by Cindi Madsen
“Then what’s the point of putting it in the water?”
“It makes you feel more productive, just trust me.”
“Oh, I trusted you already too many times today, and it’s landed me on a boat late at night, holding a pole and talking about lures.”
Did he move closer or was that her imagination? “And you have somewhere better to be?”
She tipped her head to one side and then the other. “Somewhere better than being with you? I’m not sure that exists.”
A hint of vulnerability crept in as soon as the words left her lips, leaving her chest too tight.
It could be taken as friends, or it could be taken in a flirty way. She wasn’t even sure how she’d meant it, only that she was always happier with Tucker by her side.
Had been ever since she could remember.
“Right back at you,” he said, reaching around her, grabbing the end of her fishing line and attaching a fake worm. His chest bumped her shoulder and every cell in her body stood on full alert.
Maybe Lexi was right; maybe she should tell Tucker how she felt.
Easy for Lexi to say. She’s pretty and blond and rocks a dress and heels three ways till Sunday. Shep sure doesn’t call her kisses awful.
Not that he waxed on and on about it, but Addie had witnessed enough of them that she could just tell, and now all she could think about was how awkward it’d be if she and Tucker kissed and it was awful.
What if I’m all about it, but he thinks I’m a bad kisser? That’ll definitely mess with our friendship.
And my self-esteem.
And oh, holy shit, I can’t risk it.
Tucker wiggled the worm in front of her face. “You’re good to go.” After releasing her baited hook, he turned to ready his pole, so Addie cast and then sat in one of the two mounted chairs.
A minute or so later, he cast and parked himself next to her.
Every time something moved in the water, she tensed and gripped her armrest, and when she noticed Tucker’s amused grin, she spun her chair and nudged his knee with her foot. “Jackass.”
“Scaredy-cat.”
Addie resolved to stop reacting to anything that happened on the surface of the water. Outwardly anyway. Unless, you know, she actually saw eyes and nostrils pop up.
The problem was, way too many things out here glittered in the moonlight. While she usually loved lightning bugs, she kept seeing them as glowing gator eyes, and she swore some creature had surged through the water to eat those eyes.
Probably just a fish. And since they were snacking on bugs, that explained why they weren’t taking the bait she left in the water while Tucker kept reeling and recasting.
So she wouldn’t go thinking too much about what might be hiding underneath the surface of the lake, she searched for something to talk about. Something neutral that might also distract her from her confusing thoughts involving the annoyingly sexy guy at her side.
“How are things going with Lottie’s daughter and her divorce? Did you get out of that yet? Or are you too scared of Lottie—which makes you the scaredy-cat.”
Tucker ran his thumb over the handle of his fishing pole and it made that intriguing line in his forearm pop out. “Her daughter brought by the papers the other day. Maribel’s enough older than us that I didn’t remember her, but she’s ridiculously nice. I was all set to simply check the box to get Lottie off my back, but Maribel’s husband’s lawyer had put a ton of these confusing wordy provisions in so she wouldn’t know just how much she was signing away. If Lottie hadn’t stepped in, she probably would’ve signed it. We worked out a rate, and I added enough addendums to make the guy’s head spin. Still waiting to see what he comes back with.”
Well, that certainly didn’t help her forget her ever-growing attraction. “That’s nice of you.”
“Don’t go spreading that around, or between you and your grandmother, I’ll never get a moment’s peace.”
She grinned. “No promises.”
He secured his pole in one of the circular holes on the side of the boat and moved to get something out of his box of fishing gear.
On his way back, he stopped midstride and shifted closer to the edge of the boat. “Did you see that?” he asked, pointing at the surface of the water.
She reluctantly stood and peered into the rippling darkness. “What is it?”
“A gator, I think. A big one.”
She wrapped one hand around Tucker’s biceps, afraid to look but more afraid to not know where it was coming from if it turned aggressive. “Where?”
“Right…” He jabbed her in the side as he yelled, “There!” and she jumped, and he cackled like crazy.
Addie shoved him. “You jerk!”
He caught himself on his palm, the boat wobbling with the movement. “Watch it. If I fall in, you’ll have to come save me.”
“No way, dude. You’d be on your own.”
“You’d leave me to fight off the gator myself?”
“No reason for both of us to die because you insisted on coming out here in the middle of the night.”
“Cold.”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“No, that’s just what you want people to think.” He took hold of her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles, and corresponding zips fired up her arm and twisted through her core. “But you’re a softie, Addison Murphy.”
“Say somethin’ like that again, and I’m gonna push you in for reals.”
It came out too breathy to effectively scare him. Not that she thought many of her threats scared him anyway.
His low laugh danced across her nerve endings. “Wouldn’t you miss me too much?”
Obviously he was kidding, but her eyes met his and her thoughts turned literal.
She’d already missed him for two years, and if she ruined their friendship by pushing for more, it’d almost be worse than missing him, because she’d have to do it while living in the same town. “I really would.”
Using his grip on her hand, he drew her in for a hug and she let herself relax into it.
As much as she could, anyway, considering her whirring thoughts and racing heart.
The quiet crept in again, neither of them moving. As if both of them were scared of what might happen if they said or did the wrong thing.
Or maybe she was alone in that. The more she thought about the complications that would come about if she told him her feelings for him were growing stronger—and in a totally not platonic way—the tighter the band around her chest became.
Fear took over, whispering how crossing lines could ruin everything between them, and then she’d lose him all over again, but for good this time.
It probably makes me a coward, but I can’t risk it. Too much could go so very wrong.
Addie broke the hug, glanced at the water, and steered the conversation down a side street. “A few years ago, we went to visit some of my mom’s Yankee cousins, and one morning while we were there, I woke up to a scream that made me shoot right out of bed. I seriously thought I was rushin’ toward a crime scene. My cousin had gone to take a shower, but there was a spider in one corner. I grabbed a tissue and killed it. Then I told her at least you could smash a spider; if you stepped on an alligator, all he got was mad. She seriously looked at me like I was from the backwoods.”
“You are from the backwoods.” Tucker swung his arm, encompassing the lake and the shadowy trees along the shore. “Exhibit A.”
“Well, counselor, I prefer to think of it as the front woods.” She shivered as the breeze kicked up a notch, and Tucker rubbed his hands up and down her arms.
He noticed so much, and she couldn’t help wondering if he could see right through her. If he already knew she’d been warring with her feelings for him.
“I’m guessing you didn’t buy my claim that I was over my fear of g
ators?” she asked, since it was a less complicated question.
“Not for one second. I know all your tells.” He touched the corner of her mouth with his thumb, and her self-control thrashed in the desire quickly flooding her system. “You get this twitch here.”
“Do not.”
“It just twitched again.”
Now she was going to have to focus on what her mouth did during poker, and what his mouth did.
Wait. Scratch that.
No watching Tucker Crawford’s mouth or thinking about what it’d feel like pressed against mine.
If he could see through her and he hadn’t made a move, that must mean…
Her stomach sank. Where was the exit for this emotional roller coaster? Because she wasn’t sure she could handle the ups and downs much longer without going insane.
Tucker glanced at his watch. “Guess my hour’s about up. The fish aren’t biting anyway, and it’s getting late.” He began reeling in his line, and Addie did the same. “Extra silver lining, my boat didn’t sink.”
“And neither of us ended up as alligator bait. Knock on wood.”
She rapped her knuckles on the nearest surface.
As soon as they’d packed up everything, she said, “I like your idea about repairing and restoring boats, by the way. It suits you, and I think it’ll make you money. What if it doesn’t, though?” She sucked in a deep breath, fortifying herself for the answer. “Will you go back to Birmingham?”
He shook his head. “When I was sitting in my high-rise office late at night, surrounded by stacks and stacks of paperwork, I used to dream about being out here on the lake. Even when I went home to my apartment, it never felt like home. I’m done with city life.” He flashed her a smile that she felt deep in her core. “Give me backwoods any day.”
At least that was something she could cling to.
He ran his fingertips down her arm, the same way he’d done to convince her to come out on the lake with him, and she wondered what she was about to get talked into now. “You wanna drive back?”
Her inner child jumped up and gave a squee. “Does a hog like mud?”
Tucker folded her hand into his, and as he tugged her toward the front of the boat, she practically floated. “According to people in town, you and I like mud.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you callin’ me a hog?”
He positioned her in front of the steering wheel and placed her hands on the smooth, polished wood. “I’m calling us hogs.”
“So much better,” she said with a laugh. She glanced over her shoulder at him. “If you’re a hog, I’m a hog.”
“We have weird conversations.”
“Don’t act like you don’t like them.”
His chest bumped her back as he guided her hand to the throttle. His lips brushed her temple, and her body turned drunk-with-desire once again. “I count down the hours until we can have them.”
A swirl went through her gut, her thoughts about whether or not she should attempt line-crossing switching sides on her.
He hadn’t come out and said he felt the pull, but he wouldn’t constantly be putting his hands on her if he didn’t.
Would he?
Chapter Sixteen
Addie had been sending confusing signals all night.
Tucker would be sure they were on the verge of tipping the scales from friendship to more, but something held her back, which made him hold back.
He didn’t want to push. Didn’t want to ruin their easy hangouts and years of effortless friendship.
Yet he couldn’t seem to help himself when it came to touching her. He wrapped his hand around the curve of her hip, splaying his fingers.
She sucked in a sharp breath. So definitely not unaffected, but he needed more than that to risk breaching the friendship boundary.
“That’s the dock, right?” she asked.
Oops. If he didn’t pay attention, his freshly finished boat would end up in need of fixing again, they’d be taking an impromptu swim, and Addie might never forgive him for wrecking them in occasionally gator-infested water.
Teasing her about them had made her move closer and grab hold of him, and he might’ve taken advantage of that fact. If it meant having her cling to him like that, he’d see alligators everywhere he looked from here on out.
“Yeah, so just ease off the accelerator, and then…” He reached over her and maneuvered them next to the dock.
He climbed out of the boat, secured it in place, and extended a hand.
Even after semi-allowing his help lately, he halfway expected her to slap it away. Instead she placed her palm in his and let him pull her onto the wooden dock.
A mere breath of space remained between their bodies, and when the breeze stirred her hair, the strawberry scent that’d imprinted itself on his brain and slowly driven him crazy wafted over him.
Her eyes met his, and she licked her lips.
Right as he’d decided that was a signal, and he was going to go for it, she took a step back.
She rubbed her neck and glanced at the boat, the crinkle in her forehead making it clear she was battling the thoughts going through that beautiful head of hers.
“Remember how I can read your tells?” He cupped her chin and gently tipped her face to his. “Talk.”
She arched an eyebrow. “And if I refuse?”
At this point, he supposed it didn’t matter, because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer.
He needed to know if something else—namely someone else—was in the way. “Tell me you’re not holding back because of the dentist. I hoped watching you play football this afternoon with your burly group of friends would scare him off, even if that makes me an ass.”
“You’re definitely more ass-like than usual whenever it comes to him.”
It probably didn’t speak well to his mental state that he preferred her not pulling punches. It meant things between them were at least normal-ish. “I know.”
“At least you acknowledge it.”
He traced her jaw with his thumb, and when her hot exhale of breath skated over his wrist, longing seized hold of his body and refused to let go. “I don’t want you seeing him anymore.”
She swallowed. “Why would you care?”
“You know why. We’ve been dancin’ around it for a while, but I doubt you’ve failed to notice that something’s changin’ between us.”
Before taking her out on the boat, he’d worried he was the only affected one, but between the way her body had melted against his on the drive to the dock, the way she was curling her fingers around his wrist, and her dilating pupils, he was sure the electricity was traveling both ways.
“Don’t act like you don’t feel it,” he said.
He slid his arm around her waist, tethering her to him, and the instant their bodies met, liquid hot need flowed through him.
“Part of me wishes I could pretend I didn’t,” he added. “That we could go back to how things used to be because it would be easier. Simple. Normal.” He hadn’t felt normal about her in weeks. Nothing felt right until he was with Addie again, and the thought of her with anyone else opened up a raging, possessive side of him he didn’t know existed till now. “But there’s no simple and normal between us anymore.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” she said, and her eyes fluttered shut as he dragged his thumb over her full bottom lip. “There are so many complications and variables, and I don’t wanna create unnecessary drama.” Her eyes opened and locked on to his. “I don’t want to ruin things.”
“One problem at a time, Addes. Right now we’re discussin’”—he gritted his teeth—“the dentist.”
“He and I are done. Pretty sure we were done the instant you returned to town.”
Unable to wait another second, Tucker crashed his lips down on hers.
/> Relief and desire hit him at once, and he dove into the heady sensations.
He tugged on her ponytail, the way he’d done on countless occasions, but this time he used it to angle her head and deepen the kiss.
Her lips opened for him, her tongue tentatively touching his, and everything inside him roared. He pressed her closer and stroked his tongue over hers, tasting her moan as it vibrated through him.
The kiss was everything he’d fantasized it’d be and more.
And speaking of more, he couldn’t seem to get his fill. Even plastered against him, she wasn’t close enough.
He slid his hands lower on her back, and just before he gripped her ass and lifted her into his arms, he caught himself and—summoning all his self-control—forced himself to slow it down. To be cautious in his recklessness.
Torturous, but not nearly as torturous as it’d been to be around her these past few weeks without kissing her.
He broke the kiss but kept his hold on her.
She made a low mmm noise as she looked up at him through her lashes, a sexy move that had him wanting to kiss her all over again.
His thumb slipped underneath the hem of her shirt and skimmed across the smooth skin of her lower back. “You don’t really expect me not to kiss you when you say something like that, do you?”
“Do you really think we can kiss and not screw up our friendship?”
She placed her hands on his chest, where his heart pounded out a rapid, erratic rhythm.
“Factor in the upcoming wedding I’m now in again, our tight group of friends, my family getting involved, the whole town getting involved—basically, a lot of involvement all around.”
He wanted to tell her “of course” because they were Addie and Tucker, and they could take on anything.
Then he remembered Easton’s reminder of how much it sucked when the group dynamic was thrown off, and the pressure of nonstop gossip, and how once the town got involved, even the strongest of couples could hardly take it.
Lead filled his lungs, replacing more and more of his oxygen.
Man, the things he’d heard about his own parents when people didn’t realize he was around and listening. Not everyone was horrible, but several of the things he’d heard about Mom were.