“He’s probably been offered a bribe or something. I can’t believe he’s behind this.”
“They need to put it somewhere else.”
“I agree with ya, Bill, but leave Kip alone today. We’ll talk to him soon.”
Annie strolled back to the table and pointed out the men to Kip, reporting what they’d said. Kip just laughed. “The loud mouth is Bill Fletcher. I don’t pay any attention to what he says. All he does is complain. Here, open up.” Kip had a large, flaky lump of crabmeat between his fingers, which he dropped into Annie’s mouth.
Most of the rest of the day was spent huddled around the mountain of crabs at the picnic table, listening to stories about Kip’s childhood and football experiences. The warmth and love Annie witnessed between Kip and his family was a sharp contrast to the relationship she currently had with her father, and she found herself wishing she’d had a life like this. By the time Kip’s mother hugged Annie goodbye, she felt like part of the family.
Shoulder-to-shoulder, their hands behind them on the dried boards, leaning back as the last light faded, Annie and Kip sat silently, drinking in the tranquility of the twilight. The sun sank behind the stand of trees across the river as the sound of tires crunching on gravel disturbed the quiet. Most of guests had said goodbye, leaving only a handful of folks sitting inside the pavilion. Rob and three of his friends were gathered around the keg, finishing off what was left of the beer. Helen had caught a ride with a friend back to her house, and Annie and Kip were dangling their toes in the still, cool water. They had strolled down to the dock where two cabin cruisers and a small fishing skiff were tied to the weathered pilings, and she sighed at the perfection of this day.
Kip gave her shoulder a nudge and said, “I hear the wheels turning. What are you thinking about?”
I’m falling in love with you, your family, your life… “Oh, just thinking how pretty the water is this time of night.”
“Like glass.” Kip sat upright and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, turning her against him, and tipped her chin up with his hand. “Did you have a good time today?”
“The best.” Annie placed her hands on his shoulders and slowly trailed them around his neck as Kip wrapped her in a gentle embrace, capturing her lips against his. Tickling her mouth open with his tongue, Annie welcomed his warm, luscious kiss; she felt like she was floating away. She could never remember a time when a kiss could make her soar, but that’s what Kip’s did to her. After several moments, they leaned their foreheads together, catching their breath, gazing deep in each other’s eyes. “And to think you didn’t even want to come today,” Annie said as she planted a quick kiss on his lips.
Kip drew back and dropped his hold on her, standing up quickly. His hands dove deep in his pockets and he shrugged his shoulders toward the water.
Annie climbed to her feet and placed her hand on the small of his back. “Did I say something wrong?”
Kip shook his head, continuing to stare out into the water. He tilted his head and looked at Annie, “You didn’t say anything wrong. I guess I owe you an explanation.”
Annie dropped her hand from his back and took a step back, confusion swirling in her mind as she tried to make sense of the sad expression that had overtaken Kip’s face.
“Today was the first time I’ve been at this picnic since my dad died three years ago. I haven’t wanted to come…because…well, I should thank you for coming with me.”
“Why haven’t you wanted to come?” Annie placed her hand on his wrist, tugging gently until he pulled his hand out of his pocket. She grasped his hand between hers.
“Three years ago at this crab feast, my dad had a heart attack and died…right next to the grill.”
“Oh, Kip.” Annie slid her arms around his waist and looked up into his clouded eyes.
“I was helping him grill chicken when he fell over. I thought the heat had gotten to him. The first thing I did was pour water over his head. When he didn’t move, I knew something was really wrong.”
Laying her head against his chest, feeling the quick beat of his heart, Annie held him until he finally circled his arms around her, pulling her tight against him. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
“I’ve been afraid to come—afraid of the memories. But having you here with me today made it so much easier. My mom was really happy we came.”
Annie drew back enough to look up at Kip. “I love your mom and Rob is so funny. I’m so glad I got to spend time with them today.”
“So am I.” Kip lifted Annie in his arms, leaving her feet to dangle. “When do I get to meet your parents?”
“What?” She suddenly felt trapped in his firm hold. “Why would you—”
“I mean, fair’s fair. You met my family today.” Kip tightened his grip against her protests.
“That’s different. They just happened to be here. Besides—” Annie wiggled her hips, trying her best to get free. “Put me down.”
“No. Why won’t you introduce me to your parents?”
“Come on, Porter. It’s not like we’re dating.”
“We could be.” Annie stopped fighting her entrapment. “I mean today was great and I like spending time with you.”
“Today was great, but meeting my parents—it’s just—too soon.” Kip finally lowered her to the weathered dock and brushed a dark tendril from her cheek.
“Too soon, huh? Okay. If you say so.”
“You know I’m right; besides you’re my—”
“Your boss. I know. You remind me every day.”
“Well—”
“We’ll drop it for now. Come on. I’m taking you out on that river.”
“What? Are you nuts? It’s dark out there.”
“Nah, there’s enough light. I want to show you where I live.”
Kip eased himself off the dock into the small fishing skiff and reached up to help Annie climb aboard. She lay on her stomach and dangled her legs over the side of the dock, cringing at the fact that she was giving Kip a front row seat to her rear-end.
“Nice shorts, Coach.” He laughed as his hands gripped each side of her waist, lifting her safely into the boat.
“Keep your eyes where they belong, Porter.”
“Can’t do it.”
The skiff was nothing more than a large rowboat with a small outboard engine, which Kip quickly started after tossing the ropes onto the dock. Annie sat facing him with a firm grip on the sides of the boat.
“Whose boat is this?” she asked.
“Don’t know.”
“Kip, you stole someone’s boat?” Her head bobbed back and forth, looking toward the shore.
“I’m borrowing it. We’re just going around that point and we’ll be back before it gets too dark. It’ll never be missed.”
The boat moved slowly through the water and Annie watched Kip’s face in the waning light, feeling a swell of emotion. God, he was handsome, with his cheeks lightly sunburned and his short hair blowing in the breeze. Her eyes trailed down to his thick biceps straining against his T-shirt sleeves, then down to his muscular legs with just the right amount of hair. Her fingers were itching to reach out and stroke his thighs, mere inches from hers.
“Got something on your mind, Coach?” Kip chuckled, his eyebrows arched in merriment.
“I…um…I’m just enjoying the ride.”
Kip laughed and floored the engine, making the bow of the boat rise and Annie release a squeal. He took the vessel around the point into a cove where several large homes dotted the shoreline. Only one tiny cottage stood alone among its opulent neighbors and Annie was happy to learn it belonged to Kip.
“I was hoping that was yours,” she said.
“I bet.” He turned the boat sharply, heading back around the point.
“Seriously…I was. It just looks like the kind of cabin you’d expect to find around here. It’s perfect.”
She could see the pleasure on Kip’s face, almost awash with relief.
“You’ll have to
come over sometime,” he shouted over the roar of the engine.
“Maybe I will.”
A few hundred yards from the dock where their trip began, Annie stood up and said, “I’ve always wanted to do this.” She turned to face the bow, holding on to the sides of the boat to steady herself and then climbed on the metal cross beam at the front of the boat. Balancing like a gymnast, Annie stood up, threw her arms out and yelled, “I’m king of the world!”
Kip laughed and yelled back, “What are you doing?”
She looked over her shoulder at Kip, giving him a wink while the boat rocked side to side. “Like in Titanic, silly.”
“Sit down before you f—”
All at once, Annie lost her footing and tumbled over the side, creating a loud splash. Kip turned off the engine and jumped over the side, giving the boat a hard shove toward shore. Annie came out of the water sputtering and laughing while Kip swam to her. He gathered her in his arms and lifted her up to face him.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” He laughed and hugged her tight against him.
“That’s not how it happened in the movie.”
“Good thing.” The water was shoulder-deep where Kip stood on the sandy bottom. “They would have drowned.”
Annie draped her arms over his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist. “They did drown at the end—well, Jack did.”
“Yeah, but not before that scene in the antique car.”
“Of course you’d remember that part.”
“Of course.” Before Annie could say another word, Kip wrapped a hand around the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. She tightened her hold around his neck and held fast, opening her lips, inviting him to slip inside. Their tongues mingled and the kiss deepened, their lips pressed tightly to one another. Annie’s heart was racing, her desiring surging; she never wanted this to end. She felt Kip’s hands engulf her rear-end and pull her tight against his firm abs while his thumbs dipped inside her denim shorts. She reached down and grabbed a handful of T-shirt and pulled upward, exposing his bare skin, and her smile grew against his lips when she felt his hand reach under her tank top to graze across the thin fabric of her bra. He slid his hands around her bra strap only to sigh when he didn’t find a clasp at her back.
Annie laughed and whispered in his ear, “It opens in the front.”
“Trying to trick me, huh?” Kip unlatched the clasp with two fingers and covered one breast with his large hand.
“Perfect,” he said against her lips before he plunged his tongue into her welcoming mouth once again. Annie lifted his sopping T-shirt and ran her hands across his washboard abs and matched his passion, kiss for kiss. She snaked her hands around to his back and slipped them inside his waistband, pressing her bare breasts to his chest. The skin-to-skin sensation left her breathless. Kip lifted her higher and began nibbling on her collarbone, on a quest to explore even lower, when suddenly they were bathed in a white, hot light.
“What’re y’all doing out there?” A group of men cackled as the spotlight zeroed in on Annie and Kip.
“Turn off that damn spotlight, Rob,” Kip yelled over his shoulder, not letting go of Annie. She pulled down her tank top and tried to pull out of Kip’s arms, only to feel him tighten his hold.
“Just making sure you two were alright. The boat came back without ya.” Once more a burst of laughter could be heard from the shore and Annie dropped her head against Kip’s shoulder, feeling totally demoralized.
“Turn. Off. That. Damn. Light,” Kip roared, turning to face his brother and his drunken friends.
Rob shouted, “Okay, buddy. Will do. Have fun.” Another burst of laughter and they were thrown back into darkness.
Annie pushed out of his arms and swam furiously back to shore with Kip close at her heels. When her feet hit the sandy bottom, she ran toward the grassy edge while wringing the water out of her drenched shirt. She turned back to the water and clasped her bra closed as Kip walked up to her, reaching out his arms.
Annie snapped around and marched up the grassy knoll toward the pavilion and snatched her flip flops, keys, and phone off the picnic table where she’d left them. In her periphery, she noticed Kip nose-to-nose with Rob, gritting out a stern rebuke. As she reached her car, Kip ran up behind her and grabbed the hem of her shirt, making her stop mid-stride.
“Come here.” He pulled her back against his chest and locked his hands in front of her. “I’m sorry,” he muttered against her ear.
More embarrassed than she could ever remember, all she wanted to do was leave, but Kip wasn’t loosening his grip. She’d nearly had sex with her boss in a river and she just wanted to crawl into her car and get as far away as she could.
“I’ve gotta go,” she said, ducking under his arms. “Really.”
“Annie, come on, don’t leave. I’m sorry about my asshole brother.”
She placed her hand against his chest and looked up at his stricken expression. “It’s late. I have a long drive.”
“Stay at my place.” Kip drew her close, pulling her in with his hands on her hips and his eyes locked on hers. Annie chewed on her bottom lip, trying to break the hold his eyes had on her.
She took a few steps back, out of his reach, and said, “Absolutely not. I had a great time and everything, but no thank you.” Annie pulled open the door and climbed in her car, but before she could shut the door, Kip grabbed it and leaned in close to her.
“Let me make this up to you.”
With his furrowed brow and pleading gaze, Annie felt her resolve melting, but knew it would be wrong to continue. It was obvious he was as upset as she was and she couldn’t blame him for what had happened, but that didn’t make up for the fact that he was her boss. Her lips curled into a soft smile. “That’s very sweet of you, but I think it’s best I go.” Annie turned over the engine and backed out of the parking space. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she could still see his silhouette in her rearview mirror, watching her drive away.
Fifteen
Annie rushed up the congressional steps twenty minutes earlier than necessary for the weekly staff meeting. She had tossed and turned all night thinking about seeing Kip again. He had spent Sunday at his mom’s house, helping Rob replace some guttering damaged by a downed tree during a recent thunderstorm, but took frequent breaks to text her. He apologized several times for how their evening had ended and vowed to make Rob pay. Annie couldn’t stop smiling as she entered the office already buzzing with activity. The first person she saw was Tom, leaning over Kip’s assistant’s desk, looking at something on her computer screen. When he saw her enter, he greeted her with a warm, “Good morning.”
“Hey, Tom, I wanted to talk to you about something, if you have a minute,” Annie said, dropping her satchel in an empty chair. As Tom walked from behind the desk, she quickly surveyed the office looking for Kip.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to tell you I’m going to conduct a poll regarding key issues before we get any deeper into the campaign. You know—things like immigration policy, the environment, government spending, and the pipeline.”
Tom’s head snapped up from perusing his cell phone and he struck Annie with a hard glare. “The pipeline? Why?”
Annie crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s an important issue and we just want to see what Kip’s constituents are thinking.”
“We? Who’s we?”
“Kip and me. We talked about it last week. When we met with Martha Mahan, she said none of her neighbors are happy about the pipeline and Kip was surprised to hear that. So I suggested we conduct a poll.”
Tom let out a humorless laugh. “Isn’t Martha Mahan the crazy cat lady? Are you going to believe her?”
“That’s why I want to do this poll.”
Tom’s eyes grew dark, but he kept a practiced grin on his face. “Your time would be better spent putting up campaign signs. Stay away from issues and leave polling to me.”
A cold shive
r ran down Annie’s spine. Had he just issued a threat? Tom hovered over her, emphasizing his command with a steady glare. She’d never felt such a cold, unwelcome response from him, but couldn’t let it deter her from doing the job she’d been hired to do.
“Surely, you’re not paying me to simply put up campaign signs.”
“We’re paying you to run the campaign office. That’s it.” Tom walked away, shaking his head, and said over his shoulder, “Stick to what you do best.”
Annie dropped her arms, sighing loudly, and wondered why the sudden change in Tom. While she stood staring at Tom’s back, she felt a brush of air against her cheek and heard Kip whisper, “Good morning, sweetheart.” He kept right on walking into his office and picked up his telephone, watching Annie through the doorway. Flustered and feeling her face grow warm, Annie grabbed her bag and walked into the conference room, ready for the meeting to begin.
The staff and interns began shuffling into the room, taking the empty seats surrounding Annie, with a low hum of conversation among them. A light clinking sound dragged her attention away from her laptop and she found a delicate, floral tea cup and saucer placed on the table in front of her.
“Earl Grey with one sugar. That’s how you take it, right?”
Annie slowly looked over her right shoulder to find Kip standing behind her with a donut resting on a white paper plate in his hand.
“I’m sorry we don’t have any scones. This was the next best thing.”
Annie bit the corner of her bottom lip and looked up at Kip from beneath hooded eyelids. She felt the pull of his charm and cleared her throat, doing her best to appear unaffected.
“This’ll work. Thank you.”
Kip responded with a tiny grin and then took his seat at the front of the room.
Annie kept her head bowed, trying to hide the silly grin she couldn’t erase, doing her best not to look at Kip. When she was finally able to strike a poker face, she looked up and saw those around her staring slack-jawed at the refreshments in front of her. Her earlier thrill was replaced by utter mortification. Everyone around her had seen Kip’s little gesture and she felt as though a neon sign was flashing overhead: Kip and Annie Have a Thing Going On. She wanted to crawl under the table, but instead shot a look at Kip meant to tell him his gesture was not okay. The only reply she received was a wink. Not helping, Kip.
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