“I didn’t think to bring a suit,” I muttered, glancing longingly at the cool water, “or we could’ve gone swimming.”

“Who needs a suit?” Mike reached for the button on his jeans, unsnapping them and letting them drop before my mind could formulate an argument. Within minutes, he stood in front of me in nothing but black cotton boxer briefs. “You coming?”

I hesitated. I had changed into yoga pants and a tee shirt after the show last night, but I hadn’t changed out of my underwear or bra. The panties were fine, black lace boy shorts that wouldn’t show through even if they got wet. But my bra barely contained me out of water. I shook my head. “Naw. I’m good.”

Mike stepped into the water and then turned to me. “Get your ass in here, Mols. If you don’t come on your own, I’ll come get you.”

Knowing he’d follow through, I kicked off my flip flops and shimmied out of my pants before climbing carefully down the rocks to him. The water was colder than I remembered, but it felt good on my heated skin. He dove in, resurfacing a few seconds later.

Just like that, my body was on fire again. No one, absolutely no one, should look as good as he did. Water drops slid down the center of his chest, right between his incredibly toned pecs and onto the six-pack most models would be jealous of. I wanted to dry it. With my tongue.

I preferred men with tattoos. Lots and lots of tattoos. It was my policy not to date men who had less ink than me. But Mike’s ink-free, extremely muscular chest was honest to God the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. Without the ink, nothing about him was left to the imagination. He even had a little trail of hair that was just visible, and veins, which I’d never actually seen on any other man. And a V on his lower abdomen…good Christ. That was apparently a real thing, not just something a romance author made up. I swallowed hard, glancing back up before he caught me inspecting him like some horny pervert.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have any art at all. His left arm was covered from shoulder to wrist in black. But the tats were the last thing you saw when you looked at those gloriously large arms. No wonder the man had no trouble lifting me. He could probably bench-press a baby elephant. Thank God he wore a shirt most of the time, because it would be way too distracting if he didn’t.

“Are you gonna come in, or are you just gonna stare into space while I swim?” He walked toward me very slowly, as if trying not to spook me. Then he reached out, snatching me by the waist, and pulled me toward him. Throwing his arms around me, he tucked me tight against his chest, and I shivered as the cold wet from his body seeped into mine. Without warning, he jumped into the water, dragging me with him.

I came up, still in his arms, sputtering and spitting, but Mike only laughed, pushing my hair out of my eyes. He winked and jumped away, back into the water, before I could smack him. He swam to the other side of the brook and turned to look at me. Laughter died from his lips, replaced by the same expression he’d worn the night before when he treated my face. In that moment, I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him. Then he blinked and it was gone.

He ignored me for a few minutes, glancing around at the rock walls that surrounded us. “This is beautiful.”

I nodded in agreement. “It is one of my favorite places. I used to sit on the rocks up there”—I pointed to the cliff behind him—“and write songs or daydream about what it would be like to sing for other people.”

“Have you always wanted to be a singer?”

I nodded. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. People told me I was crazy because a million other people could carry a tune just as well, if not better, and that I didn’t look like a singer. They all said I should have a backup plan.” I shrugged. “I never did. Instead, I worked my ass off to get here.” I scrunched up my nose, forcing the memories away. “What about you? Was the Navy always your plan?”

“Fuck no.” He chuckled. “I played ball in school. Baseball was my passion, but I was better at football. Not good enough to go pro, but decent enough to play college ball. My plan was to go to a top tier school on a scholarship, party my way through school, and then coach baseball for the rest of my life.”

“What happened? Didn’t get a scholarship?”

“September eleventh happened.” He glanced away. “I got some great offers for schools, but I was needed elsewhere.”

A shiver ran down my spine. I’d only been fourteen when the planes crashed into the twin towers, but I would never forget that day. Or the way the city had changed afterward. “Thank you for that.”

His eyes met mine, searching, as if to see if I was sincere.

“I mean it.”  I shrugged, embarrassed. “I had a hard time sleeping for a long time. Men like you made me feel safe.”

“You’re welcome.” He swallowed and took a deep breath. “How far is Cooperstown?”

I tipped my head, pointing toward the mountains he couldn’t see, thankful for the change in topic. “A few hours that way. Jake?”

He nodded. “I was just thinking how much he’d love it here. These falls, the mountains, the baseball hall of fame.” He chuckled.

“Next summer you should bring him here for a vacation.”

“Yeah?”

I nodded. “There is so much to do, even if you have to drive a couple of hours, you could come back here and stay for the night.”

“What about you?” he asked, swimming toward me. “Will you be here, too?”

I hadn’t thought about that. “If you don’t mind me hanging around, absolutely.”

He stood up, giving me another glorious view of the water running down his body. I stifled a groan. “He’d like that.” Mike chuckled. “I think my son has a little crush on you, Miss Molly Ray.”

I laughed. “No he doesn’t. He’s what, thirteen? Teenage boys don’t even know who I am. The only reason he does is ‘cause you’re friends with Nate.”

“Oh, you’re wrong about that.” He stepped closer to me, close enough that my nipples almost brushed against him when I breathed. “He not only knows who you are, he would die if he knew I was swimming with you right now and you looked like that.”

“Gross.” My hands found my hips. “I’m wearing a shirt, you ass. Probably the best thing to wear swimming with teenage boys.”

He chuckled, reaching out and tugging on the bottom of my shirt. “A thin white shirt is never the best thing to wear swimming, Mols. Especially in an ice-cold mountain stream.”

I glanced down, suddenly very aware that he could see everything I thought I was hiding. Shit. I moved my arms, determined to cover up, but he grabbed them with one of his hands.

“I didn’t say I objected to the view.”

My face flared in embarrassment, causing him to run a finger along my cheek.

“How are you feeling?”

Knowing he’d meant the gouges in my face and not the emotions swirling around my body, I ran my tongue over my bottom lip and shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“I thought the cool water might help. Especially with your back. Is it?”

I nodded, ready to tell him that it actually seemed to be helping a lot when he dropped my hands and cupped my cheeks. I instinctively stepped into him, knowing this was it, this was the moment he’d kiss me.

He didn’t move. Just stood there, leaning over me, every part of him touching every part of me, holding my face and looking at me the way I looked at rugby players. I couldn’t wait another second and took matters into my own hands.

I moved my hands to his hair, twirling them in the thick dark locks, forcing him closer to me as I stood on tiptoes and pressed my lips against his. That’s all it took for him to snap out of whatever daze he was in and take control.

His body may have been freezing, but his mouth was warm as he adjusted, leaning further down, capturing my lips with his. He teased me, nibbling at my bottom lip until I opened up, then he slid his tongue in, meeting mine, the two swirling around each other in a playful dance. He groaned, yanking my body closer, his fingertips digging almost painfully into my shoulders.