Free Beautiful Innocence by Kelly Mooney Page A

definitely present by the way he watches over her like a damn protective mama bear.
    After finishing my third beer I leave. Instead of jumping in my truck, I head up to her place and wait on the top step outside for her to get off. It’s not long before I hear the sound of her shoes clomping up the steps. I hear the sharp intake of her breath when she sees me.
    “Josh, you scared me.”
    I stand up. “Sorry, I just wanted to see you.”
    She tilts her head and bites on the corner of her mouth. “Didn’t you just see me downstairs?”
    I roll my eyes. “True. Let me rephrase. I wanted to talk to you.”
    “About what?”
    I shake my head. “About anything.”
    She sweeps her hair up into her hands and tosses it over one shoulder and then runs the back of her hand on her forehead. “You want to take a walk? There’s a pond way out there.” She points toward the field behind the bar. “We can cool off.”
    Is she serious? How the hell am I supposed to say no to that invitation? “Yeah,” I bob my head. “A walk sounds good.”
    I follow her down the stairs and we make our way through the parking lot until we hit the grass. “Have you ever been back here?”
    “Yeah.” I nod. Okay, apparently I’m only able to speak in monosyllables at this point. Get it together, asshole.
    “Ever swim in it?”
    “Once back when I was younger. A little wilder.” I wink, trying to gain control of this situation, because I’m starting to feel like she has the upper hand here.
    “I’m not used to this heat, and there’s no fan or air in my place. I’ve been wanting to come back and swim, but I’m too afraid to come by myself.”
    We’re walking side by side. Every few minutes her arm grazes mine and I’m desperate to reach down and grab it, but I shove my hands into my pockets to avoid making the first move. I’m assuming she’s not wearing a suit under her clothes, which means skinny-dipping, which means me finally seeing what she hides under those clothes. Which means sex might be on the table tonight. And, I’m hard thinking about the possibilities of all that and where this nightly swim is gonna lead.
    She smiles at me once we reach the pond. It’s a man made one that’s been around since I was kid. Old man Shuster had a place out here when I was growing up. He had the pond put in for his wife and kids, but the place burned down to the ground ten years after. The pond is all that’s left.
    A little later, under the guidance of the full moon Ava slips her toes in the water and sighs. “That feels so good.” She turns around and I can tell she’s wondering what could possibly be going on in my head right now. “Are you ever going take off that greasy ball cap? Or, do you wear it everywhere.”
    I fiddle with the bill of my cap, and then shove them back in my pockets. “I love this hat. It was my daddy’s. He’s gone. It means something to me.”
    “Oh, god, I’m so sorry.” She rushes up to me and pulls me into her, trying to console me.
    I’m taken aback slightly by her sudden gesture, but like a selfish bastard, I let her. It feels too good. “It’s all right. You didn’t know.” I pull my hands out and let them do exactly what they’ve wanted to do since the first time I met her. I wrap them around her and drop my head onto her shoulder, taking the scent of her in. We stand there in a very weird, but very nice embrace for several minutes.
    “I’m going to jump in. Are you coming?” She whispers in my ear softly, but I don’t want this moment to end, but it has to, so I force myself to pull back.
    “Yeah, jump on in.” I’m waiting for the clothes to come off, but Ava slinks into that damn pond fully dressed. And all hopes for sex go right out the window. She tips her head back far enough to get her entire head wet, and then comes up, looking so breathtaking that I’m barely hanging on watching her. Her shirt is clinging to her body and since the moon is full, I can see the outline of