Chapter 12

While Scott backed his boat into the lake, I slapped on some sparkly lip gloss and smiled. I hadn’t expected Landon to take me up on my offer to join us today, but he’d surprised me when we’d said goodbye last night, asking which beach to meet us at this morning.

“Why are you all dolled up?” Scott asked as he joined me after putting the boat in the water. His eyes drifted across my face and obviously noticed that I’d applied some light makeup this morning. “Are you really that eager to impress Mr. Big City Ass?”

“He’s new,” I said flippantly. “I’m just a little curious. Sue me.”

Scott grunted and shook his head before he headed back to his truck to load the cooler onto the boat. I couldn’t blame him for not understanding why I’d made something of an effort for Landon. Our first impressions of the man certainly hadn’t been good, but the fact of the matter was that not much happened in June Lake that wasn’t mundane or repetitive.

I loved my life here, but there was something about Landon that made me kind of excited. After how different he’d been last night, I was more curious about him than I had been before and I was looking forward to seeing what else he was hiding under that prickly exterior.

As Scott hoisted the cooler off the back of his truck, he glanced at me. “Anyone can be charming for a day. Even a week, or a month, or however long he’s going to be in town for. That doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. So what if he apologized? Have you forgotten what he put you through just because he suddenly smiled at you?”

“No.” I scoffed softly, arching an eyebrow at my brother as he passed. “I simply happen to believe in second chances. He was rude a couple times, but that’s it. He didn’t ‘put me through’ anything.”

I made air quotes around the words and Scott rolled his eyes. “Being rude to you for no reason is putting you through something, sis. First impressions count for a reason, and you should trust his raw reactions when he’s under pressure if you’re looking to find out who he is.”

“He apologized,” I said simply. “Besides, it’s not like I caught him in the act of murdering someone before. He was grumpy and he made a point of saying he was sorry for it. End of story. He didn’t commit some unforgivable sin.”

“He treated you like you were an inconvenience to him.”

“Don’t be such a pessimist,” I said. “He was rude. That’s it. Kind of like you’re being right now. Since when are you such a caveman anyway? I thought you and I were more evolved than that. You’ve never had a problem with me liking a guy before.”

“Those guys weren’t him,” he shot back without hesitation. Then he dragged his hands through his hair and pulled in a deep breath. “All I’m saying is to remember that he’s not from around here. He’s not like us, which is fine. I’m sure that’s part of what makes him so appealing. I won’t stop you from having your fun. I’m just asking you to be caref?—”

He cut himself off when Brittany climbed out of her car after parking next to his. As I watched, my brother seemed to forget that I was even here. His eyes widened, his jaw clenched, and his throat started working, but he didn’t appear to be upset or angry.

This was something completely different and I didn’t care to put a name to it. Even in my head.

To be fair to him, Brit had really brought it today, showing up looking like a ten out of ten in a red bikini with a matching, opaque cover-up. Large sunglasses covered her eyes and her light brown curls were damp and bouncy.

Damn, girl.

I nudged my brother with my elbow. “Keep your eyes in your head.”

He grunted, either not bothering with a response or not capable of forming one just yet. I was pretty sure it was the latter.

For at least the last four years, my brother and my best friend had had a very flirty dynamic but nothing had come of it just yet. Even so, I was confident that one day, Brit was going to be my sister-in-law—even if it did give me a bit of the ick to think about them together.

If I really dug deep though, I could admit that they were probably the only people in town I thought were good enough for the other. But whatever happened, as long as they were happy, I would be too.

That didn’t mean I was going to make it easy on them. I gave Brit a knowing grin as she strode up to us. “Now that’s a bikini. Since when do we buy something new for a day on the boat?”

“I didn’t buy it,” she said. “I went to one of those exchange thingies. You know, the ones where you take a few of your old clothing items, and as long as they’re in good condition, you get to choose from the stuff other people brought in?”

“Oh, right.” I smiled. “That was a great choice.”

Meanwhile, my brother had managed to roll his tongue back into his mouth and he’d finally gone to put the cooler in the boat. He climbed on after, extending his hand to help Brittany on at the same time that Landon’s blue truck pulled up.

They parked a ways away from us and I squared my shoulders as I gave my brother a look that should’ve told him I meant business. “I’m going to go flag them down. Be nice. Please?”

“I’m always nice.”

My eyes rolled, but since I wanted to be welcoming, I couldn’t get into it with Scott right then. Hurrying across the crowded parking lot, I waved them over and smiled. “Hey, guys. How are you today?”

“We’re good,” Landon said from behind a pair of aviators, looking like a model in his turquoise board shorts and black vest. “You’re still sure it’s okay if we join you, right?”

“Absolutely. Follow me and we’ll get you sorted.” I turned and started back to the boat, not wanting to look like I’d been waiting for them as eagerly as I had been.

Scott and Brittany muttered greetings as we piled onto the boat with them. Then Scott reached for a life jacket he’d had waiting for Colten. “You’re going to have to put this on, buddy.”

The boy’s face fell and he looked utterly demoralized. “I know how to swim.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have a choice, kiddo,” Landon explained. “It’s for safety. Knowing how to swim won’t help you much if you fall off and get disoriented as you hit the water. It’s as hard as concrete if you’re going fast enough.”

Colten sighed and accepted the life jacket, but he looked so broody that I threw Landon a bone and intervened, grinning at his son as Scott got us underway. “Have you ever been on a boat like this?”

“I’ve been on a yacht,” he said.

I blinked hard and glanced at his father, who gave me a sheepish smile and shrug in return. Wow, they really must be loaded.

Inhaling deeply, I tried to hide my surprise and grinned at him again. “Okay, well, this isn’t much like a yacht at all. Far from it, in fact, but the best spot to sit is the very front.”

I guided him over to the seats in front of the windshield that got the most air over waves, and Scott left the shore, slow and steady like always. Once we were clear and we were all seated, he called out, “Okay, people. Hold on.”

Colten’s fingers tightened around a handle, but his eyes still went wide as Scott opened up, pressing down on the throttle and letting out a delighted whoop. In turn, Colten grinned from ear to ear, shrieking with laughter, and he gripped the line around the front of boat for dear life. I threw my arm over my head like I was on a roller coaster and beamed into the wind.

So far, this seems to be going pretty well.

I glanced over my shoulder at the others, wondering if Scott was keeping his promise to be nice to Landon, but he was too busy flirting with Brittany to be noticing the other man at all. And Landon? Well, he was grinning too, but he was looking right at me.

That megawatt smile stole the control I had over my body, making a tingle rush down my spine and goosebumps rise on my skin. My nipples hardened and my lips parted.

Undeniable lust raced through me and he swiped his tongue across his lips, making me wonder if he felt it too. Something zapped through the air between us, but then Scott suddenly pulled up short, waiting until the boat had almost stopped gliding through the water on its momentum alone before he shoved Brittany right off.

She landed with a splash and came up sputtering and laughing. Then she started splashing water at him. Goofing off was part of our way of life and we always made sure to do it safely, but Colten and Landon seemed a bit shocked at first.

At least it broke the spell between us when he snapped his head toward my brother and my friend, staring at them with confusion on his features until he realized what was going on. Immediately joining in the fun, he got up, strode over to us, picked Colten up, and leaped over the side with him in his arms.

Colten shrieked and clung to Landon, taking a deep breath just as they hit the water. I chuckled, diving in after them since I wasn’t about to wait for someone to toss me in against my will. Just as I came up, Scott sent a massive spray of water right at my face and I yelped. Then I went under and launched an offensive of my own.

I grabbed his ankle and yanked him down, only to realize it hadn’t been his ankle, but Landon’s that I’d tugged. I squealed with surprise when I realized it.

He smirked and came at me. “You’ve gone and done it now.”

I laughed at his playful threat, flipping over onto my front to slice through the water with powerful strokes. It turned out they weren’t powerful enough, though. He reached me quite easily, dunking me before his son jumped on his back and dunked him in turn.

After that, a full-fledged water war broke out and we messed around until we were all too tired to keep at it, so we got back on the boat and Scott drove us to a secluded beach on the far shore. As he unpacked our cooler of waters and food, I smiled at Landon and Colten, finding us a spot in the shade to sit in.

“This is called Soulmate Beach,” I said. “Coincidentally, it’s where Mr. and Mrs. Styles had their first date after they moved here and it’s also where he proposed to her.”

Scott heard what I was telling them as he and Brittany came over to join us, and he rolled his eyes at me. “Not this nonsense again. They’ve been dead nearly two decades! Leave them to rest in peace, would you?”

I sighed dreamily. “That’s true, but there’s something about them that has always captivated me. You know that. Besides, it’s not like I’m disturbing their graves. I’m keeping their love story alive. I’m sure they’re resting more peacefully than ever knowing that their romance lives on.”

Colten’s nose wrinkled, but then he shrugged. “I don’t know about their romance, but their house is huge!”

“It’s almost too big,” Landon said. “When I booked the place, I said I didn’t want the staff that should’ve come with it, but I’ve had to call a cleaning company to come help us stay on top of things. It’s that big. Their story is pretty awesome too, though. Just not as awesome as their house.”

My eyebrows crept up, my heart beating just a little bit faster. “Is the cleaning service you contacted called Tidy Touch?”

Surprise flashed in his eyes before he nodded. “How did you know? Are they any good?”

I smiled. “There’s only one residential cleaning company in June Lake, and it just so happens that Brittany and I own it.”