Page 62 of The Write Track
“I always took that scene as a dream, especially given the opening of the second movie, but yes,” she confirmed. “I didn’t just learn how to kayak so I can pass muster. I can dominate.”
I wanted to kiss her, and for more than one reason. “Let’s do this.” I gave the kayak a solid push and hopped in behind her. We had momentum on our side, so we were out before everybody else.
Behind us, I could hear Bree and Brody arguing.
“I know you’re the man, and that means you’re technically stronger, so you think you should be in the back of the boat. But I have a much better sense of direction,” Bree argued.
“I read up on this while we were waiting for the kayaks to be ready,” Brody argued. “I totally know what I’m doing.”
“Did you make a list?” Bree guessed.
“Why does that matter?” Brody sounded exasperated.
“I’m going to kill Nathan when this goes sideways,” Bree groused. “What a mess.”
Another voice chimed in. Hayley, already out as far as we were in her solo kayak, started singing a song. “Row, row, row your boat, gently up the stream.” She had a terrible singing voice, so everything was cracked and uneven when she hit the merrily refrain.
Bella raised her eyebrows and looked over her shoulder. “Speaking of horror movies,” she said on a laugh.
And I wanted to kiss her again.
She’d been nervous when first meeting us, and my protective instincts had kicked into high gear. I’d assumed she was this quiet, sweet, intelligent woman who didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She wasn’t a bully or anything, but she had a diabolical sense of humor, and I adored that about her.
She was funny, charming, and biting with an insult. What was not to like? I saw fear in her, but I had no doubt it would go away the second Preston was well and truly out of her life. She was trying so hard, and when she let loose, she was breathtaking.
That tool just wouldn’t let her go.
One way or another, I would make sure he did.
We kept going, paddling in tandem. She understood steering and never once barked out an order. I found I didn’t have to either. Our movements worked well together even though her stroke was so much shorter than mine due to the length of her arms.
“How are we so good at this?” I asked, not meaning to say that thought aloud.
“I think we’re just on the same wavelength,” she replied, not looking back. She had her face tilted up to get some sun even though I’d watched her lather on half a bottle of sunscreen before we left.
“It’s the horror movies,” I said. “You do realize, if there really is a zombie apocalypse, we’re going to have to sacrifice most of the others to make our escape.”
“Oh, totally,” she agreed, not missing a beat. “Bree and Brody would be dead weight.”
“Hey!” Bree barked from somewhere behind us, causing me to swivel quickly. They weren’t all that close, which had me wondering how she’d managed to hear us.
“Sound carries on the water,” Bella supplied without me asking. “This is a lake, not a river. There would be ambient cover out there. Not as much on a lake.”
“So I should watch what I say about the inverted penis you used to date,” I guessed. “That’s what you’re saying, right?”
This time she did look over her shoulder, directly at me. There was mischief on her face. “We should just be careful,” she said. “Although…” She stretched her neck to look behind us, and I swear she almost fell out of the kayak when she started laughing.
I couldn’t help but look, too, but I was careful to distribute my weight and face toward the other side, making sure we didn’t both lean too far to the left.
Behind us, still back near the shore, Preston’s kayak was on its side. He was in the water, soaking wet, and Daisy was halfway out of the kayak, clinging to him while screeching about her hair. The white bathing suit top she’d put on was wet, and it didn’t appear to feature a liner, because everything was visible through it.
“Wow,” was all I could think to say.
“They are impressive,” Bella agreed. “At least we know they won’t drown with those flotation devices at their fingertips.”
I choked on a laugh and gave her an amused look. “Where has this Bella been hiding?”
She looked momentarily caught off guard.
