The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,78

her down. “So you’re afraid of your mother and blood-sucking parasites. I can see a common thread.”

“It’s not funny, Josh!” she shouted, trying to pull free. “Get it off!”

“Calm down. It’s just a seed tick. I’ll pull it out.”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Where is it?”

“Close to your armpit.”

She released a shriek of panic, her feet running in place, and he had to laugh despite her obvious terror.

“Stop laughing at me!”

He pulled her dress down to her waist. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing with you.”

She swung her face around to glare at him. “I’m not laughing, Josh!”

“I know. I’m sorry. You’re just so cute.”

“There’s nothing cute about ticks!”

“Okay, hold still so I can get it off.” He lifted her arm over her head and examined her skin, surprised it was gone. “I don’t see it.”

“What do you mean you don’t see it?”

“It’s gone.”

She looked up at him, her gaze fierce. “Ticks just don’t leave, Josh. They wait until they’re engorged and drop off. Did it look engorged?”

God help him, he couldn’t laugh or she would kill him. “I admit to seeing more than my fair share of engorged objects in the last ten hours or so, but that tick wasn’t one of them.”

“Then where is it?” she shrieked, panicked again.

“Relax, Megan. It’s just a tiny tick.”

“Just a tiny tick? It’s a creature that embeds its head deep inside—” She glared up at him again when he began to snicker. “If you’re going to continue to act like a twelve-year-old boy, I’m going to leave you out here with the raccoons.”

Though he managed not to release the peals of laughter bubbling up inside him, he couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “I’m sorry. I’m trying.”

Without responding, she pulled her dress down to the ground and tried to look over her shoulder. “I can’t see back there.”

He grabbed her shoulders and bent at the knees so his face was level with hers. “I’ll look and make sure you don’t have any ticks, okay? I promise.”

She dragged in a breath and let it out. “Okay.”

He gave her a soft kiss and released her shoulders, then moved behind her to examine her back. Since she was now naked except for her bra and the fishermen were gone, he took his time, enjoying the view more than he’d admit to Megan right now. After looking over the backs of her legs, he moved to her sides and front, then declared her tick-free. “Nothing. You’re good.”

“Then where did it go?”

“I don’t know.” He picked up her dress off the ground. “I suspect it wasn’t attached yet and fell off when you were putting your dress on.” He moved several feet away from her and shook it out before handing it back to her.

She started to step into it and had it up to her hips, when she began to scream, jerking the dress off. The skirt got tangled around her legs, and he lunged for her as she started to trip, keeping her from falling to the ground.

“It’s crawling inside my dress!” She kicked the skirt away from her, sucking in deep breaths.

“Okay, I’ll get it out.” He looked into her eyes. “It’s okay.”

She nodded, fighting to gain control. Josh moved toward the offending dress, now several feet away on the ground, when he realized the fishermen had returned and both men were standing in the small boat, staring up at them with open mouths. They looked so ancient that Josh worried they were about to lose their balance and fall out.

Josh moved in front of Megan, blocking her from their view. He held up his hands as he addressed the men. “Everything is fine here. It’s just a tick.”

“That must have been some tick,” one of the men muttered, his voice carrying over the water.

Megan lunged around Josh, but he held her in place—blocking her body with his and out of the fishermen’s view—as she shouted, “Ticks are no laughing matter!” She pointed her finger at the men to emphasize her point. “They can kill you!”

Josh turned around, grabbing her arms while making sure he was still blocking as much of their view as possible. “Okay, calm down, Tick Lady of Doom. Cut those guys a break. You just gave them the biggest thrill they’ve probably had in the last twenty years.”

She shrieked again when she realized she was naked except for her bra and dropped to the ground to grope for the blanket.

He picked up her dress again, shook