by Leddy Harper
“I really appreciate it, Kenny.” His smile showed gratitude, even though his tone rang with dejection. “It’s all been tried before. One of these days, this place won’t survive, and I’m okay with that. My dad, on the other hand, isn’t. This place—this lake—means something to him. It meant something to my grandmother, too. But over time, it’s lost its appeal to the locals, to the residents…to me. And as long as my dad isn’t around to see its doors close, I’m fine with that.”
“So you’re working your butt off to help your dad keep this place running, but once he’s gone, then you’re done with it?” My passion rose to the surface before I could keep it at bay. I didn’t know why I felt so strongly about him or this place. I’d gotten sucked in.
“Who knows…maybe by then, it will be run into the ground.” With a teasing wink, he leaned forward and teetered on the edge of the couch while saying, “I should probably get going before I fall asleep on your sofa. Not sure the old man would appreciate that.”
As much as I didn’t want him to leave, it was getting late. Not to mention, I had a feeling that we’d broached a conversation he didn’t care to have. Even though I wasn’t left with much choice other than to say goodnight, part of me wanted to continue talking so he wouldn’t leave. “Let me walk you out.”
Without a word, he followed me to the front porch. I closed the door and stood with my back against it, unsure of what to do or say next. He tilted his head, and the light on the wall next to me caught his eyes. For the first time, I was able to see them as more than endless depths. They practically glowed, lit up like black diamonds. Looking into them, I felt lost…yet found. It was a contradiction I couldn’t explain, as if I’d been wandering aimlessly my entire life and just never realized it until this very moment.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Drew asked with a smile stretched across his very kissable lips.
“I…don’t know. I don’t really have any plans this week.”
He nodded and held his breath for a second. “Good. Be ready by noon.”
“Why?”
“I want to take you out on the lake.”
“Aren’t you busy tomorrow?” I wasn’t sure if I was trying to get out of it or trying to make him change his mind. But whatever it was, I needed to cut it out before losing my only opportunity to see this place from the water. It’d been one of the prime reasons to take this trip in the first place. Plus, the thought of spending more time with him left me energized.
“Let me worry about that.”
Not wanting to look too eager, I simply nodded and said, “Okay.”
Well, I’d meant to say it. Instead, it came out pathetic and breathy—a whispered word wrapped in lust and carnal need. Had the bulb on the wall next to us been brighter, or more natural, I bet he would’ve seen me blush. He would’ve seen the familiar burn take over my neck and face.
“Thank you for the evening, Kenny.” He took my hand and waited until I met his stare.
I wanted to correct him again, force him to call me McKenna, but the second my eyes met his, energy ran through me like sizzling electricity. It caught me off guard and stilled my every thought, every move. My skin tingled and heart rate increased. And out of nowhere, the air became warmer, more stifling than a small, windowless room in the middle of summer.
“What’s wrong?” Drew, who had to be nearly a foot taller than me, stooped down enough to come as close to eye level as he could. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I tried to answer, shaking my head. “I can’t explain it.”
His onyx eyes flashed with something—recognition maybe. I couldn’t tell, but it warmed and calmed me all at once. “Try.”
The atmosphere around us changed. Suddenly, a layer of intensity settled over us. The light next to the door didn’t change, though it seemed to grow dimmer. A wave of heat wrapped around me like a blanket, but at the same time, a chill ran between us—nowhere else, just between the front of my body and his. Scorching energy passed through the front porch that nearly left my hair standing on end. It pulled us closer without either of us moving and created a buzz within the heightening silence.
It was unexplainable.
Yet, at the same time, I felt in my soul that I understood it.
I shook my head, breaking the spell that had drawn us both in. Our lips mere inches apart, dangerously close to kissing. “I’m just tired, that’s all. My body is humming with the kind of exhaustion that makes you feel punch drunk. And I’m sure the drinks haven’t done anything to help with that,” I added with a mocking eye roll and smirk.
“It’s okay…I know what you mean. I felt it too.”
I froze, unsure if he meant he was tired as well, or if he was saying that he’d felt the same electricity that I had. If so, that would mean it hadn’t been all in my head. However, the more I ran through his words, the more lost in his rumbly voice I became.
It was like hearing thunder dance with lightning.
Like in the types of storms that practically sit right on top of you. The lightning becomes a silent tempo in the sky, the thunder creating the cadence, and together, they dance to the song of the storm. There’s no separation of the two. It rumbles around you like the earth is splitting at your feet. And you fall to the bottom, wrapped in the echo.
That’s what Drew’s voice sounded like.
And that’s what it did to me.
Catching me off guard, he leaned down just enough to bring his lips closer to my ear and whispered, “Goodnight,” before gliding across the dirt to his golf cart, taking the air in my lungs with him.
Chapter Three
Drew
The heat of the sun drenched the material of my shirt and soaked into my back. I knew it would only get worse once we got out on the water, but I couldn’t dwell on that. I couldn’t think about anything other than getting to Kenny’s cabin. I only had a small window of time to work with, and if I missed it, I knew I wouldn’t get another opportunity to do this again.
Luckily, I didn’t have to waste time knocking. As soon as I pulled up front, she came out and locked the door behind her. I should’ve gotten up to at least greet her, but the sight of her immobilized my limbs. My heart raced as she came closer, and the world came to a standstill as I studied everything about her. Large sunglasses covered her eyes, but they didn’t do anything to hide her beauty. She was gorgeous—beyond beautiful, surpassed sexy. Timeless. Perfect.
“How’d you sleep?” I asked as soon as she settled in the golf cart next to me.
“Surprisingly well for being in a strange bed.”
“Strange?” I teased. “And here I thought we bought normal furniture.” We slipped into familiar banter, like we’d known each other for years instead of under twenty-four hours.
As if her giggle wasn’t enough to get my attention, she ensured it by offering me a genuine grin, a cotton-candy hue painting her neck. “It really is a comfortable mattress. Whoever picked it out did a fantastic job.”
“We make sure our guests are happy here at Black Bird Resort,” I retorted in a dramatic, over-the-top, cheerful voice one would expect from a manager.
The cart lurched forward slightly as I took my foot off the brake to drive away.
“What about you?” she asked as we made our way down the dirt path. “Did you sleep all right? I know you said that you had to get up early this morning.”
“I hit the snooze button a couple of times, but I managed to get up. Although, I’m pretty sure that had more to do with the time than how well I slept, because I don’t particularly feel tired at the moment.” That could’ve also been because of the adrenaline coursing through me, knowing what I was about to show her. I’d never been more excited to see someone’s reaction to the steeple; I just knew she wouldn’t be disappointed.
At the fork in the path, I veered right, which caught Kenny’s attention. She craned her neck to peer behind us and then settled her gaze back on me. If it hadn’t been for her pinched brow, I would’
ve never picked up on her confusion from behind her sunglasses.
“Where are we going? I thought the dock and boats were that way.”
I hadn’t intentionally misled her, but I had to admit that the sudden suspense of the moment excited me a bit. “Yeah, they are, but we’re not going on the resort’s boat. We’re taking mine. I keep it at my dock…at my house. I live a little ways up the mountain.”
Kenny’s brow furrowed even more, causing my excitement to turn to worry.
I slowed the cart until it was at a snail’s pace and looked her way. “I hope that’s all right. I would’ve mentioned it to you last night when we made plans, but honestly, I wasn’t really thinking about the specifics.”
“Oh, you’re fine; I don’t care which boat we take. I just wondered how you live up the mountain, yet your boat is in the water…which is down there.” She pointed off into the distance toward the lake.
“You’ll see.” Rather than explain something she’d understand in a few minutes, I picked up the pace, knowing I didn’t have far to go.
“Did you get all your work done this morning?”
“Yeah, it was just paperwork. Really, I should have my dad take over that side of the business, considering he’s in the office most of the time anyway. It’d be one less thing I would have to deal with.” I gave that suggestion a quick thought and then shook my head. “Well, maybe not. I’d likely end up stressing over his accuracy.”
“Why? Doesn’t he know how to do math, or whatever it is you do?”
Part of me wanted to slow down and enjoy yet another conversation with Kenny. But the biggest part of me wanted to hurry up and get her on the water—not because I still had a day’s worth of work to do, but because we were in a race against time, and I didn’t want to chance missing our moment.
“My grandmother taught me how to do the books, so when she got sick and had to take a step back, she handed that particular task to me. Since then, I’ve created a more organized system to keep track of expenses and whatnot, and honestly, I doubt my dad would understand much of it. He doesn’t tech.”
There went that giggle again, and it made me curse the breeze that swept it away.
“So are you done with work for the day?”
“Not even close. I managed to spare a couple of hours to take you out on the water, but I have a tour at three, followed by dinner shift at The Feeder.”
I slowed down as we rounded a curve in the trail and ducked to avoid being smacked in the face with a wayward branch. The pathway got a little thicker back here, probably because I was the only one who came this way. The only thing ahead was my house, so there was no reason for anyone—other than my dad—to be back here.
“You run the tours, too?” she asked with genuine awe in her lilted tone. She made it sound like driving a boat around a lake and pointing things out to people was an impressive skill.
I rode the brake as I pulled to the side of my cabin just before taking a sharp turn to head down a private trail that ran behind my house. “My dad used to, but now that he takes blood thinners, he’s very sensitive to the sun. Even if he bathes in sunblock, he still tends to burn. Plus, it’s always worse on the water with the reflection and heat.” I came to a slow stop and turned to face her. “But I don’t do every tour; they’re rotated between me and another guy who works here—another Jack of all trades.”
Kenny met me around the front of the cart, childlike giddiness dripping from the corners of her infectious grin. It nearly took my breath away, as well as made me yearn to see her eyes. I itched to swim in the color and dance in the gleam. Except, it didn’t seem like I’d get the chance anytime soon. Even though the trees were denser in this one spot and offered plenty of shade from the midday sun, she didn’t remove her sunglasses.
Instead, she threw her head back, staring up at the tree-covered sky, and hummed.
And it instantly became my favorite sound.
I wished the sight would’ve lasted for hours, but it did not. She righted herself after only a few seconds and then met my stare through her tinted shades. With my heart showing signs of arrhythmia, I led her down the packed-earth trail to the back of the house. As soon as we made it through the trees and into the clearing, her gasp rang out, and it took everything in me not to turn around and bask in the sight of her once again.
The back of the house opened up into a panoramic view of the reservoir. It was high enough on the side of the mountain that I could see more than at water level, but not so high I couldn’t have my own access to the lake. It was also far enough away from the resort’s cabins to have a bit of privacy. It was the perfect location.
I continued to lead Kenny down the steep pathway toward the floating dock. With it being a reservoir, the water level fluctuated on a daily basis, hence the need for something that could adjust automatically. It also meant that with the water at its lowest, as it was right now, the hike to the boat was steep.
My palms itched, as if they had this undying need to hold her hand while we walked to the dock. My feet slowed any time she fell a step behind, as if they could sense her distance and lingered so she could catch up. I had to shake my head to rid the thoughts of not being in control of my own body, the feeling of something greater pulling the strings, forcing us together.
Something I couldn’t explain.
Something I refused to think about.
“This is your house?” Her words floated behind us as we walked.
I knew without seeing her that she had her attention over her shoulder in the direction of my cabin, which meant I had to verbalize my nod. “Yeah, it’s nothing fancy, but then again, I don’t need anything extravagant. It’s just me.”
“It’s nice,” she said just as I stopped next to the boat. “Although, with all those windows lining the back, I bet it gets really—” Her sentence ended abruptly when she ran right into me, her fingers gripping my T-shirt to steady herself. And even though she wore dark shades, I knew she had her eyes on mine as her breath wafted across my chin. “Hot,” she finished on a whisper.
I didn’t move, just remained slightly bent over with our faces closer than usual, frozen with my hands on her hips. It took a moment to remember what she had said as she bumped into me. Thinking was a tedious task when her mouth was so close I could smell the strawberry lip balm, which tinted her tempting lips the lightest shade of pink.
If I could, I would’ve stayed like this all day, but somewhere in the back of my mind, a sensible voice reminded me of our tightening time restraints. So, in order to rein in my desires, I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath. It was enough to free myself—even if only for a moment—from the invisible binds that connected us whenever we were near. “It does get hot, but the views at night make it worth it.”
Thankfully, Kenny appeared to snap out of it as well. She shook her head and took a step back. It added distance between us, as well as broke my hold on her hips, which proved to be both disappointing and necessary.
Now that I could think again, I crouched down and reached for the boat. I grabbed the rope tied to the cleat and pulled it closer to the dock. It was nothing more than a fifteen-foot flats boat with room for four people—at the most—to stand. There weren’t even seats behind the center steering console, only a cushioned “bench” to rest our backs against. It was a fishing boat, plain and simple, but since it was the only way to take her out on the lake, it would suffice.
“Here, hop on, and then we can get going.” I held it steady as she stepped off the wooden planks and onto the bow. Once she was situated behind the steering column, I released the rope, jumped on, and gave the post a gentle shove to push us away from the dock.
I moved in next to her and turned the key. Just as it sputtered to life, Kenny gently grabbed my arm as though I were escorting her and said something. I watched her lips move, and I heard her melodic voice, yet neither formed coherent words to my ears.
“Say that again,” I begged in a pleading whisper, hoping she c
ould hear me over the motor.
It seemed my request stalled her. She licked her lips and swallowed deeply before slowly repeating herself. “You’ve checked your watch no less than five times since you picked me up.” Her observation was news to me, but I didn’t doubt it. Like most people, I tended to check the time without consciously acknowledging it. “If there’s somewhere else you need be—or even want to be—I’ll totally understand.”
Her voice might’ve been soft, but it packed a hefty punch. Her words slammed into me like a torpedo, and it knocked nearly every thought from my mind. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak. I just did. As if on autopilot, I reached up and pulled her sunglasses down her nose to read her eyes, needing to see them to steady myself.
Those aquamarine pools sucked me in, and I found myself wanting to be baptized in them. “There’s nowhere else I want or need to be.”
“Oh, okay…” She dropped her attention to my chest, contemplation lining her brow.
Realizing that I hadn’t explained repeatedly looking at my watch, I added, “The water level fluctuates during the day; therefore, I need to keep an eye on the time so I can make sure we don’t miss it.”
Her eyes quickly widened as she lifted her gaze from my chest to my face. Excited curiosity colored her cheeks, her smile deepening the small dimple in her chin. Not even her thick, dark, fluttering lashes could hide the exhilaration playing out in her expression. “Miss what?”
“You’ll see,” I said with a wink before focusing on steering the boat.
This seemed to pacify her, at least for the time being. She slid her sunglasses back onto her face and settled in next to me against the cushioned bench. Just because she refrained from pestering me about my surprise didn’t mean she wasn’t obsessing over what it could be. That was obvious in the way she carefully observed everything around us as we moved through the lake.
“Does everything around here refer to birds?” she asked over the low roar of the idling motor once we made our way into the low-speed zone. “I noticed the front desk is called Crow’s Nest. Then you have The Birdfeeder for the restaurant. What do you call everything else?”