Little Miss Lovesick (5 page)

He leaned closer, adjusting the fishing line. Oh, you smell so good — concentrate, concentrate on the river, casting, don’t cast the fishing pole into the water.

I kept my eyes forward and hoped the sudden rush of warmth in my face was not visible in the dim light.

“Remember what to do?” he whispered.

“Why are we whispering?” I whispered back.

“So we don’t scare the fish away.”

Oh yeah, I vaguely recollected him mentioning that.

I tried again. Now that I was warmer and not shivering, I did a better job. Meaning I landed the fly in the river rather than in my hair. But certainly nowhere near where Matt had landed it.

“Not bad, not bad. Pull it in and try it again,” he said.

It was one thing to keep a cool head when Matt was not in sight. It was another thing altogether when he was standing so close I could practically feel the heat from his body.

“It’s in the water,” I said, pointing (stupidly) in front of me. “It’s fine. I don’t want to take up everybody else’s time.”

I glanced upstream but no one seemed to be paying attention. I thought surely everyone would be wondering why Matt was spending so much time with me. Even Emily completely ignored everything around her. Man, that girl is serious about fishing.

“You’re not taking up anyone’s time. Come on, pull it in.” Matt stood there smiling with his arms folded over his chest.

“I got it in the water,” I said in mock irritation as I did as he asked.

He responded with mock seriousness, “A very good place to start when trying to catch a fish.”

I laughed in spite of myself.

The sun was still hidden behind the tall trees, but it was lighter out and that automatically meant I was waking up. At least mostly.

I yawned.

“Now,” Matt said as he stepped behind me and put his right hand over mine on the fishing pole.

I bit the yawn off in surprise and nearly bit my tongue. Why did it seem this man was always putting his arms around me?

“Hold the pole like this.” He adjusted my hand a bit. “And the line like this.” He let go of my right hand and moved to my other side to put the line in my left hand.

“Go ahead.” Matt stood looking at me expectantly, arms crossed over his chest again.

I looked down at my hands and wondered what I’d missed. I turned back to him. He smiled and shook his head a little, his eyes twinkling like the sunlight on the stream.

“Go ahead and cast.”

“I’m really not good at—”

Matt cut me off with a wave of his hand. (Or was he swatting at a fly?) “You’re fine. You can do it. Go ahead.”

I wasn’t so sure. My goal in life at this moment was to not look like a complete imbecile. I stood there for a second hoping I wouldn’t embarrass myself when I felt his arms wrap around me.

No, I mean really. Not the very discrete and professional thing he was doing a minute ago. I’m talking both arms around me, both hands on mine, the warmth of him behind me, practically cheek to cheek. He moved the pole and the line, explaining everything again as he made my hands go through the movements.

His voice was low and soft near my ear. “Forward, back, and release, letting the line go out…and then you’re done.”

He moved his hands to my shoulders but didn’t move away.

“See? I told you you could do it.”

I turned to say thank you (I couldn’t think of anything else to say), but as I did I noticed how close his lips were. I mean, it’s not that I was looking, exactly. But I’m quite a bit shorter than he is and his lips were right at my eye level.

I risked a quick glance and noticed Emily grin and look away. A movement farther down caught my eye. Patty smiled at us. Great. I can imagine how we looked. Apparently, so could Matt.

He dropped his hands and cleared his throat. “Call me if you need anything.” He walked down the bank to help Mikki.

I turned back to the river. Amazingly, the fishing pole was doing its thing without me. There it was in my hands, the fly still floating in the water.

I a
m
s
o
not interested in him. I’m just tired, that’s all. Maybe if we’d met later when I was looking for a good, healthy relationship. If I even knew what that was.

Mm, something smelled good. I dipped my head closer to the collar of Matt’s shirt. Oh my. I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed in — what, soap? Aftershave? Something nice, whatever it was.

This is exactly why your mother told you not to have sex before marriag
e
, the “Mom” voice droned in my brain
.
Once you’ve had it, it’s all you think about.

I turned my face away from Matt’s shirt. I a
m
no
t
thinking about sex!

I a
m
, said Little Miss Lovesick.

I sighed. It doesn’t matter. I’ve already run the gamut of self-destructive behaviors over the last four months. The last thing I’m going to do — no, not the last thing I’
m
goin
g
to do, the one thing
I
won’
t
do — is try to find comfort in some cute guy’s bed. Like the wine and the ice cream, it’ll likely be something I really regret in the morning.

A booming voice inside yelled
,
sh
e
ca
n
be taught!

CHAPTER 5

AS THE sun rose above the tree line, I tipped up my face to capture its warmth on my skin. Sighing peacefully, my eyes drifted open. I pulled gently on the line in my hand, trying to interest a fish in my lure — if there were any fish around. My gaze shifted across the water where I noticed a movement. I leaned forward trying to make out the shapes in the shadows of the trees.

A deer! I was almost positive. Yes! There was its white tail as it turned deeper into the forest. Not wanting to lose sight of it — come on, we saw
a
bea
r
on the road on the way here, and now I was yards away from a deer — I took a step forward. In my slippery, smooth-soled sandals. My foot slipped. I spun my arms backward trying to regain my balance. But the grass-covered river bank was wet with dew and I slid right into the river.

Icy water rushed over me. I gasped and choked on water. Gotta get my feet under me. Keep my head above water. Too cold to think.

Something pulled at me. I fought harder to find my footing. My head broke the surface of the water. I coughed and tried to yell. I heard voices yelling back but I couldn’t understand them. So cold.

“Let go, I got you,” I heard behind me.

The voice came together with the realization that it wasn’t som
e
thin
g
pulling at me but som
e
on
e
. I tried to relax.

And then I was on the bank, holding tight to my rescuer. Shivering and disoriented, I clung to him like a life preserver. Strong arms held me tight.

“You’re okay,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

Emily and Patty hovered over me, arms and hands and voices wrapping around me as I shook with cold and surprise and embarrassment. The others rushed over and crowded around. As my brain defrosted, I realized everyone was jabbering at me, but my teeth were chattering too hard to respond.

“Is she all right?” Patty asked Matt.

“I think so,” he answered. He rubbed his hands briskly up and down my arms. “We just need to get you warmed up,” he said to me with a smile.

Keep smiling at me that way and I’ll be plenty war
m
, said You-Know-Who.

I worried about brain damage. Because right now that particular voice made sense.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Emily hugged me tight.

She looked like she might cry. Which would make me cry. Which would be even more embarrassing. Think of something funny to say. Think.

“Can I borrow your shoes?”

Emily pulled back to study my face. She blinked. Then she burst out laughing.

In seconds, everyone was laughing. I could feel the deep sound of Matt’s laughter in his chest. For just a moment, all was right in the world. Cold and wet, but right. Which reminded me…

I looked up at Matt, who was still holding me. “I guess the forecast hasn’t changed much,” I said, trying to keep my teeth from chattering. “Damp and sticky just became cold and wet.” Which made him and Em and me laugh even harder.

When Matt felt a huge involuntary shudder shake me, he turned to Patty. “Will you watch things down here? I’ll take Sydney up to the lodge and be back as soon as I change into dry clothes.”

“I’ll come and help Syd,” Em immediately volunteered. I smiled gratefully at her.

“Be sure she doesn’t fall on that trail,” Patty instructed Matt as he stood and pulled me upright. She turned to me. “Take a hot shower before you change clothes. No point in getting sick.”

I nodded, clenching my jaw to keep my teeth still. Matt put his arm around me and pulled me close, leading me up the trail to the lodge. The trail wasn’t wide enough for three, so Emily followed behind us.

“Matthew, you check in on her later and make sure she’s okay,” Patty called.

Matt raised one hand in the air, but didn’t turn around.

“I’ll stay with her,” Emily called back.

“I’m so sorry,” I said to Matt as he hurried me toward the bunkhouse. I slid and slipped more than ever. He was half carrying me, but I was too cold to care.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But it’s my fault that—”

“I said don’t worry about it.” He smiled down at me and brushed river water from my cheek. “These things happen.”

I shivered again and tried to smile back.

“I really am fine.” I tried to smile reassuringly up at him, my arms crossed tightly in front of my chest to keep from shivering.

His dimple appeared. “That was nothing. I’ve seen worse.”

“At least I didn’t get swept away, or attacked by piranhas, or—”

“No obituaries, please!” Emily exclaimed. “That was too close.”

Matt laughed and hugged me tighter. “You’re funny.”

Right about then, my wet leather sandals hit that stupid gravel. I slid backward, but stayed upright since Matt already had me in a death grip.

“Clumsy, but funny.”

I gasped. “I’m not clumsy!”

He looked at me and laughed in disbelief. “You’re having a pretty difficult time walking and staying on dry ground today.” He stopped and made a move to pick me up. “It’ll probably be safer if I carry you back up the trail.”

I backed out of his arms and pointed my finger at him. “I will drive a stake through your heart if you pick me up. I swear.” There was a limit to how many embarrassing things I could survive in one day. And it wasn’t even breakfast time yet.

Matt looked at me for a second then glanced back at Em, obviously trying to decide if I was serious. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “All right, Buffy, but if you fall I’m carrying you.”

I couldn’t help but grin at the TV reference. He pulled me close to his side and we continued our slip-slide way up the trail.

At the bunkhouse, Matt and Emily helped me up the steps. “Do you need any help?” His hands rubbed my cold arms. Since my teeth were chattering, I gave him a look that said, “As if!”

Emily laughed and rolled her eyes. “Go!”

“Just thought I’d offer,” he said. He opened the door. As I brushed past, I heard him chuckle.

Rescuer or rogue? That is the question.

Either one works for m
e
, piped up Lovesick.

An hour later after a deliciously hot shower, I started back to the river, warm and dry in borrowed shoes and my hoodie zipped to my chin. The sun had risen above the tree line while I was inside so I was able to pick my way carefully down the trail. I didn’t slip once.

I’d sent Emily back to the fishing lesson after assuring her I planned on staying in the shower for a week. I saw my fishing pole next to her at the river so I headed that way. The fact that Matt was helping her with her casting at that very moment had no bearing on my decision. Pulse, normal. Respiration, normal. Mental state
,
crazy!

Matt turned and looked at my feet, now clad in tennis shoes instead of sandals. “Much better.” He winked at me.

He’d changed into khaki cargo shorts and a black T-shirt wit
h
Runs With Scissor
s
printed on the front. Like his other T-shirts, this one clung to his muscular arms and chest. I told myself I only noticed because he looked so different from Dirk. Dirk was slim and toned, but not muscular. He spent most of his time in a business suit trying to move up the ladder. He didn’t have the outdoorsy look Matt had.

Yeah, all I was doing was cataloging the differences. That’s it.

I picked up my pole and moved down to a narrower part of the river. A swirling little eddy near the opposite bank looked to be the perfect place to try to sink the fly into. I stayed a good three feet from the edge of the bank, aimed, cast, missed and pulled in the line. Aimed, cast, missed, pulled in the line.

I heard some commotion up the bank, then a happy cry from Emily. She’d caught a fish. Cool!

Matt helped her pull it in. I hate to admit it, but watching it flap around with its buggy eyes and glistening body was not making me want to catch one. I didn’t relish the idea of going all girly-girl when Matt came to help me. You know, “Eew! No, I don’t want it! You take it!” How embarrassing woul
d
tha
t
be. I’d already met my embarrassment quota for this trip. Maybe I’d just pretend to try to catch fish for the rest of the weekend.

“Hope you’re all hungry tonight,” Matt said, holding Emily’s fish up for everyone to see. “For a bite, anyway.”

Oh, I hope it ends up looking like fish in a restaurant. After seeing it alive and jiggly, I didn’t think I could sit around a campfire and eat something that still had its head attached.

I grimaced and turned back to my casting. Okay, trying to build a skill. That’s it. Not trying to catch a fish. Hey, maybe I should take the lure and hook off the end. Then
I
can’
t
catch any fish. No, then it wouldn’t fly over the water right. It needed some weight. Hmm, I thought about it as I pulled in the line again. Well maybe I could—

“Lookin’ good there.”

I jumped. “Do
g
gon
e
it! Stop sneaking up — are yo
u
tryin
g
to make me fall in?”

“Little jumpy, eh?” Matt smiled and crossed his (muscular) arms over his (muscular) chest. Apparently his usual stance. I needed to stop noticing. The last time I’d seen this many muscles on one man was when Hugh Jackman played Wolverine. Who cared about the storyline whe
n
tha
t
was onscreen the whole time?

Matt’s damp hair formed little curls around the sides of his neck. My mother would say he needed a haircut, but I liked it. Pretty adorable, actually.

“At least you’re a safe distance from the water here. I don’t want to have to dive in after you again.”

I looked at him and sniffed, nose in the air. Then I looked away and prepared to cast again. “I wa
s
co
n
centrating,” I said in a mock huffy tone.

I heard him laugh softly, but I didn’t look at him. The last thing I wanted to do was look stupid while he was watching me.

I focused and cast the line out. Whew! I made it pretty close to the eddy I’d aimed for. I looked back at him with my eyebrows raised and sniffed again. “See?”

When he laughed, I couldn’t help myself. I dropped my act and laughed, too.

But Matt barely glanced at the fly I had cast. I swear he was looking me up and down like
,
yo
u
know. I couldn’t quite remember what I was going to say. Those eyes were just stunning in their intensity.

Now what was I supposed to do, to say? I panicked as he wandered a step closer. His eyes were mesmerizing.

“Do you wear blue contacts?” I burst out.

Every single voice in my head groaned.

I turned back to the river, making idiot faces at the water as I tried to figure out how to either turn back time or grab the first bus back to Traverse City.

He laughed again. “No, why?”

Now he stood right next to me so I had to stop with the faces.

I shook my head. “Nothing. You just have — I’ve never seen—” Surely I hit my head in the river and I have brain damage. I’m a freaking idiot.

Just say it. It won’t sound stupid if you just say it.

“You’re eyes are so beauti- blueti- blue,” I stuttered, “I wondered if you wore blue contacts.”

I closed my eyes and yanked on my fishing line. Tha
t
di
d
sound stupid.

He moved closer and lowered his voice. “You think my eyes are beautiful?”

“No!” I said quickly. “I said they’re beau
-
blu
e
!” Geez, I can’t talk.

“You think my eyes are blue?” he said.

“No, I said—” I turned to look at him, completely flustered and saw he was laughing. Laughing right in my face. Close enough to—

I slugged him in the stomach without even thinking. Just left hand, wham! Like he was one of my cousins, always teasing me.

“Ugh!” he grunted, and laughed some more.

I started to do it again, but he grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go. I tried not to laugh as I pulled and twisted my hand.

“You think I have beautiful blue eyes, huh?” He had my left wrist in his right hand, his left arm still casually crossed against his chest, like it didn’t take any effort at all to fend me off.

What isn’t taking him any effort at all is making my stomach feel like I’m on a roller coaste
r
, sighed Lovesick.

“Say it,” he prompted.

“I’m trying to fish here,” I said as I stopped struggling and tried to concentrate on the river — with one hand.

“Say it and I’ll let you get back to fishing — or whatever it is you’re doing while trying not to catch a fish.”