she could stretch her legs out. Her heels rested in the grass and the sun caught the dainty gold anklet she wore, making it glitter. “I’m glad you like it. I wanted to do something special. I know it sounds silly because we haven’t known each other long, but I really missed you this week, Peter.”
“I missed you too.”
She crossed one ankle over the other. “You did, did you?”
I nodded earnestly and leaned back on my hands. “I did. Call me crazy, but I don’t think I’d be enjoying myself on this island nearly this much if I hadn’t bumped into you. Or rather, knocked you on your ass.”
Katie laughed. “I’m glad you played your own personal game of lawn bowling and used me as a pin.”
“That’s good because chances are high it will happen again if you continue to spend so much time with me.”
“Maybe I should start wearing more appropriate shoes. You know, just in case?”
“Sneakers with supportive soles and ankle support are most recommended.”
Katie laughed harder. “I don’t think that would look very cute with my dress.”
“So long as the dress is on you, anything would look good. Trust me.”
She blushed. “Are you sweet talking me, Peter?”
“I don’t know. Is it working?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes, I’m sweet talking you.” I reached for the sandwiches and passed her one.
She accepted and we unwrapped the layer of cellophane around them before digging in. It took six point seven seconds for me to drip mustard on my shirt. Katie giggled, fetched a napkin, and leaned in close to wipe up my mess. I stared down the length of my nose and watched her.
“I’m a klutz,” I said.
She batted her lashes and looked up at me. “I find it kind of charming.”
“That’s the first time anyone has ever said that to me.”
She shrugged and leaned back. “To each their own, I suppose.”
We devoured our sandwiches and continued basking in the afternoon sun until the heat began to feel overwhelming. When I mentioned it might be time for a dip in the water to cool off, Katie rose gracefully to her feet. I stood in her shadow and looked up at her as she pulled off her dress. For a brief moment, I couldn’t speak. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth as she revealed her body in a little yellow bikini that nearly matched her dress.
She looked down at me with a knowing smile. “Are we going in or what?”
Chapter 18
Katie
Peter sat on the blanket with his lips slightly parted and his eyes glued to my ass. I couldn’t blame him. I’d worked hard for this booty and I was glad someone was enjoying it besides myself.
Even though I lived at a resort surrounded by ocean and filled with four different swimming pools, I hardly ever took a chance to dive in the water and live a little. I simply didn’t have the time. But this afternoon was different.
I had all afternoon and evening off, and this was the right foot to start it on. All the thinking I’d been doing about Peter since I left for New York had led to this divine moment, and I loved the way he was looking at me, like he’d never seen anything he wanted so badly.
“Are we going in or what?” I asked.
Peter gave his head a shake. His gaze flicked from my ass to my eyes and he let out a slightly nervous laugh. “Yes, definitely. You first.”
I shrugged and stepped toward the bank of the swimming hole. I stopped when the cold water touched my toes to look back at him.
He pulled his shirt off over his head. Hello, muscles.
I’d known since the moment I met him that Peter had a body under his clothes. He was firm and swollen in all the right places and now I was finally getting to see the gun show for myself. His arms were toned and defined, his muscles full and taut, the inside of his forearms rippling with veins and tendons that made my breath hitch in my throat. He had a lean stomach with ab definition and, much to my delight, V-cut hip bones that pointed down toward his boxers once he stripped his linen pants off.
I almost started drooling.
A dark swirl of hair went around his navel and trailed down, down, down, until it disappeared beneath the waistband of his black boxers.
“I didn’t bring swimming trunks,” he said.
That won’t be a problem. “What’s the difference between swimming trunks and boxers