunch up by her ears, I’m guessing she’s a little uptight.”
The man laughs loudly, and the woman leans over to swat him on the knee, shushing him.
“I think we have a big wiener,” I say and finally allow my hand to go there, rubbing the thickness beneath his boxer briefs. “The question is, what shall we do with this info?” I bite my lip, feeling naughty.
“Shea, what happened to being a better person?”
“I said I’d try, I didn’t say it wasn’t a challenge.”
Hew sinks a little and moves closer, speaking in a low, seductive voice. “What did you have in mind?”
“Something mind-blowing,” I say teasingly.
“You’re going to be the death of me, woman.” He pulls me in for a hot and wet kiss as I continue secretly stroking him.
I’m not sure how it happens, but one minute we’re in the Jacuzzi and the next we’re in our room. Our foreplay has gone on for long enough, and the more time I spend with him, laughing, allowing him to amplify my good traits and enforcing the old, stronger me to come alive again, the more I desperately need to feel us connect on a different level.
Hew kicks the door closed with his foot and I pull down his dripping underwear, finally setting him free. Every part of his tanned and toned body is perfect, with angles and planes that I need to attack.
Our hands are all over each other’s bodies. We’ve been flirting, making suggestive remarks, and playfully touching for days. Now I realize that all of it was merely pieces of the sex bomb that’s about to detonate all over this room.
Hew presses his erection against me, and I reach up on tiptoe in a desperate attempt to move it closer to the throb building in my panties. His hands slide down my sides and his fingers plunge beneath the fabric, dislodging my panties from my hips and rolling them down until they stop at the top of my thighs. Air rushes between my legs, cooling the wetness between them, and instantly I want to lift myself to feel him there.
He + She Page 13
