Free Wild & Hexy by Vicki Lewis Thompson Page A

flattering.’’
    ‘‘I’m not here to flatter you. And I’m not here to be your pal.’’ He looked into her eyes. ‘‘You might as well know this up front, Annie. I want you.’’
    To Annie’s complete surprise, the feeling was mutual.
    Dorcas watched from her kitchen window as Jeremy loaded a picnic supper and a couple of rolled blankets into the cargo area of his red kayak. He also tucked in the bottle of wine she and Ambrose had given him.
    Dorcas stroked Sabrina, who sat on the windowsill and was also observing the activity down by the lake. ‘‘Everything’s progressing nicely, Sabrina.’’ The cat purred in loud approval.
    As Jeremy instructed Annie in the proper use of her paddle, things became quite cozy down on the beach. Dorcas could feel the sexual vibrations from where she stood in the kitchen.
    By the time Jeremy had helped Annie put on that silly skirt thing that kayakers had to wear and settled her in his kayak, the heat between those two was so obvious it made Dorcas smile. Jeremy was making all the right moves, even to the point of giving Annie his kayak, a beauty that Sean had built for him, and taking the substandard blue one for himself.
    Judging from Annie’s body language, she was responding with enthusiasm to all that gallantry. They were off to a great start, but Dorcas had studied the file Maggie had supplied the day before. She’d also made a few discreet inquiries this afternoon about Annie Winston.
    This was a woman who wouldn’t easily give up the excitement of big-city life without a good reason. Dorcas decided it might be wise to provide one.
    ‘‘Come on, Sabrina.’’ Dorcas grabbed her leather jacket from a peg near the back door. ‘‘Since Ambrose is still at Click-or-Treat playing with his MySpace page, this is the perfect time for us to meander down to the lake.’’
    Normally Jeremy hated the part where he had to wade into the cold water of Deep Lake. Fed by an underground stream rumored to originate in northern Canada, the lake never seemed to warm up, even in summer. This time of year it felt glacial.
    At the moment, glacial was exactly what he needed to cool his heated body parts. Helping Annie learn the basic paddling stroke had created some self-control problems. He prided himself on his ability to keep his urges at bay, but he’d never been this close to Annie before. To complicate matters even more, she’d begun sending I’m available signals.
    During the brief lesson, she’d relaxed against him as if daring him to take her in his arms. He damn near had, probably would have for sure if he hadn’t remembered that Dorcas and Ambrose’s kitchen window looked out on this tiny beach area. He wasn’t in the mood to put on a show.
    But he was definitely in the mood. Annie’s voice had dropped into the ultrasexy range, and when her gaze met his, it was warm and welcoming. As a result, he was hard and hyperventilating.
    The torture continued. He had to make sure her life jacket was cinched up, and then show her how to put on the protective skirt. By the time he’d helped her into the kayak, he was shaking from the effort to restrain himself. He tightened the noose holding the skirt around the cockpit opening, making it waterproof.
    During a normal kayaking lesson, Annie would have to roll the kayak and demonstrate she could loosen the skirt and get out safely. But neither of them were in wet suits, and the lake was so calm that Jeremy couldn’t see putting her through that exercise.
    He’d save that part for another time, if there ever was another time. This was only supposed to be a brief introduction to the sport. He stepped deeper into the icy water and shoved the red kayak out onto the lake.
    He’d given her his boat because he wanted her first kayaking experience to be a good one. Sean, whose carpentry skills were amazing, had built this one for him and had insisted on painting it red, supposedly to give Jeremy some pizzazz in his new sport. The