by Kaitlyn Rice
And Isabel, who worried every day that she was too much like her mother, decided to be different.
Immediately, she got up and stood with her toes poised over the edge of the pool. Trevor reached his hands out, as if he expected her to jump straight into his embrace. But she couldn’t go that far.
“I’ll walk over to the steps,” she said, indicating with a sideways nod that she was heading for the shallow end.
He started in that direction underwater while she took off on foot. When she descended the concrete steps at the end, Angie shrieked. “Izza-bell! Are you getting in the pool, too?”
Pulling her gaze from Trevor’s swimming form, Isabel nodded at Angie and Darla. “I am.”
“Hip, hip, hooray!” The little girl, who’d been practicing head bobs, splashed her way over, arriving at Isabel’s side at the same time Trevor did. “Is Mr. Trebor teaching you?” Angie asked in a stage whisper.
“Guess so.”
“It’s easy,” Angie said. “He’ll hold you and you can float on top of the water. Watch me!”
Darla came over to help the little girl show off her new skills, and with each maneuver Isabel imagined Trevor’s hands touching her tummy and back, wherever Darla’s hands touched Angie.
Strange. The water did little to cool Isabel’s warming limbs.
After a while Darla told Angie that she wanted her to practice kicking before they quit for the day, so the two of them returned to the edge of the pool.
“You ready?” Trevor asked. “As Angie says, it’s easy. I’ll put my hand here.” He spread his palms around her waist. “Relax backward. I’ll hold you.”
It was becoming clearer and clearer to Isabel that Trevor hadn’t meant to say that she was charming in general.
When he laughed, he watched her mouth as if he wanted to coax a chuckle from it. When his glance captured hers, and it did often, he allowed his gaze to linger. Even now, he stood a little too close and allowed his hands to move a little too lovingly against her skin.
This swim lesson couldn’t have anything to do with relaxing.
But Isabel managed to lie back, allowing her legs to drift up. Allowing her eyes to meet his.
“Beautiful,” he said, his tone suggesting that he wasn’t speaking about her float.
She should tell him that she expected to have a future with Roger when she returned home.
Except, wouldn’t that be presumptuous?
I know you’re sort of interested, but don’t fall for me because I’m sort of taken. Or I will be taken, if my make-Roger-miss-me plan works.
Sounded presumptuous to her.
Isabel wished she could talk to her sisters about all this before anything else happened. She knew what they’d say, though. Josie would tell her to have fun. Callie would warn her to be careful.
Maybe she could do both.
Maybe she should find out what it was like to spend time with an attractive member of the opposite sex whom she hadn’t dated for three years, and whose routines and reactions weren’t completely expected.
Trevor was scary. Serious. Exciting. He might be too much for a novice flirt to start with, but Isabel liked the idea of taking on a bigger challenge.
As he moved her slowly across the surface of the pool, she gazed up at him. “I like this.”
“I do, too.” His low, sexy voice sent tremors shooting down Isabel’s body. But she wasn’t cold.
Not at all.
Oh, yeah. She wanted to tackle this challenge.
So far she was having a blast.
TREVOR TUGGED his armful of wet woman into deeper water, thinking his idea to attach himself romantically to Isabel was working better than he had expected.
But he wanted to evade Darla, who might very well demand to know why he hadn’t left for home when the counselors did, an aim he’d stated to her only this afternoon. She might even query his intentions regarding her friend.
When he’d sent the counselors away, he’d meant to follow them to town. He’d meant to check on things at home and rest up for the first week of camp. That was what he usually did on any off days.
But he’d seen Isabel sitting at the pool, and he’d been unable to resist. He’d changed into a spare set of trunks and plunged right in.
As he worked with Isabel on her float techniques, he decided he liked the idea of teaching her to swim, just so he could schedule more time with her.
In fact, right now, he had this strong hankering to kiss Isabel. A real kiss that had nothing to do with the camp kids or his crazy idea.
He moved his face nearer to hers, wondering how she’d react.
“Hey, Izza-bell!”
Isabel turned her head to look at the little girl. “What is it, Ange?”
“When you talked to my daddy, did he tell you the same thing he told me?”
Isabel offered Trevor a coy, “isn’t she cute” smile before returning her attention to Angie. “What was that, hon?”
“He misses bofe of us, tons!” Angie’s shout caused Isabel’s smile to vanish. “We’ll show my meanie brother. You’re gonna be his ee-bil stepmother, too!”
Isabel bit her lip, giving Trevor a look he recognized. As if she’d been hiding something. As if she was doing something now that she shouldn’t be doing.
As if she felt guilty.
Trevor yanked his hand out from beneath her. If she was involved with Angie’s father, then what was she doing here in this pool with him?
Well, drowning, for one thing.
Instead of getting her feet beneath her, she’d sunk.
Good God! Trevor thrust his hands in the water, gripping Isabel’s upper arms and pulling her to her feet. Then he hauled her into his arms and carried her into the shallower water.
After she’d stood up and sputtered the water from her mouth, she glared at him. “You dropped me!”
Trevor let go of her again. “I know.”
She reached up to swipe a curtain of wet, dripping hair out of her face. Then she glanced toward Darla and Angie, apparently making sure they were otherwise occupied. Finally she asked, “On purpose?”
“Didn’t you hear? Angie announced your secret.”
She rolled those pretty eyes, then shook her head. “What secret?”
He made an educated guess. “That her dad is your lover.”
She stared at him. “I’m a small-town, girl, Trevor. I don’t have a lover.”
“Your boyfriend, then. She implied that her dad is your boyfriend.”
“No. I believe she said that her father misses me,” she said. “Since his ex-wife and I are both gone, Roger is in charge of his son. He isn’t used to the responsibility on a full-time basis.”
“You watch your neighbor’s kids so much that their own father isn’t accustomed to having them around?”
She blinked water droplets from her eyelashes. “Yes.”
“Why?”
That got her. She blinked more but said nothing.
“Angie said you’ll be her evil stepmother,” Trevor said. “I couldn’t have mistaken that.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Angie wants me to be her step-mom. Roger and I have dated, but we’re not together now, okay? Don’t you have ex-girlfriends?”
He shrugged. “A few.”
“You haven’t told me about them.”
Of course he hadn’t. His exes were long gone. He didn’t talk to them on the phone, and he most certainly didn’t cart their kids across state lines.
“What’s the problem, anyway?” she said. “I don’t see why Angie’s announcement would make you drop me like a hot potato.”
Like a hot something. Not a potato.
Trevor took in the picture of Isabel, standing belly-deep in the water wearing a swimsuit that would be considered conservative. Except that from a distance, the color looked a lot like flesh. A person could form the impression she was naked and sexy as hell. If that weren’t enough, he might also like the way she listened and asked good questions. He might begin to think some p
art of his feelings were real.
He might feel duped.
“Because we were flirting,” he said. “Or so I thought.”
She frowned at him, then glanced at Darla and Angie. So did Trevor. Darla was talking to the little girl nonstop, probably trying to keep her attention diverted.
Isabel started toward the pool steps. “We should go somewhere else to discuss this.”
She was right. This wasn’t the time or place to talk about what the two of them were or were not doing together. The little girl who might or might not be Isabel’s future stepkid was right there, next to spitfire Darla.
No need to get anyone’s hackles up.
“I’ll follow you in a minute,” he hollered after Isabel.
She kept sloshing her way to the steps and didn’t acknowledge his declaration.
That was a good thing, because Trevor didn’t want to explain his lack of haste. He fell into the water and started a backstroke to the deep end. There, he paused long enough to notice Isabel disappear inside the lodge, then he flipped to his belly and began a punishing front crawl.
After a couple of laps, he’d managed to subdue the arousal he’d been battling for a little while now.
Ever since he’d imagined Isabel naked.
He pulled himself out at the steps and followed her wet tracks to the lounge chairs, where he grabbed a towel. On his way inside, he dried himself off and wrapped the thick cloth around his hips. Just in case.
She was standing in the community room, adjusting a towel around her bottom in the same way he had. When he approached, she looked up and frowned at him. “So. You were flirting with me.”
Trevor moved his gaze across her flushed cheeks, then down to her chest and up to her questioning eyes.
Had he misread the cues?
“I thought we were both flirting.” Hadn’t he explained that before?
As if she’d suddenly become aware of her barely concealed breasts, Isabel crossed her arms in front of her. But her nipples had been pebbled every time he’d looked. Outside, he might have blamed it on cool air against wet skin. But the lodge was warm. Stuffy, even.
Oh, yeah. She was attracted to him. He’d bank on it.
“You don’t even like me,” she announced.
“Huh?”
“You told Sam you didn’t want me around, remember?” she said. “Did my knowledge of natural health cures really convince you I was flirt-worthy?”
Trevor had barely had time to consider a rebuttal before she continued, “And don’t tell me you’re charmed by me. Something else changed your behavior. What was it?”
They’d talked about this before, too. Was Isabel trying to divert his attention?
Possibly.
Probably. But he wasn’t biting. Right now, they were discussing her involvement with Angie’s father.
Right now, Trevor was kicking himself. He’d dropped Isabel because he’d been surprised and hurt. Also, he was a mite stunned that he was surprised and hurt.
Damn it. He’d opened his emotions to her.
“Did Roger do something awful?” he asked. “Sleep with someone else?”
“What? No.” She looked horrified.
“Did you two just break up?”
She bit her lip, and he knew.
She’d broken things off with Roger very recently.
Trevor was her rebound guy.
Wow. He’d never been a rebound guy.
This was…embarrassing. The thing to do now was to back off and head home.
“Trevor, I’ll be honest with you,” Isabel said. “Roger and I did break up right before I came out here. We’ve dated three years, and I learned recently that our relationship was going nowhere. I don’t know what will happen in the future. Does it help to know that?”
He studied her. Her brows were raised, her eyes wide, her lips relaxed. She’d offered him the truth, and in doing so had returned some of his dignity.
“Sure, it does,” he said.
“Now will you be honest with me?”
He thought he had been. He’d tried.
“Are you starting a friendship with me, or are you thinking about more?”
If he wanted an out, she’d just offered him one. He could tell her he’d been trying to be friendly, not amorous. That he was sorry to have confused her, but no offense, and he’d try harder not to act smitten when he really wasn’t.
He didn’t want an out. Not yet.
He’d only deny his attraction to save himself from embarrassment—which was not a respectable reason. Besides, he still had the hormone-charged camp kids to worry about.
Or maybe he was just fooling himself.
Something about Isabel had snagged his full attention, and he wanted to know her. Sam had been right all along. He had a crush. He wasn’t fifteen, though, and right now, he couldn’t be more glad.
He smiled at Isabel. “Confession time,” Trevor said. He took Isabel’s arm to guide her farther into the lodge. “Have a seat.”
“My suit is wet.”
“Relax, the furniture in here is sturdy,” he said. “Remember, Sam equipped this place to handle heavy use by sweaty, bug-sprayed guests and campers.”
She eased into a wicker love seat and pulled a flower-shaped pillow over her middle.
He claimed the chair across from her and leaned forward. “Are you sure you’re not currently involved with Angie’s dad?”
She sighed. “I told him today I thought he should date other people. I’m trying to think about other things.”
“Are you okay with the breakup?”
“I’ve been so busy I haven’t thought about it much.”
Trevor leaned forward and put his hand over Isabel’s towel-covered knee. “You surprised me, you know. That’s why I dropped you in the pool.”
She nodded.
Funny, how well the truth worked.
“I thought I could ignore my attraction to you. Obviously, I’m liking you more than I’d expected. I’m sorry if I haven’t made myself clear.”
Her eyes dropped to his hand, still on her knee.
Without thinking about it, he moved it away, respecting her boundaries.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Roger,” she murmured.
He slid a hand down her upper arm and could feel her goose bumps.
She liked his touch, he assumed.
He looked into her eyes. “So if you’re not involved with him now, things are okay between us.”
“I guess so,” she said, her eyes confused.
He might have backed away then, allowing both of them time and space to recover from a turbulent afternoon.
But she stared at his chest, and he felt more inclined to puff it out than cover it up. She looked up into his eyes, then let her attention drift down to his lips.
And linger.
He leaned forward and claimed her mouth.
Hadn’t she been asking for a kiss with that look?
Then why was she keeping her mouth so stiff?
Trevor frowned, thinking she was going to pull away and tell him he’d misread cues again.
But she remained there, her lips against his. Willing, but perhaps not completely certain about what was happening. Her lips remained firm even after he inched in closer and tried again.
Hell, she was probably still thinking about Roger.
Trevor couldn’t let her get away with that. She was with him now. He’d wanted to knock any thoughts of another guy clean out of her head.
Trevor scooted forward off his chair, resting his hands lightly on Isabel’s arms and pressing his face closer to hers. He angled his jaw and nibbled teasingly against her lips.
No go.
She kept her mouth closed as if she were a twelve-year-old girl who was kissing a boy for the very first time.
That was when Trevor really put himself into the task. He firmed his grip on her, moving forward on his knees until they were chest to breast. Tummy to belly.
Arousal to
seat cushion.
He retreated a half inch, then moved his hands to her hips. He softened his mouth, slanted it in the other direction, opened it to capture her, then ran his tongue along her bottom lip.
She made a mewling sound against his mouth. Then she opened herself up to him.
She was sweet. Soft. Sexy.
Trevor stayed there for a moment, teasing with his lips and tongue while her murmurs made him want to crawl into the love seat with her. She became bolder then, touching the tip of her tongue to his. Her hands gripped his bare shoulders, then skimmed his bare chest.
She was into his kiss now. Enjoying it fully, and getting better and more passionate with each passing second. Almost as if she was learning to kiss.
Could her earlier hesitation have been born of inexperience rather than indecision?
No. She was way past twelve, and she’d dated Roger for three years, she’d said. She’d been battling old loyalties, surely.
But Trevor opened his eyes and saw the dazed expression in those blue depths, and realized he might be encouraging a newly emerging sexuality in her.
The thought sent him reeling, and he was breathing hard and wishing he could make the other choice. That he could peel off all the wet towels and go for it.
Isabel was either loyal to a man who may or may not deserve it, or she’d had a very limited sex life. Trevor didn’t know which was the case, but he’d have to be careful not to feel too challenged by the question.
She might be Sleeping Beauty, but he didn’t feel like any Prince.
He still couldn’t believe in the fairy tale.
Chapter Seven
The first group of boys arrived by bus on Monday morning, and Isabel soon recognized exactly how much extra work they created at the camp. She helped Darla in the office most of the time, but even that was chaotic. Kids interrupted constantly to deliver messages, drop mail in the outgoing slot or ask if anyone had turned in their lost eyeglasses or flashlights or socks.
This group, who ranged in age from twelve to fifteen, would spend the first few days learning to pitch tents and load backpacks, also taking longer and longer day excursions in preparation for some overnight trips they’d tackle later in their program.
Isabel saw Trevor only once that week. On Thursday he poked his head inside the main office to inquire about an absent camper. After Darla’s explanation that the kid had developed a nasty case of chicken pox and gone home, Trevor turned his gaze to Isabel, offering a quick wink before he left.