Free Down and Dirty by Christine Bell Page A

peering toward the lake while chewing her bottom lip.
    “Spill it, munchkin,” he demanded.
    She looked up in his general direction but wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Spill what?”
    He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking down toward the lake. “Is she with a guy or alone?” He wasn’t sure which answer he wanted to hear at that moment. Both sucked.
    Lacey swallowed hard and leaned in to whisper. “Alone. But she told me not to tell you where she was. It’s just, she’s been gone a while and I’m getting nervous.”
    Nervousness was an almost perpetual state for Lacey, so that in itself wasn’t cause for concern, but a young woman in the lake at night was. She could swim out too far and get a cramp, or some asshole could take her solitude as an invitation. “I’m going to check on her. And don’t worry. I won’t tell her you said anything.”
    When he’d finally made his way to the spit of beach down the path, it was to find her standing ankle-deep in the water, wearing only her bra and underwear. He’d nearly swallowed his tongue.
    “Figures. Lacey Drawers couldn’t keep her trap shut, huh?” She didn’t sound mad. More teasing than anything. “I told her if she was so worried, she should come with me, but that didn’t work. She said we could skinny-dip next time we go to our lake cottage, but really, when are we ever left alone long enough to do that?” She turned to face him, full on in the buttery moonlight, and the breath stuck in his chest. “Still, the water looks almost black, and my imagination started running away with me.”
    He finally peeled the tongue from the roof of his mouth to speak. “You shouldn’t be here by yourself, Mary Catherine. It’s dangerous.”
    “Well, it would seem I’m not by myself after all, wouldn’t it now, Decker?” She gave him the smile that never ceased to make his gut ache and started forward into the water.
    He stepped in after her without hesitation, warm water lapping at his ankles and filling his sneakers.
    “Don’t.”
    “I’ve got to.” She shrugged her bare, white shoulders. “It’s on my bucket list.”
    “What bucket list?” He asked, tearing his gaze from her satin-covered breasts. “That’s for old people.”
    “It’s for people who have things they want to make sure to experience before they die, and I’ve got a long one.”
    She hadn’t stopped moving and was ten feet out now, up to her hips. He bit back a curse. “And let me guess, annoying the shit out of your brother’s best friend is number one?”
    Even then, she’d seen it. Known that annoyance was the least of the things he felt for her, at least that night. Her slow smile sent hormones screeching through his veins like a crazed banshee.
    A low cough from the passenger’s seat jarred him back to the present. He snuck a look to his right to see Cat toying with the belt of her coat. “Uh, yeah. Still working my way through the bucket list, albeit with some adjustments. I crossed out ‘marry Justin Timberlake’ and changed it to ‘Ryan Gosling.’ And erased ‘move to Turkey and buy a monkey’ altogether. You know, stuff like that.”
    Her voice was strained, so he opted to go along and play it light.
    “Good call. I think he’s married now anyway, and I hear monkeys are a pain in the ass. I hate to take up too much of your vacation, though, if you had plans. Are you sure you’ll have time to do this dating site thing for me?”
    “No, no. I want to!” Her rushed reassurance might have bruised his ego if it didn’t seem so over the top. “And most of my plans are later in the week. Tomorrow and the next day are unwinding days. I just finished designing a collection and need to decompress before I start the next one. You free late tomorrow afternoon? I can come by your parents’ house.”
    His lips quirked at the words she didn’t say, but he heard loud and clear. You know, your parents’ house. Where your parents are and we won’t have to be