“Yes, I sure did.” She ducked her mouth under the water so he wouldn’t see the huge smile on her lips. How did the man get such a perfect six-pack? Did he know just how sexy his little striptease was? He stood up and started unbuckling his jeans, and she watched as they slid down his narrow hips and lower over his muscular thighs until they pooled at his feet.
Now he stood in front of her in nothing but a pair of blue boxer briefs and smiled at her from across the pool.
“Like what you see?” he asked her.
Since her mouth was still under the water, she simply nodded slowly.
Then she laughed as he ran to the edge of the pool and did a cannonball into the water. She was wiping the water from her eyes when warm hands circled her waist and pulled her under.
When they surfaced, his mouth covered hers as his hands roamed over her skin. She hadn’t realized the water had cooled off until her skin started to heat under his touch.
“I’m glad I decided to come up here for a swim,” he said against her skin.
“Me too.” She sighed and held onto those muscular arms of his. Feeling his pecs against her own chest had her body reacting and heating. Then her legs brushed up against his and lit even more fires in her. Wrapping her legs around him, she held on while he treaded water, keeping their heads above the surface.
“You know, I have some of my mom’s leftover lasagna at my place. You could always have dinner at my place?” he suggested.
“Deal,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve had cold turkey sandwiches for the past week. Anything is better than one more night of it.”
He chuckled, the sound reverberating.
“God, I want to kiss you again,” he said, pulling her closer.
“Me too.” She sighed and covered his lips with her own. “Aiden, take me back to your place,” she said when they surfaced from the kiss again.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He kicked off, sending them towards the stairs.
After drying off, under the very watchful gaze of Aiden, she pulled on the shorts and sweatshirt that she’d worn to the pool earlier. She followed him down the path towards the parking area and got in his truck when he opened the passenger side door for her.
It was a standard work truck and, when she glanced in the back seat, she noticed the box of tools on the floor.
“Sorry, work truck smell.” He shrugged.
“It smells good, like you.” She smiled. “Like tools and wood shavings.”
He chuckled. “Then you’ll love my place. When I left this morning, I didn’t know I was going to have company later.” He started driving.
“You should see my room. I share it with Hannah. She’s a typical type A personality and, well, I’m not.” She shrugged.
He chuckled. “Elle has talked about the five of you for years. I can’t remember a time she didn’t brag about her Wildflower friends.” He glanced at her.
“Elle saved all of us,” she admitted.
“Oh?” he asked as he parked in front of the trailer and shut off the truck.
“We were all lost and broken in our own ways.”
“That’s not how she tells it.” He turned to her and brushed his thumb down the side of her face. “The way she tells it, her friends are the ones who saved her. She’d been in a dark place. You know what happened to her mother?”
Aubrey nodded slightly. “Her father murdered her mother. We didn’t know about it for a few years after we met her.”
“She’d been bullied, that first year she moved in with Joe.” He shook his head and looked off into the darkness. “Kids can be so mean. I tried to stop most of it, but her self-esteem took a major hit. Then she met you four.” He smiled. “And she seemed to blossom.”
She thought of her own past and the horrors she’d come from. Still, everything she’d been through paled in comparison to what Elle had lived through. Knowing that your father had killed your mother out of rage must have been way worse than having a father who didn’t feel anything at all.
“Hungry?” Aiden asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“Starved.”
Chapter 4
Sitting across his kitchen table eating leftovers with Aubrey made the trailer feel more like a home. He’d moved into the place almost two weeks ago and had yet to have a single person over. Not even his best friend Brett had stopped by yet.
Then again, he’d been so busy working, he hadn’t had time to come up for air. Nor had he wanted to. Until he’d spotted Aubrey, that is.
Then it was all he could think of. Taking time with her. Being with her. His libido had kicked into full gear the moment she’d flirted back with him.
They talked about the plans for the camp as they ate. She mentioned school and the subject turned to what classes they’d taken.
He was interested in seeing some of the art that she mentioned she had done.
“I’d like to see some of the plans you’ve made up for the cabins. Elle mentioned you had a few already done?”
He nodded. “They’re over here.” He stood up, taking his beer with him, and moved over to his work area, which was basically the entire living room. He had a sofa and a flat-screen, but he also had a large desk and the computer system he worked on nightly.
She followed him over, taking her glass of wine with her.
He pulled out the printed plans that he’d submitted to the city just yesterday.
“These will be the first two we build. Of course, we won’t start until after we’ve finished with the old remodels.”
She glanced over the drawings, and he could see that she grew excited about them. “These are amazing. You designed them yourself?”
“Yeah.” He set his beer down and then took her glass of wine from her and set it down. She stepped easily into his arms. He allowed her to reach up and place her soft lips over his. Something told him that she wanted to drive and, the way she was making him feel, he figured he’d lean back and enjoy the ride.
When she pressed her body against his, a soft moan escaped her lips. A deeper one emanated from her when his hands reached under her shirt and played with her soft skin just above her jean shorts.
“I want to see you naked,” she said as she nibbled on his ear.
“God, yes,” he growled out, and he started backing her towards the bedroom.
He met her urgency, her passion, her fire with his own. His skin burned for her; his fingers itched to roam over that porcelain skin of hers.
She peeled off his shirt then tugged on the pants he’d pulled on after their swim.
“Here.” He pulled back from her and quickly removed his boots and jeans and tossed them over the chair in the corner of his bedroom. Thankfully, he’d taken a moment to tidy up that morning before heading into work.
Of course, he’d never imagined he’d invite someone back to his place that evening. Especially a sexy redhead that made his blood boil when she touched him.
Reaching out, he used a finger to nudge the shoulder of her sweatshirt down, exposing the soft skin. He unzipped the front and smiled when the sexy red bikini she’d been wearing in the pool was exposed.
“Sexy,” he said with a smile.