by Caroline Lee
Finally, he called Indy over with her whistle, and Ellie followed, still chuckling. Will did his best not to be distracted by the way her smile and the sun lit her face, or how she was breathing just a little hard. Man, oh man, he could watch her forever.
“Do you need any help?”
Her questions jolted him back to the here-and-now. “No, no, I got it all. But we’re almost ready.”
And then his mind went blank again, when she pulled down one strap of that sundress. “Sure. I’ve got my suit on already.”
Will swallowed, and jerked his gaze to the truck bed, knowing that the image of her peeling off that sexy little dress down over her black swimsuit would haunt his dreams. Probably forever. She wasn’t wearing anything too provocative—a black one-piece with a halter and a modest neckline—but the woman could likely wear a potato sack and still look amazing.
“Here,” he managed to croak out, fumbling in the truck bed. “I, uh…” He had to take a deep breath, steeling himself to see her in that suit, before he turned with his offering outstretched. “The water can be chilly. We rent wetsuits, but I thought you might prefer…”
She took the bundle of black neoprene from him and held it out, her blue eyes raking over the short-sleeves and zipper. “I didn’t even consider being cold. Thank you!”
“It’s, uh… It’s mine. My old one, I mean. From when I was a kid.” That’s the one he’d been wearing when Wade had saved him that time. “It was the only one I had that was small enough to fit you.”
She flashed him a grateful smile, and then unzipped the suit, bending over to step into it. When both legs were in the leg-holes, she began the universal shimmy required to pull the neoprene up over her skin. Will had seen it thousands—millions?—of times before, but that particular wiggle had never looked anywhere near as provocative as it did now. Ellie wasn’t even looking at him—was concentrating on stuffing herself into his wetsuit—but Will felt his chest tightening.
Holy moly she was hot.
In an effort to distract himself, he grabbed another set of items from the truck bed. “I didn’t have any booties that would fit you, but Kelsi loaned me her water-shoes. They’re adjustable, so should fit you fine.” He held out the footwear just as Ellie zipped up the suit, and a part of him died a little to see all that golden skin disappearing under black rubber. But another, harder part of him liked the idea of all that skin pressed against his wetsuit very, very much.
“Thanks.” She didn’t even seem to realize how she was affecting him. “I guess I couldn’t wear my flip-flops, huh?” But putting on the sandals required her to balance on one foot, and she placed her hand on his forearm to support herself, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Will held himself very still, focusing on the way her touch sent little waves of electricity across his skin, and tried not to breathe in her scent too deeply, for fear that she’d notice something was wrong with him.
She must not have, because she straightened and smiled brightly at him, stomping in place to get the shoes on comfortably. “I appreciate the loan, Will. Do you need any more help?”
“Nah.” Returning her grin was easy; it was not letting her see anything else in his expression that was the hard part. “Let’s go.”
He showed her how to sit in the raft, how to balance her weight—or throw it around as needed—and how to hold her paddle. “I’ll do most of the steering from back here, and the current will do most of the work. Since you’re the only one up in the bow fending off the big rocks, I’ll make sure we stick to the easiest route for this trip.” He said it, realizing that he was hoping there’d be more trips with her in the future. But she just nodded and looked eager to start. “Indy knows when to keep her head down and out of the way, so don’t worry about her. And don’t forget what I said about holding on to your T-grip.”
“Gotchya, worry-wart. Let’s shove off!”
Laughing at her enthusiasm, Will did, and they floated into the river, and…well, everything went soft. Like, this was where he was supposed to be. It happened every time he went out on the river, but today was different. More perfect, somehow. It had to be the fact that Ellie was with him, enthusiastically paddling them downriver.
A paddle in his hand, his dog at his feet, and a beautiful blonde in the bow. What more could a man want?
Will had purposefully chosen a put-in site that had easy water for the first half-hour, just to give her a chance to practice. Even so, he was impressed. “You’re pretty good at this, you know.”
“Thanks.” She threw a smile over her shoulder. The raft was large enough for at least four adults, but he’d put her on the bow thwart toward the right, thinking she’d be a stronger paddler on that side, while he steered from the stern. “I grew up canoeing in South Carolina.”
He pulled a face, making sure she could see it. “In those swamps you were telling me about?”
“Ha! Might as well be swamps compared to the Roiling Rapid River, I guess. But I’ve been rafting before, you know.” She paused to fend off a rock when Will pointed. “My parents took the three of us out to Colorado one summer on a road trip. Dink was young enough she probably doesn’t remember, but Elvis and I had a great time. I only fell in twice.”
Will chuckled, to think of Ellie as a youngster. “You know, you’re way more of an outdoorsy sort of gal than I would’ve thought, coming from L.A.”
“Gal? You thought I was a man, as I recall.”
“Well, yeah.” They hit another patch of rapids, and didn’t speak for a while.
Things didn’t get dicey until they came to one of the class threes and he was concentrating on steering when she hollered, “Port! Port!”
Whipping his head around, he couldn’t figure out what she meant. Wasn’t port a kind of liquor? “What?” And that’s when the raft slammed into a hidden rock on the left side, sending them spinning into the rapids, and he had to concentrate on keeping them from flipping.
Still, they were both laughing with exhilaration when they hit the next patch of clear water. “Port? What the heck?”
“Sorry!” She was still chuckling, and flopped over the side, obviously enjoying the chance for the rest. “I grew up sailing. Port, starboard. Instead of left and right, I mean.”
Will stretched his feet out to rub Indy under her chin with one toe, and propped an elbow on the thick rubber skin of the raft. “Sailing, huh? So you’re a water gal after all?” He tried not to think of how good she looked in that suit and even the PFD—no one else looked good in a life jacket—and how natural she was with a paddle in her hand…and failed.
“I guess so.” She shrugged. “Not so much the beach, though. I like…” She took a deep breath—Will watched her chest expand inside his wetsuit, and liked the view very much—and looked around at the steep mountains around them. “I like trees. And nature.”
“So… You’re not a city girl after all, huh?”
She shifted slightly so that she could look back at him, but he couldn’t read the look in her eyes. Then she glanced back at the mountains drifting by them, took another deep breath, and focused on her hands, still gripping the paddle in her lap. She seemed to stare at them for much longer than necessary before she sighed, and murmured, “Maybe not.”
Will hadn’t realized he’d been holding his own breath until he heard that faint confession, and then his shoulders relaxed. Maybe not. Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t need to go back to L.A. when the month was over?
He’d never been one to focus on the future, and couldn’t afford to start now. Not when he was in charge of keeping them afloat until they hit the lunch spot. But he promised himself that when he had the chance, he was going to think long and hard about the possibility of convincing Miss Elliot Redfern that going back to L.A. didn’t sound like so much fun, after all.
Another hour on the river, and Indy was starting to get antsy. Will’s stomach was rumbling, and when he asked about stopping for lunch, Ellie responded “Yes, please!
”
“Okay. Another heavy stretch, and we’ll be at the location where we put-in normally. We can stop there for a picnic.”
“Sounds great.” She paused. “How come you don’t do these full-day trips with the guests? Stopping for lunch halfway, I mean? Where we left the truck seemed like a nice put-in place, well-used. Seems like something the more experienced rafters would enjoy.”
Will shrugged. “I guess we just don’t have enough staff. Getting everyone up here, organizing lunches…”
He swore he heard a giggle from the bow. “Logistics, I get it. You know, once we hire more staff, this should all be easier.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He’d seen the resumes she’d already gotten, and knew she was ready to interview a few. And, since his entire share of the ranch rested in her managing to get this program running perfectly, he was darned grateful for her efforts. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease her. “More hands, light work. I get it, I get it.” She giggled again. “But this better mean that you’re planning on setting up the rotations, now that you’ve crewed on the river. That was the point of you coming out today, to get experience so you could organize the program.”
She turned just enough so that he could see her eager smile. “I’m looking forward to it, Will.”
And maybe he would’ve had a response to that, if his throat hadn’t gone dry at the sound of his name on her lips. Wow. He could listen to her forever, it felt like.
He would’ve too, if they hadn’t hit the last patch of rapids right then. He blinked, remembered his duties, and hollered instructions to her right before the raft dipped. He heard her squeal as the water came over the bow, but when he shook his hair out of his ears, it was to hear her laughter. She continued laughing all the way through the class fours, and he discovered that it was infectious.
When they emerged, wet but unscathed, Indy hauled herself to her feet, howled once, and then launched herself over the side into the calm water. As they watched her paddle happily towards the right bank, the two humans dissolved into hopeless laughter once more.
Will steered them into an eddy, and then slumped down beside Ellie. She was still laughing, and in that moment, he knew he’d never seen anyone—anything—so beautiful. She’d gone through rapids with him, and laughed.
He was probably half in love already.
That’s when he knew he was going to kiss her. Kiss the water droplets off her lips, kiss the sparkle from her eyes. It wasn’t a conscious thought; he just leaned over and dropped a peck on her lips.
Abruptly, she stopped laughing. Her eyes went wide, but she didn’t pull away, and Will took that as encouragement…or as much encouragement as he was likely to get. So he placed one hand on her cheek, just in case she decided to bolt, and lowered his lips to hers once more.
He was kissing her? He was kissing her!
Ellie’s brain had apparently stopped working when she felt that first, surprising brush of his lips against hers. But when she felt his palm against her cheek, her heart went into overtime. He was kissing her.
And wow, was it amazing!
She should’ve pulled away, or at least reminded herself that he was her employer. But when his teeth nibbled against her lower lip, and she felt her knees turn to jelly, all she cared about was making sure he didn’t stop anytime soon. So she hummed against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.
Maybe it was an hour later, or maybe only a few minutes, when he finally pulled back slightly. They were splayed across the bottom of the raft, their butts having slipped against the sides until only their shoulders were upright. They were both soaked, and sweaty, and Ellie couldn’t imagine a more perfect first kiss.
He’d kissed her. Wow.
Her skin was still tingling from the electricity he somehow managed to send up and down her arms and bare legs just from being him. And in that moment, Ellie didn’t care one bit why she was in Idaho, or how long she was here. All she knew was that she’d just spent the most exhilarating morning of her life having fun in the most beautiful place she could recall, and now she was ravenously hungry for more than just a picnic lunch.
“…Why is the whole world spinning?”
He lifted his hand off her cheek to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, in a wonderfully intimate gesture. “I feel it too,” he whispered.
“No, I mean…” Ellie forced herself to sit up slightly. The world was spinning slightly.
When he began to chuckle, they were still close enough that she felt it throughout her body. “Sorry. I dropped us in an eddy so we could catch our breaths.”
Sure enough, the raft was lazily twirling in a pocket of water behind one of the large rocks. Ellie struggled upright, quelling the disappointment she felt as his skin slid apart from hers, but forcing herself to remember certain truths. Truths like “Workplace romances don’t work out” and “You’ll be going home to L.A. in two weeks.”
Neither made her feel as good as his kisses had, and the cool air against her cheeks was an unwelcome splash of reality. She knew that she had to distance herself not just from Will, but from the situation. Otherwise she was likely to throw herself right back into his arms again.
So she straightened and, in one sudden movement, rolled herself over the side of the raft and into the water. It was only about waist-deep, and there was no current, so she let herself sink completely under, desperately hoping that the icy water would cool her skin.
He was back in his seat when she stood upright, giving no sign that he’d enjoyed the kiss as much as she had. At least, he hadn’t turned into a panting idiot, which was more than she could say for herself. He was wearing that wry half-grin that she was coming to adore, but she took that as more teasing for someone silly enough to purposefully throw herself overboard.
But the longer he stared, the more self-conscious she became. “What?”
“Nothing.” The grin grew. “I was just thinking about that painting. You know. The one with Aphrodite standing in the clamshell, with all the baby angels around her?”
Ellie blinked. “You mean The Birth of Venus?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” He shrugged and dug the paddle into the water. “That’s what you reminded me of.”
That… That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said about her, but Ellie just laughed, disbelieving. Men didn’t go around saying she reminded them of classical paintings!
…Did they?
Grabbing the bowline, she began to trudge toward the bank where Indy was already shaking herself dry. As she pulled the raft behind her, Will stacked his hands behind his head and leaned back with a teasing grin, as if happy to let her do all the work.
She hid her grin by turning back to shore.
Once they beached the raft, she helped Will unload the cooler and the waters, and then stretched out in the shade beside him to enjoy the sandwiches and watch Indy romp in the shallows.
“Hey, these are pretty good sandwiches.” Will looked down at his ham-and-cheese in enough surprise to make Ellie giggle.
“Didn’t you make them?”
“Nope. Kelsi hired a new cook at the café a month or two ago, really popular food apparently. He’s started making these box lunches on Mom and Dad’s not-too-subtle suggestion. I figured he was better at packing them, so I ordered from him.”
Ellie dug through the boxed lunches, and pulled out chips, some apples, and a few tubes of yogurt. “Not bad.” She opened up one of the yogurts and took a slurp. “So how come I haven’t met your Mom and Dad yet?” She’d met all of the other Westons here and there, even the reticent Wyatt and reclusive Dani.
Will sighed. “They’re retired. Most people retire to a resort out west, but they spent their whole lives running this place, so when they retired, they climbed into the RV and took off. The last time I talked to them, they were in…uh…Oklahoma or someplace.” He ran his empty hand through his hair, and Ellie knew whatever he was about to say wasn’t pleasant. “They call one of us at least once a
week with crazy new schemes. Box lunches for hikers. Expanding the kitchens. Hiring a pastor for the chapel. Like some kinda test.”
“Have they given you a test?” She didn’t know why she asked it, but his sharp glance told her she’d hit on a sore subject.
“No.” His denial was too fast to be believable. “Not really.” A deep breath. “They’re determined to run the place from the road, though. I mean, they tell us they’re just making sure that we can handle the responsibility, but still…”
“Is River’s End Ranch yours?”
“Not yet.” He took a vicious bite of the sandwich he held. “But it will be.” His words might’ve been muffled by bread, but she heard the conviction in his voice just the same.
Desperate to make him feel better, she leaned back on her elbows. “What’s your favorite movie?”
His brows went up at the change of subject, and he stared at her a long moment before shrugging. “I dunno. Anything fun, I guess. How about you?”
“Superhero flicks, I guess. Um… Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies. That sort of thing.”
“’I’ve got a lotta fond memories of that dog’.”
His Harrison Ford impression startled a bark of laughter out of her. “I knew you were an Indiana Jones fan!” He joined in her laughter. “Anyone who names their dog Indy had to be!”
As if she’d heard her name, the Border Collie came bounding over, panting happily, and threw herself down on Ellie’s lap, which just made the humans laugh harder.
“Come on, girl, come on.” Will even tried his whistle, but the dog just lifted her head to peer at her master. No matter how much Ellie squirmed, Indy wouldn’t budge. “It looks like you’ve got a new lap blanket.”
Still laughing, Ellie held her sandwich out of the dog’s reach. “Well, she can’t have my lunch.”