“These things are like ropes,” he says, and I feel him pick up one of my braids.
He squeezes my thick, blonde braid in his fist and releases it, clearing his throat. “Can I tell you something?” he asks.
I glance at him, my heart beating fast.
“Fish are usually hanging out where there’s a change in current or a change in depth,” he tells me. “See that eddy over there? The still water by the rock?”
I follow where he’s pointing, looking past the small rapid and whitewater, to the small, gently swirling pool.
I nod.
“That’s where we want to get your line,” he explains. “They’ll be waiting for insects, minnows, and all the other little guys to get washed down in the rapid.”
Oh.
That makes sense. I thought fish just swam everywhere.
Setting down his pole, he takes mine, reels it in, and then takes my hand, leading me out into the stream.
I tighten my grip, feeling the grooves of his rough palm in mine, almost wanting to thread my fingers through his just to feel it more.
My feet hit the cold water, my shoes instantly filling up as we tread out a few feet, and he comes up behind me, fitting my hand in his and putting both of ours on the handle.
I still, his bare chest blanketing my naked back, and I close my eyes for a moment.
Pulling our arms back, in unison, he tosses the line, letting it fly to the still pool and reeling it back in.
“If you don’t like fishing,” he says behind me, his voice low and husky, “there’s a pretty cool cave behind the waterfall. It doesn’t go that deep, but it’s peaceful.”
We cast the line again, trying to reach just beyond the pool. “Sounds like a good place for teenagers to do bad things,” I joke.
“As a matter of fact…” He chuckles.
Oh, great. I can only imagine what the boys get up to back there, growing up here as they have.
“If a guy takes you there,” he tells me, “now you’ll know what he’s after.”
“Then maybe you should take me.”
He stops spinning the reel, and I stop breathing. That sounded…
Oh, my God.
“I’ll be safer with you,” I rush to add, turning my head to glance at him. “I mean, right?”
He stares down at me, almost like he’s not breathing, either. “Yeah,” he mutters.
He finishes reeling the line back in, and I take it from him. Rearing my arm back slowly to give him time to veer out of my way, I cast the line, pressing my thumb into the button as soon as my arm shoots out in front of me. The line—silver in the sunlight—glints as it flies, and I land it just at the far edge of the pool.
“Good,” he says. “One more time.”
His heat covers my back, making the rest of my body miss the warmth. I reel the line back in.
Holding the handle, I inhale through my nose and finally pinpoint the part of his scent I couldn’t place before. Burnt wood. He smells like a fall night.
Unable to stop myself, I lean back a little, meeting his chest with my back as he puts his hand over mine on the handle.
“Am I crowding you?”
“No.” I shake my head.
Here I am, saying I don’t need help, but please don’t take your hand off.
He fits his grip on top of mine, both of us holding the handle and my arm resting on top of his.
He draws my arm backward. “Back,” he whispers with my thumb on the button and his thumb on me. And then we throw it, flicking our wrists as he calls out, “Release,” casting the line far out into the stream.
It billows into the air, pulled by the weight of the bait and drops into the water with a plunk.
His chest moves rapidly behind me, and I can barely hear his voice when he says, “That’s good, Tiernan.”
But he doesn’t move.
A light sweat covers my forehead, my breasts heave, and I wonder if his eyes are on them. I hope—
“We haven’t had a woman living in the house since their mother,” he tells me. “I don’t have a… a great track record with taking care of women.”
I look over my shoulder and up at him.
He shakes his head, whispering, “No matter how hard I try.”
His brow is etched with pain as he focuses on the stream, and my throat tightens.
His first love killed herself, and the mother of his children was sent to prison. He feels responsible.
“I thought I was protecting Kaleb and Noah, keeping them secluded up here,” he says, watching his line. “I think I just gave up, though. I didn’t want to fail again.”