Page 60 of The Sweetest Mistake

“I’d love to own a place like this someday,” he remarked as he peered out the window.

“Maybe you will.”

“Nah. I doubt I’ll be able to afford it.”

He’d made other comments about her parents’ money, so she knew it bothered him, but she wasn’t sure why. Before, he’d seemed perfectly content with his ranch house in the woods, and it suited him. As much as she liked the lake house, it was much larger and more pretentious than was necessary for a family of three. But this was how her parents had chosen to spend their money. It didn’t mean she wanted or expected the same thing for herself.

“Even if you could afford it, would you really want a place this big?” she asked.

“Probably not.”

“Me neither. Don’t get me wrong. I love it here, but I would be just as happy with something smaller.”

Apparently, her words had done the trick because a slow smile spread across his handsome face and warmed her to the core. Now she could turn her attention back to finding some swim trunks.

A minute later, she said, “Looks like you have two choices: black with fish on them or a Hawaiian floral print.” She held up the swimsuits and dangled them before him as if to entice him.

“Wow. Tough decision,” he replied, acting like he was giving it some serious thought.

“Just pick one!”

“I guess I’ll go with the fish.”

“Okay. I’ll wait outside while you change,” she said and tossed him the trunks.

But he didn’t catch them because he’d already started stripping out of his clothes.

“Connor…”

“What? It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”

And just like that, his pants hit the floor, and he was stepping out of them. He’d already whipped off his shirt, so he was standing there in nothing but his black boxer briefs instead of the tighty-whities she’d accused him of wearing.

The underwear hugged him just right, and she couldn’t help but appreciate the view. The man was built, and he still had the power to steal her breath away. She let her eyes wander over his broad chest, his tight abs, and then further down to the sexy indentions at his hips. She lingered on his muscular thighs with their smattering of dark hair before raising her eyes to meet his.

He was smirking at her, the dirty rat. He knew full well what he was doing, and it wasn’t fair. Since he’d been at the lake house, they hadn’t done anything except hold hands, which wasn’t their usual M.O. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have been able to keep their hands off each other, so this was a serious lesson in self-control—at least on her part.

“You keep looking at me like that, and we won’t make it out to the boat,” he warned, his voice gruff.

Darting her eyes downward, she saw evidence that his warning was valid. In the time she’d been staring, he’d sported a full-on erection that was threatening to poke a hole through his underwear.

“I’ll just go get changed,” Julia said, hooking her thumb over her shoulder.

“Good idea,” he said and laughed as she hurried out of the room.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have sex with him. It was that she wanted to decide the when and the where. She didn’t want him to think that he could just show up, whisk her off to bed, and all would be forgiven or their problems would disappear.

Once she was safely in her bedroom with the door closed, she dug out her swimsuit and quickly changed into it. Julia was long past the point of obsessing over every detail of her curvy body. Yes, she had some extra meat on her bones, and yes, she liked to eat. But she also exercised (although not as diligently as some people), and generally, she felt good about herself.

She felt even more confident when she rejoined Connor downstairs, and he let out a long, low whistle. Even though she wore a cover-up over her swimsuit, it was made of mesh, so he could see right through it. The way he looked at her, she might as well have been naked. His eyes skimmed over her, heating her blood as they went. At this rate, she wasn’t going to be able to keep him at bay for long.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said, taking a step toward her.

She smiled her thanks. “We should probably get going. It looks like the clouds are starting to roll in. There could be rain coming.” She was babbling, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. Using the two beach towels she’d brought downstairs as a shield, she added, “Why don’t you grab the food?”

Even in her dad’s swim trunks with the fish all over them, Connor looked hot. Bare-chested, aviators propped up in his spiky hair, he took the bags of food off the kitchen counter and followed her outside and down the paved path to the boat dock.

The sun was high in the sky, and there was a slight breeze, the temperature approaching eighty degrees. However, it being Michigan, the weather could change in a heartbeat, and there were several clouds gathering off in the distance.