“Oh, Sam, it’s so pretty.” I leaned forward, checking out the sloping bank that led down to the river. “Is this where we’re fishing?”
He nodded. “Yeah, this is my favorite spot.” He pulled the truck alongside the water, as close as he could get without getting stuck. “Wait here a second.”
Sam jumped out on his side and circled around to open my door for me. He laced our fingers together again as he helped me out and led me to the river.
“If you sit down here, I’ll bring the fishing gear over.” He pointed to a flat rock that sat on the edge of the water.
“I can help you,” I offered, but he shook his head.
“Nope, just stay put.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. There was something about moving water that spoke to my soul, and I realized how much I’d been missing the ocean this summer. I leaned down to let my fingers trail in the rushing bubbles. It was icy cold, and I shivered.
Sam joined me with our fishing poles. He insisted on putting the bait on my hook for me, even after my assurances that I always did my own hook at home.
“I’m not that much of a girl, Sam.” I took the offered reel.
“I didn’t think you were, but this is a date, and maybe you don’t want to get your fingers all slimy.”
I couldn’t think of an argument, so I smiled. “Thank you for that.”
We cast out and watched the bobbers bounce as they landed. I settled myself between Sam’s legs, relaxing my back against his chest. “This is the best date ever. Thank you.”
The fingers of his free hand wrapped around my stomach. “This is just the beginning. Don’t thank me too soon.”
“But it’s perfect. Most guys would take me out to a restaurant or some place like that, and I’d have to pretend to like it. But this is exactly what I wanted. What I needed.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because I’d have hated to put on a stupid tie and go to a fancy place to eat.” He leaned in to trail his lips down my neck. “I would have done it, if it were what you wanted. But I’m glad it isn’t.”
My line tugged sharply. “Hey! I think I got something.” I sat forward and pulled up, cranking in slow and steady. I liked that Sam didn’t try to take the pole from me; he just watched me, smiling, as I slowly reeled in a good-sized trout.
“That’s a nice one.” He watched the fish flop on the river bank. “I’ve got an ice chest in the truck if you want to keep it.”
I shook my head. “Nah. Let’s let him go. He’s been a good sport.”
Sam removed the hook and tossed the trout back in the river. I watched him swim away. “Do you think he’s going back to tell his friends how he was abducted by aliens?”
“Maybe.” He laughed. “I’ve never thought about what the fish think when they’re thrown back in. Do you ever eat what you catch?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes, but usually not.” I ran the tip of my tongue along my top lip. “It’s the catching that I enjoy, you know? I guess I always think the best part of anything is having fun while it’s there, and then being smart enough to walk away when it’s over. Or toss it back.”
Sam watched me for a minute and then nodded. He picked up my rod. “Want to cast again?”
I looked at him, kneeling next to me, those brown eyes hungry as he glanced up at me. His T-shirt stretched over his shoulders, and I knew I didn’t want to wait another minute.
“No, I don’t think I do.” I slid from the rock and knelt in front of him. “I think I want to enjoy what I hooked. And guess what, Sam?” I kissed up his neck until I got to his ear lobe. I bit it gently, sucking it into my mouth. “WAN.”
He pushed back to see my face, and he was grinning again. “WAN. We’re alone now.”
“Yes, we are.” I slipped my hands into the waistband of his jeans and tugged him as close to me as I could. “So what are you going to do about it?”
Sam lifted me up, his hands cupping my backside. “Come and see.”
ONCE WHEN I WAS about ten, my mom took Ali and me down to Florida to see her aunt, who’d just moved there. She lived in a trailer park for senior citizens that sat on the edge of an orange grove. I remembered stepping out onto her deck and taking a deep breath of the tantalizing aroma of orange blossoms.
That was exactly how Meghan smelled as I picked her up and carried her toward the truck. I made it up the bank before I stopped at a tree and let her slide down me. Taking her face in my hands, I covered her lips with mine, kissing her with such thoroughness that our hearts were pounding when I broke away.