Okay. Dave was making an effort. Her turn. She gingerly sat beside him, curling her legs to the side.
His gaze traced her like a caress. A shiver swept her skin.
He twisted around and dug a pill container from his backpack, shook out two tablets, and gulped them with some water and a frustrated frown. His hand covered the prescription label.
“How much are you hurting?”
Dave grimaced. “The old one to ten scale? Five and it’s my own fault. I suck at slowing down, and I’m paying for yesterday’s hike. But you don’t need to worry about the pills impairing my driving the boat.”
“I wasn’t worried.” She couldn’t ignore him hurting. “Does massage help?” Years back, after rapidly conceding nursing was not the career she wanted, but feeling obligated to please Daddy and use her education to help people, she’d pursued courses in physical therapy and massage therapy, thinking to redirect her career and ease her job stress, but then she met R.J. and seized the illusion of rescue he’d offered.
“Yeah, actually, a lot.” He chuckled. “That was the best part of physical therapy. Christiana, she looked about sixty, but damn, she could break me in half with her pinky finger she was so strong.”
“Any other doctor’s orders you’re ignoring?”
A teasing sparkle lit his eyes. “Gonna tell on me, Nurse Livie? No, just the not slowing down and giving myself a break part.”
Olivia laughed. “Okay. Lie back. We’ll see if massage helps.”
He choked on a swallow of water. “I hate to ask, but you know what you’re doing?”
“Well, I won’t be able to break you in two, but perhaps I can give you some relief while you wait for the meds to kick in. Okay?”
Radiating doubt, Dave stretched out and folded his arms under his head.
“Shut your eyes, focus on the sound of the river, and relax. You’ll tell me if you feel any discomfort, right?”
“Will do.”
If only she had some massage oil—Her nerves skittered. Was she nuts? Deliberately putting her hands on the man whose kiss still sparked vivid dreams? She focused on the river’s easy, musical wash over gravel and sand, and dragged in a steadying breath. At her first gentle press of hands, his leg jerked and he hissed in his breath.
Pulse leaping and anxiety spiking, Livie eased off, but kept her hands in place. “That hurt?” The sun had left his skin toasty warm, and the dark hair dusting his tanned skin was surprisingly soft.
“No. Not exactly. Don’t stop.”
“Not exactly” was far from reassuring, but she trusted her training and she carried on, coaxing relaxation into the tense muscles.
She should have been nosy and asked about his meds. She didn’t know the full story of what damage lay beneath his scarred skin, but those scars reminded her how close he’d come to losing the leg. In the early days after his crash, Kay had reported a grim prognosis. Her heart ached for him all over again.
She worked steadily lower, pleased as the tension under her hands leached away. She reached his ankle, the one undamaged joint of his leg. “Nearly done,” she murmured. She finished with a proper massage of both feet.
“Done.” She sat back on her heels and found Dave propped on his elbows, a gentle smile softening his face.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “That helped. Mark was right. You have the hands of an angel.”
Olivia flushed. He remembered Mark’s joking quip from last year? “You’re welcome.”
He rolled up, giving a slow, testing stretch, his muscles rippling and flexing. He cocked his head curiously. “Ready to head back?”
“Yes, if you’re ready.”
He shoved to his feet and, after another stretch and a roll of his shoulders, grinned. “Damn, that really feels better.”
“It’s simply the meds doing their job, I’m sure.” She scooped up the towel, and straightened to find him barely a breath away. Her pulse leapt, and the ridiculous desire she’d sensibly warned herself off swelled bright and warm.
“Thanks.” His face pensive, he stroked her cheek, and touched his lips to hers.
****
Oh, yes, even better than his memories. Kissing Livie was a bad idea, but felt so good. Dave had wanted to taste her lush lips again too much to resist.
Livie? Since when had she become Livie in his head? Yeah, she was Livie. Olivia was the polished, brittle, married stranger from last summer. Livie was the sweet yielding woman he was kissing here in Black Canyon and no longer off limits.
This time, he’d do right by Livie. From day one of meeting her, he’d done everything wrong. In Vegas he’d blundered, plundered, and taken. The fear filling her eyes as she’d handed him her camera had been a stabbing wake-up call of self-loathing. He’d put that fear into her. Time to stop admitting he needed to pull his shit together and actually do it.
He caressed her sun-warmed shoulders, resisting the impulse to explore further. Her hands settled on his hips, and she swayed into him, her breasts brushing his chest, her belly gently pressing against his abruptly wide-wake and interested hard-on.
Heck, no. Down, boy.
Firmly intending to keep his head, he kept their kisses all slow and easy, taking brushes and nibbles, learning from her soft sighs. Then she opened her mouth to his, hesitantly seeking more.
He smiled, and followed her shy lead in the teasing play of lips and tongue. Only, being the receiver had many of the same benefits as being the aggressor, all sending the blood diving south and the wrong head taking charge, and ending the long slow kiss was difficult—until a passing kayaker’s loud and cheerful, “Woot!”
Livie jerked away with a nervous laugh, a blush flooding her lovely face, and she shot a glance at the kayaker gliding downriver.
Dave waved.
“That was nice.” Fighting the temptation to pull her closer, but feeling better than he had in ages, he pressed a quick kiss to her lush, rosy lips.
“Yes…it was…” Livie’s coffee brown eyes were soft and dark. “Nice.”
The kiss had washed away the irritating, crackling tension between them, leaving a fresh, more serious tension of the enjoyable, frustrating kind—How soon could they do it again?
Now?
No. He behaved himself and stepped away.
On their return downriver, Olivia took her seat in the bow and stayed glued to the camera viewfinder, snapping more pictures. They spotted a pair of bald eagles and then a bighorn ram and his harem of three ewes teetering on the rocky canyon wall.
Between Olivia’s gentle massage, the ibuprofen, and the kissing, mainly the kissing, he felt damned excellent. A soft smile curved Olivia’s mouth, and she looked more relaxed than he’d ever seen. The kisses had done her some good too, and…
He needed to get his mind off kissing.
Once they emerged from the narrow canyon confines and reached more open water, he eased off the throttle and brought the boat to a drifting idle. “Want to troll for bass?”
“Sure.” Her shy lovely smile bloomed again. “I’ve never done it before, though.”
“Not much to it.” He rigged both lines with crankbait and set the rods into their holders. Truthfully, successful trolling required more technique than a half-assed tossing lures overboard and dragging them around the lake, but he was more interested in distracting himself from wanting Livie, yet use the slow return to camp to spend more time alone together.
Confused much?
He set them moving again in a slow crawl. “Hold the wheel steady here while I get the lines in the water.”
Livie slipped into the driver’s seat, casting him an anxious glance.
He patted her shoulder. “Just hold her steady. We’re only moving about one mile an hour here, so no worries.”
First, he cast the deep diver behind the boat and set the bait. He then cast the medium diver on the shore side of the boat.
“Now we cruise and wait. The rod tips will bump around. Don’t worry about that. There’s no mis
taking when you get a real hit.”
He took the wheel, and Livie slipped into the spotter’s seat. Of course, her sitting within arm’s reach as they cruised the lake encouraged his mind’s enjoyable instant replay loop of their kisses.
“They’re bending! Both of them. We’ve caught something! What do I do? Look!” Radiant in her excitement, she bounded to the stern.
Dave cut the engine and joined her. “I thought you’ve been fishing? You had a boat in Florida.”
“We went fishing. R.J. fished. He always went after the big game fish. The bigger, the better. Too strenuous and competitive for me. I was there solely to be a decorative hostess and keep his guests happy. What do I do?”
He set the pole into her hands and guided her through setting the hook and reeling in. The fish broke the surface, fighting and splashing.
“Oh, it’s big!”
“You may have a keeper there, Livie.”
“This will be my first fish!” She grinned and her eyes flashed. “This”—she nodded at the shivering, arcing rod in her hands—“is fun!”
Livie was reeling in fine, the fish fighting and giving her a good time. When she’d reeled in enough, he helped her net the silvery, streamlined bass over the swim platform. “You’ve caught a decent striper here. Lloyd’s going to be jealous.”
“Really? Me?” Livie’s laughter sent an interesting punch through his gut. She touched a finger over the silver and dark gray striping running the length of the glistening fish. “It’s beautiful.”
Damn, he liked seeing her happy. “Yep, nice one. Almost five pounds, I’d guess. Just you wait and see. They’ve had some record-sized ones here around forty pounds. I heard someone landed one over sixty pounds years back.”
He’d caught a striper on his line and, while smaller than Livie’s prize, a keeper. He stowed the fish, and since they’d both had catches, decided to return to camp. Livie settled into her seat.
“Hold onto your hat. I feel the need for speed.” He grinned and hit the throttle.
The boat leapt forward, and Livie’s laughter pealed as she clapped a hand against her hat. With her happiness, the wind in his face, and the boat flying across the water—this was damn good all around.
Back at camp, Livie got cheers for her bass, even before Lloyd weighed the fish.
“Four pounds fourteen ounces! Biggest bass yet this trip. Awesome, Livie! You might be this vacation’s winner.” Lloyd jotted her catch in his logbook.
“Me?” She whirled, throwing her arms around Dave, and kissed him. “Thank you!”
Her joy ignited a rush of happiness in him. “You’re welcome.” Catching his hands on her hips, Dave returned the kiss, on the mouth, and enjoyed her softening against his body. He took the brief kiss pleasurably a breath longer than he should, fully aware of the shocked looks burning into him from his friends.
While Nate snapped photos of Livie and her fish, Dave grabbed a beer and settled into his beach chair, feeling as if a crap ton of weight had shed from his shoulders.
Later, Livie was passing chips around and offered Dave the bowl. He caught her around the waist and tugged her into his lap, her weight on his good side. Her laughter was nice; how she relaxed against him was better. He snagged a chip and popped it in his mouth. “That’s what I call service.”
He ignored the eyes on them, the raised brows, and the what-the-hell’s his friends must be thinking. Yeah, he liked this holding her.
“You two had fun today, huh?”
That sweet kiss and her gentle hands filled his mind. Dave looked up at Nate. “Excellent day.”
“The best in forever.” Happy sincerity rang in her voice.
Nate raised Livie’s camera. “Smile for the birdie.”
Dave laughed. A flash caught them, and a second.
After supper, in which her striper was a featured course, Dave caught Livie aside. “Want to take a sunset walk?”
Surprise lit her face, and her smile bloomed. “Sure. Let me put on my sneakers.”
He waited, leaning on his cane, no plan in mind but to prolong the enjoyable day they’d shared…and maybe steal a kiss or two.
She straightened from tying her laces. “Which way?”
“Up the trail and an easy walk along toward Coyote Point. Learned my lesson.” He’d been an idiot yesterday.
“Sounds good.”
At the first level stretch of trail, she gave him a concerned glance, as if to say are you okay and ready to go on? For a change, he appreciated that concern, and the warmth growing in his chest was way better than the antsy, pissed-at-the-world despair eating him these days.
Halfway to the point, he paused at a low jut of rock. “Here’s a handy seat. Want to sit for a few minutes and enjoy the view?”
After a quick critter check to ensure they were free of the company of snakes, he lowered himself and propped the cane against the rock. The rock under his ass radiated warmth from the day’s heat.
Livie sat on his right and sighed happily. “It’s so beautiful here. I’m glad I came back.”
“Me, too.” Both that he had and she had. He slipped his arm around her, and she leaned into him, fitting as perfect and easy as if they’d embraced a thousand times. The sunset cast hot copper and golds and long cooling shadows across the landscape, and the breeze ruffling their hair kicked a light chop over the lake.
He curled his free hand around her softer hand, her slim fingers bare of the polished nails and glittering rings she’d flashed last year.
“When Kay invited me, I worried coming back here might be difficult, but I wanted to see Kay and Nate and…” She shyly flicked a glance to his face. “And everyone. I refused to let R.J. ruin one more thing for me.”
“Good.” And had she wanted to see him?
****
Olivia let their fingers brush and play together, happier and more at peace than she’d been in far too long.
Dave cast her a side glance. “So what do you like to do when you’re not working at the bar?”
“Until recently, I’ve spent my free time fixing up my apartment. That’s been fun. The place had been gutted, so Uncle Jake had me pick the new cabinets, appliances, and paint. Starting with nothing was liberating. Anyhow, that project’s done, so I have more free time. I have my uncle, my friends. I’ve liked the peace.”
“Sounds good. Hobbies?
“Reading. Sightseeing. Swimming. Curling up with a good movie and popcorn. I love to cook. What about you? I know you like to fish and play the guitar.”
The deepening dusk failed to hide the flashing pain before he chuckled and settled his arm more comfortably. “I like a good movie. Comedy. Action. I can cook, but it’s more a survival technique than a hobby. Now, I do like eating…”
“I’ve had your cooking here, and you do better than survival cooking.”
“Thanks. What’s your favorite thing to cook?”
“Oh, everything. Uncle Jake’s been training me to run his kitchen. I like to experiment, plan a whole meal. I made a tasty salmon en papillote with grilled zucchini and herbed rice before I left. I like playing with my bread machine.”
“Making me hungry here.” He paused. “Why the change in careers? I thought you’d be a nurse again.”
She sighed. “I liked the helping people, I was good, but I couldn’t develop a tough skin, and I let the stress burn me out. The bar is a good fit for me.”
“It seems like a waste of your education.”
His tone was simply curious, and she shrugged away the defensive surge. “Maybe, but I’m getting better at deciding what I want to do, instead of giving in to what others decide I should do. Daddy told me I’d be a good nurse, so I became a nurse. R.J. decided I should play the decorative wife and hostess, so I did. This is the first job I’ve chosen for myself. I’m happy there.”
“That’s good.” Dave stretched with an uncomfortable sigh. “We better start walking.”
Twilight purples and navy mixed with the last sh
immering orange and gold of sunset. “Right.” She stood and offered her hand.
Tension snapped through the long moment as Dave stared at her hand. His mouth tightened, then softened. “Thanks.” He took her hand, planted his cane, and let her help lever him up.
They resumed their stroll along the trail. The deepening twilight washed the land in cooling purples and grays, with the rising full moon adding a luminous glow.
Realization of the date paused Olivia on the trail. A year ago, R.J. had run off with April. Deep sorrow, pain, and anger surged.
Stop. You’re free. Focus on now.
“Livie?” Dave’s grip tightened.
“I’m fine. Just distracted for a moment.” She returned the squeeze. “It’s a beautiful night.” She refused to waste this time here with Dave on the sorrowful past. “Tell me something.”
“What?”
“Oh, anything. About the lake. You’ve been coming here a long time?”
“I came for the first time with Nate’s and Lloyd’s families when I was thirteen. Nate, Lloyd, and I continued going on our own when we went to college, Christopher and Rich joined us, and the group grew from there each year.”
They reached the end of the trail. She still didn’t see how the small hump of rock at the tip of the point resembled a coyote.
Dave looped his arm around her waist and faced her. “Thanks for the great day and, again, I’m real sorry for being such a prick this past week.”
She brushed a kiss to his cheek, so tempted to sink into his strength. “No problem. As pricks go, I’ve met much worse.”
Dave laughed. “Thanks, but I honestly did want to apologize.”
“Apology accepted.”
****
Dave hesitated, unbalanced by the rapid shift of emotions. He’d smashed his long-standing rule: no romancing on vacation. Mohave had always been strictly fishing, friends, and fun.
But it’s not vacation anymore. Your ass is retired. Everything has changed. What’s one more thing?
“So what are we doing here?” Livie let him draw her close, her eyes expectant, welcoming.
He hooked the cane over his arm, freeing him to caress the curves of her face. “What do you want to be doing?”
Love Burns Page 8