Page 66 of Shut Up and Drive

“So the chopping wood didn’t do it for ya, huh?” I joke in reply as I pick up the ax head.

“I’m a classy gal, Thane. I’m more into hand flexes and grand gestures than thirst traps.”

“Mr. Darcy is the bane of my existence.” I laugh. But that’s when I see her eyes dart to my bare chest.

“My eyes are up here, Spencer,” I tease.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. But keep dreaming that I want you.”

“Oh, Iknowyou do.” I side-step over to the picnic table and stick my hand in the glass jar of coconut oil she uses to tan, and start rubbing it on my pecs. “Maybe I’ll just… oil up and lie in the sun for a bit,” I say with the sultriest smile I can muster.

She raises an eyebrow. “That’s Crisco.”

I look down in disgust at the grease in my hand and wipe the rest back into the jar.

“Why on earth is there Crisco outside?” I ask, frantically using half the roll of paper towels on the table to clean off.

“Because someone stuck it in the fridge and I needed some softened for my recipe.”

The amount of greasy film on my hands and body is not going anywhere, no matter how many layers of skin I remove, so I march inside to get some soap. I stand at the sink, sudsing my hands and chest with dish detergent.

I scrub harder when round one doesn’t do the trick. “I still feel like a bucket of fried chicken. How on earth can I get this off?” I ask with a little more desperation in my voice thanI wanted.

Sera shakes her head and pumps something foamy into her hand. “Here, try Castile soap. It works like a charm.”

She moves to wipe it on my chest, hesitates long enough to make the air between us thicken, and I swallow hard. Her eyes bounce from my pecs to my face, then down again. The suds slide off the side of her hand and land on my bare toes. Both our gazes go to the floor, then back up to each other. My pulse quickens, and as much as I try to keep my breathing under control, it slips into a more frantic rhythm.

“Uh,” she says, grabbing my hand and wiping the leftover suds into it, “here. I’ll let you do that.” Her breathy words ignite coals inside my gut.

I hold onto her hand before she can pull it away and we freeze in the moment. Her arm muscles flex—then relax—and all resistance fades. My thumb gets brave enough to rub her knuckle, and her breath hitches.

“Thane, I?—“

Bradley’s voice on a phone call gets closer to the house. She pulls her hand away and moves back to her prep work.

And just like that, the spell is broken and I’ve lost her again.

Chapter 26

THEY DIDN’T KNOW THAT EVERYBODY KNEW

Thane

While everyone else is down at the lake cooling off in the heat of the day, I wander up to the second-floor loft to take a quick nap on the couch. I tip my ball cap down over my eyes and settle in when I hear the stairs creak. I pretend I’m asleep so whoever it is will leave me alone. When my hat is yanked off my face and shoved into my chest, I know without even opening my eyes who is fuming above me.

“We need to talk,” Sera barks out.

When I don’t immediately stand, she grabs both of my hands and pulls me to my feet.

“Now!” she says, throwing my shoes at me. “Put these on, we’re going for a walk.”

“But I don’t want to go for a walk,” I reply with annoyance. “It’s so hot right now.”

“Then wear your swimsuit and we will stop to take a dip in the lake every so often.”

“You’re serious?” I ask.

“Dead serious.”