A Demon Made Me Do It(46)

But I can’t take off my jeans until I remove my boots. My fingers are trembling so much that getting the laces untied proves to be a challenge. “Just a minute more,” I call out, so he doesn’t turn around.

“Take your time,” he says.

I know my jitters aren’t just from being cold. It’s from being in this unbelievably surreal situation. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that here I am, getting practically naked, with Kieron standing just a few feet away. Never in a million years would I have imagined my day ending up like this. In a billion years…

Kieron remains true to his word, not once turning until I manage to peel off the mud-encrusted denim and slip into the softness of his sweatpants. I have to fold over the waist and roll it down a few times, but now I’m comfortable and cozy.

“Okay, I’m done,” I say. He turns back around and runs his gaze up and down the length of my body.

“Better?”

“Much.”

“That looks really good on you.”

I grimace, knowing that can’t possibly be true. The bulky sweatshirt is easily three times too large for my small frame, and I look like I’m wearing clown pants.

“I mean it,” he says, walking back to me. “I like seeing you in my clothes. It’s…sexy.” He raises a mischievous eyebrow at the last word, and I quickly turn my head back toward the river.

“So how come you just happened to have spare clothes and a dry towel with you? It’s almost like you were expecting me to practically drown today.”

“I always keep a towel in the truck. Comes in handy. The sweats were for later, to wear jogging.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I didn’t mean to mess up your plans.”

His eyes twinkle and he grins. “I think my plans took a turn for the better.” He pauses and glances down at his collection of fish. “I see we have an escapee…”

“Sorry,” I repeat, giving him a guilty look.

“I’m not.”

******





Finally, Kieron decides we’ve caught enough fish. Correction, he’s caught enough, as all of mine have been returned to the water. He grabs the tackle box and pulls out some knives, laying them on a small board. Then he expertly builds a fire inside a nearby rock pit.

“You might not like this part too much, best if you go down to the waterfall for a few,” he suggests.

“Oh, please. I’m not that big a wimp. I can take it,” I scoff, positioning myself to watch him work.

He shrugs. “Suit yourself. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He gracefully removes his sweater, revealing his sculpted, bronzed torso. My heart quickens and my jaw actually drops, but I immediately snap it shut when he glances at me.

“Cleaning fish can get sort of messy. Don’t want to stink later.” He smiles and winks. I just nod dumbly, too in awe of his chiseled abdomen and ripped arms to be the slightest bit bothered by the gory decapitation and subsequent gutting of our soon-to-be lunch.

A few minutes later he’s putting the trout in a metal pan over the fire. Then he takes out the rest of the food from his cooler. “How did you just happen to have all this in there?” I ask as I snack on some of the grapes and sliced cheeses.

“This was the lunch I’d packed.” he says, nibbling on some cornbread

“This is so good,” I say between mouthfuls. “I don’t even really like fish, but this tastes amazing.”

“It’s ‘cause it’s so fresh. That’s the trick. Nothing store bought or restaurant prepared will ever come close.”

I could really care less what I’m eating right now, because Kieron still hasn’t put his sweater back on. So I’m far more interested in appreciating his smoking hot body than the quality of our food. But I need something safe to talk about before something really embarrassing comes out of my mouth. Watching him move wearing only his loose fitting jeans and hiking boots, eating the food he’d caught and prepared…it’s so damn sexy I could be eating mouthfuls of dirt and wouldn’t notice.

“It’s really good,” I murmur and steal another peek. But this time his eyes catch mine and I see a devilish gleam. I quickly look away, embarrassed to be caught so blatantly checking him out.

We clean up our lunch and wander over to sit by the waterfall overlooking the valley. Much to my dismay, Kieron has put his sweater back on, but sitting so close to him is consolation enough.

We sit in comfortable silence, lost in our own thoughts. But I can sense he is holding something back from me. So many times he seems to want to say something, but stops himself at the last second. Other people do that with me a lot, so I’m used to it. But when Kieron does it, it hurts. I want so much to be able to talk with him about anything.