Breathless (10 page)

Emma tried hard to hold in her laugh, but it was a lost cause.

“Actually, yes. I am. Darby asked me last night. I guess I’ll see you there.”

Ryan looked confused for a moment, not sure whether he’d been dismissed. Another cheeky grin wound onto his full lips. It was a nice mouth, one that wouldn’t take too much cajoling to want to kiss.

If there hadn’t been a certain veterinarian in town, that is.

Ryan was good-looking, in a fresh, open, sexy way. From the time they’d spent talking the previous weekend at the barbeque, Emma was sure he would be a good friend. Although she knew for a fact that Ryan wanted their friendship to be of the horizontal kind—not exactly what she had in mind for the cute rancher.

“Would you be needing a lift, by any chance? Since you’re new and all…” he trailed off, waiting for her answer.

Emma had no problems accepting a lift from him, but he would take it the wrong way, and she didn’t want to lead the guy on, not when she had no interest in him.

“Thanks, Ryan, but Darby is picking me up. I’ll see you out there though. I’m really looking forward to seeing the lake.”

Ryan nodded and lifted a hand. “No worries. I’ll see you this afternoon.” He nodded his head in Pete’s direction. “Mornin’, Pete.”

Ryan turned and moved toward the front door of the store with a hip-rolling walk designed to make women look at his tight ass in the well-worn jeans that molded so temptingly over the firm planes. A very nice ass, but Emma simply wasn’t interested.

The low-pitched chuckle behind her had her turning to face Pete.

“What’s so funny?”

Pete’s old, leather-colored eyes crinkled up at the sides in amusement.

“I heard ‘bout the little wager the boys have goin’. Must make you feel all warm an’ fuzzy with so many men chasing your hide.”

Emma couldn’t help it—her laughter burst out and echoed around the paint section of the store.

“Oh, I don’t know if
warm
and
fuzzy
are the terms I’d use but, yes, I heard about the bet.”

The smile stretching the old man’s lips reached his eyes, brightening them, and made Emma realize that he must have been a very good-looking man when he was younger.

“Have you picked one of those young bucks yet? From what I saw, that kiss young Gabe laid on you had you both a little flustered.”

Emma’s grin faded and her face warmed, burning ten degrees hotter in moments.

Pete’s old eyes widened and his face lit up. “Ah, I see.” Silence descended, then Pete’s mouth expanded in another grin. “Pity he’s not on that list, now, isn’t it?”

Emma looked away, unable to think of a coherent answer to remove the notion from his head. She did
not
think of Gabe that way. She didn’t
want
to think of him that way.

Yes, he was gorgeous. Yes, he’d kissed like he was devouring her and, yes, she’d liked it. But they were friends. They had agreed, and that’s how it would stay, regardless that she found him unbearably attractive. She hadn’t moved here for men. She didn’t get involved in casual relationships revolving around sex, and she had no intention of becoming serious with a man ever again. They couldn’t be trusted. You let them close, gave your heart and happiness over to them, and they let you down.

So that left her exactly where she was.

“You know,” Pete’s husky voice interrupted her spinning thoughts. “Gabe may not be on that list, but I insisted on bein’ added to it.”

Emma gasped and stared at him, wide-eyed. “You didn’t!”

Pete’s laughter drowned out her shock. “Yes, I did. Don’t worry, young lady. You remind me of my granddaughter livin’ over in Pueblo. I just thought… I’m kind of at the bottom of the list, my odds are over one-hundred-to-one. They only stuck me on there out of pity, I think. How do you feel like going out for dinner? On the boys.”

Emma blinked and tried to speak, her mouth refusing to obey her brain. A slow smile wound onto her lips, the inference washing up and over her.

The wily old coot.

“Pete, I believe I would love to have dinner with you. It’s a date!”

Chapter Twelve

Emma waved her white, large-brimmed hat in front of her face, fanning herself as she stepped out of Darby’s car.

Man, oh man, is it hot.

Little Ralph had been fast asleep in his miniature barn when she left, his tummy full of warm, creamy milk.

Emma let a grin widen her lips as she scanned the picnic area that sat right beside the jetty.

“View’s not so bad over here, Darb,” she called.

A loud chuckle reached her from the other side of the car, Darby’s head peering over the top when she turned to look.

“Well, look at that. You could play eeny, meeny, miny, moe.” Darby lifted an eyebrow and panned her gaze across the picnic site to the water. Half-naked male bodies littered the area, lazing in the shade of the trees as well as in the water.

Darby grinned at Emma as she came around the side of the car and fanned herself with her hand. “Did it just get hotter out here, or what? This is going to be so much fun.”

Emma grabbed the picnic basket, hooking it over her arm. “Mmm. There are only a few girls here. How is one to choose from all this eye candy? You know, overindulgence only makes you sick.”

Darby’s laughter echoed around the site, turning heads in their direction.

“Now you’ve done it! They’re all staring at us.”

Darby raised an eyebrow and stuck her tongue between her teeth. “Not
us
, Em.
You
.”

Emma pushed away the flutter of nerves that followed Darby’s statement. She knew there were a few men on that silly list, but other than Ryan, Pete and a couple of others, she was sure Darby was overreacting.

“Don’t be silly, Darby. It’s hot. That’s why they’re here. Hot and hungry.”

Darby stared at Emma so long she glanced away, disconcerted. “If you say so. Come on. Let’s get this food sorted and take a dip!”

A dip.
She couldn’t swim to save her life.

Dog paddle, sort of. Swim, no. But she wasn’t about to admit that to Darby and look stupid. She’d just sit on the edge of the jetty and dip her feet. No explanation needed.

Emma set the basket down on the picnic table and peered inside. Everything looked good to go. The cold things had freezer packs stuffed around them to keep them fresh, the things not needing refrigeration benefitting from the cooler interior of the insulated basket as well.

Darby slid her shorts off and tossed them onto the back seat of her car, then grabbed Emma’s hand and took off at a dead run down the jetty.

“Wait! I still have my sarong on!” Emma had tied a matching one over her new, white, one-piece suit. She’d felt far too exposed without the coverup.

Emma yanked her hand from Darby’s only a few feet from the edge of the jetty. The crazy girl kept running and vaulted from the end into the water. Emma sucked in a deep breath, undoing the knot on her sarong. She unwrapped it from her hips and draped it over the low timber railing beside her.

Bare feet slapping on the boards vibrated the dock beneath her feet. Emma glanced over her shoulder as a strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind and hurled her up into the air, another arm coming up under her knees.

An earsplitting squeal erupted from her lips. Her hat flew off, and she felt herself leave the jetty. She gasped in a breath before cool water slid up her body and enveloped her head.

Their heads broke the surface of the lake amid loud peals of laughter all around.

“You might want to release your death grip a little, honey. You’re gonna choke me.” Ryan’s voice breathed against her ear, his observation spurring her anger.

“Let me go, you brute! Who do you think you are, grabbing me like that?”

Ryan’s eyes clouded over in confusion at her tone. “I didn’t think you’d mind. I was just having a little fun. Here, let me—”

Emma struggled and squirmed in his strong arms, water lapping at and splashing on her face. Fear had made her sharper with him than she’d intended but, heck, he’d scared the pants off her!

“No, just put me down. I don’t need your help.”

Emma pulled her arms from his neck and shoved herself away from him, backward into the waiting water. She reached down with a toe to touch bottom, her head slipping under for the second time when there was no bottom.

She floundered, kicking and struggling to get her head above the surface. Panic rose in a wave. She couldn’t get her head above the water.

A hand brushed along her bare back, stopping when it reached her suit-covered bottom. The hand grabbed a fistful of swimsuit and heaved. Her head broke through. Her mouth opened to gulp precious air into her lungs.

Her arms snaked out and snagged around the neck of her rescuer, pulling him close. Her legs kicked furiously and wrapped around firm, lean hips.

Emma blinked and shook her head, trying to clear the water from her eyes, hacking coughs forcing her wet breasts into contact with the rock-hard, naked chest in front of her. She pressed her face into the warm, sun-drenched skin of his neck and breathed deeply, feeling like a total fool. Her arms shook with the effect of first the fright, then the whole debacle that followed.

She owed Ryan an apology, even though it was his fault she was in the water in the first place. It wasn’t Ryan’s fault she’d acted like such a ninny, nearly drowning herself in the process.

“That was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen you do. You could’ve found out if the girl could swim first.”

Gabe’s husky voice rumbled in her ear, the low timbre washing over her, turning her frazzled nerve endings to mush.

Relief, that’s what it was.

She was just relieved to have her head out of the water and to be breathing.

“I’m sorry, Emma, really. I didn’t think. Can’t all Aussies swim?” His question sounded flat and lame, even to a waterlogged Emma.

She coughed again and turned her face against Gabe’s neck to look under his chin at the shamefaced Ryan.

“No, obviously they can’t. I was only going to paddle around on the edge, until you hijacked me.”

Ryan had the grace to look genuinely sorry.

“It’s okay. You weren’t to know,” Emma allowed. The poor guy looked like he’d just lost a winning lottery ticket.

He held out a hand to her. “I can take you back to shore. I promise I won’t let you go.”

Emma’s arms tightened involuntarily around Gabe’s neck.

“No thanks. I’m fine.” She looked up at Gabe. “Gabe might be nice enough to take me back.”

A wide grin split his mouth, inches from hers. His grey eyes sparkled with the reflection off the water. “You’d better hope so, considering you’re stuck on me like a burr.”

Instantly, Emma was acutely aware that her thighs were wrapped tightly around his hips, and that it was Gabe’s chest that her breasts were pushed so hard against. Each breath rasped her sensitive nipples against the drenched material, the thin barrier the only thing between them. She hoped to God he didn’t notice her body’s traitorous reaction, clinging to him as she was.

Gabe looked down and his expression tightened, the smile disappearing. His gaze jumped away from her as his hands loosened her legs on his hips.

“You might want to rethink that swimsuit.”

Emma stared at him, thankful but confused. That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. “What do you mean?”

Gabe moved backward in the water as he spoke, his strong legs thrusting through the water in a lazy kick. He glanced at her again, his stormy gaze impaling her. “Have you ever worn that thing before?”

Emma shook her head. “No, it’s new. I bought it just before moving here. I haven’t had a chance to wear it before now. Why?”

Gabe pulled the side of his bottom lip into his mouth, the action incredibly sensual, taking Emma’s attention.

“It’s see-through.”

“What!” Her outburst had several people turning to look at them. She gritted her teeth and glared up at him. “It is not! I would have noticed that when I tried it on. I would never have bought it.”

Gabe turned back to her, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Was it wet when you tried it on?”

Emma opened her mouth for a sharp retort, but then looked down.

He was right!

She yanked her arms from around his neck and crossed them over her chest. Her legs she couldn’t do much about, not if she wanted to breathe at the same time.

“Bit late for that.”

His low-pitched comment had her skin flaming again and her knees turning to jelly. Why, oh why, was she there, glued to him like a leech? God sure did have one hell of a sense of humor.

The one thing that saved her sanity was that they’d agreed to be friends, nothing more. It made it easier to ignore the feelings he stirred with one sexy look.

At least, that’s what she told herself.

“What will I do?” she whispered, horrified that someone might overhear.

Gabe brought them up close to the jetty, where the pylons went deep down into the water and soil below. He moved them closer to the shore and faced her. She couldn’t tell what he might be thinking. His whole face was shuttered, giving nothing away.