was too strong to resist—and enough to overmaster her fears.
Mia pulled her shirt over her head. Then she unbuttoned her shorts and let them fall to her feet as Josh let out a wolf whistle. But after that she hesitated, unsure how far she wanted to take it.
Play it safe by swimming in her underwear? Or go all the way?
“What’s it gonna be?” he asked. “Are you going to let me be the only one who’s naked here?”
Oh what the hell? If Josh could do it, so could she.
She reached behind her back to unclasp her bra and tossed it onto the blanket. Next went her underwear, down to her feet. She couldn’t believe she was naked in the middle of a state park. At any moment, someone could come upon them and see her like this.
She found the prospect simultaneously terrifying and oddly thrilling.
All her life, Mia had been a rule follower. A good girl. Never one to get in trouble or do anything naughty. And while she might not technically be breaking any rules by getting naked at a publicly sanctioned nude swimming hole, it didn’t change the fact that it felt naughty.
And exhilarating.
And sexy.
“Get in here,” Josh said, his eyes glinting darkly. “Before I come over there and make you.”
Mia bit down on her lip, took a deep breath, and jumped into the water.
HOLY MOTHER SHITTING FUCK.
It was so cold it sucked all the oxygen out of her lungs. So cold it felt like it was burning her skin. Her fingers and toes went completely numb. Her nipples tried to invert and retreat inside her body. Worst of all, the cold water went straight up her cooch.
She spluttered to the surface with a screech of agony and outrage. Before she’d even cleared the water from her eyes, Josh’s arm was encircling her waist, pulling her against his warm body.
She clung to him with one hand, trying to absorb some of his body heat, while the other hand pummeled his chest. “HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME OH MY GOD IT’S FREEZING!” she shouted in his face.
“It’s better this way. I promise.” He was clearly trying not to laugh at her, which only made her yell even more.
“You know what would have been even better than this? NOT JUMPING IN THE FREEZING FUCKING WATER!”
And yet, infuriatingly, she had to admit he was right. Now that the initial shock had passed, the water already felt more tolerable.
And hey, after all her yelling and splashing, there couldn’t possibly be any snakes still hanging around. Right?
Nevertheless, at the thought of snakes, she shimmied even closer to Josh.
“You okay?” He bobbed as he treaded water, moving his arms and legs to keep them both afloat. “It’s not so bad once you get used to it, right?”
“I guess now I know why they call it the Holler,” she said, and he snorted a laugh. Untangling herself from him, she paddled her arms and legs so he wouldn’t have to keep swimming for both of them. “How deep is it here, anyway?”
“Pretty deep.” He jerked his head to the side. “Let’s swim over this way. There’s a ledge where we can stand.”
She followed him to the far side of the swimming hole, where time and the elements had carved the rock formations into a series of narrow stair-step-like ledges. Josh seemed to know exactly which one was the perfect height for standing so nothing but their heads were above the water.
“I get the sense you’ve spent a lot of time here,” Mia said, inserting herself against him and slipping her arms around his waist.
His eyes gleamed in the growing darkness. “Maybe.”
“Naked time?” she asked, arching her brows.
He shrugged. “I used to come here with some of my friends in high school.”
“I thought it was eighteen and up.”
“It’s supposed to be, but they didn’t use to police it much.” His hands stroked over her back under the water, and she rested her head against his while he talked. “There’s a back road you can use to get in without paying for a state park pass—or there used to be. The bridge got washed out by a storm a few years ago, and they never replaced it. Since then, I guess the place has fallen out of favor with the younger generation.”
“But this was your place?” It was almost comfortable in the water now, snuggled up against Josh like this with her bare breasts pressed against his chest. She could imagine how nice it must