Satin & Saddles (7 page)

They reached the shore where Dillon stripped out of his shoes, jeans, and T-shirt, leaving him in a pair of swim shorts and she whistled at the sight of his muscular chest and powerful thighs. “Nice,” she murmured.

The three other men ditched their clothing, too, and Carly found herself staring at a cornucopia of gorgeous nearly naked cowboys. Barry was fit, too, and looked like he worked out.

“Can’t get much better than this,” Kaitlyn said with a grin as the women watched the men finish taking off their clothing.

After the men finished, Carly and the other women stripped down to their bathing suits, with equal male appreciation. The look in Dillon’s eyes as he scanned her body with his gaze told her that he liked her curvy curves. He helped her apply sunscreen and she loved his hands on her, especially when he stroked her bare belly that the two-piece bathing suit exposed. When he was finished, she returned the favor, and thoroughly enjoyed touching the hard planes of his body and feeling his muscles beneath her palms.

When they were finished, Carly tossed her cap onto her clothing and then Dillon waved her toward him as he walked down to the shore.

“I’ll take you out on the Jet Ski.” He nodded toward it. “Then you can take her out on your own.”

Carly jogged after him. He showed her how to climb on and keep it balanced, then had her hold onto him while he puttered away from the shore. Putting her arms around his naked waist was not a hardship whatsoever. She looked around his arm as he cranked up the Jet Ski and they cut through the water. Wind rushed over her face, blowing tendrils of hair out of her ponytail, which rose in the air behind her. Water splashed over them, a mist flying across her face.

A thrill of excitement went through her as they sped over the water.

She yelled over the sound of the Jet Ski, close to Dillon’s ear. “This is amazing.”

They hit a boat’s wake and the Jet Ski bounced over it. Every bounce added to the excitement and she found herself grinning and laughing.

She enjoyed the scenery, too. The lake was beautiful with its tree-lined and hidden shores. They passed beneath a pedestrian footbridge that spanned a narrow portion of the lake and she saw people standing on it, taking pictures.

When they were at the far side of the lake, Dillon pulled the Jet Ski close to a shore. “Your turn,” he said.

“Cool.” Carly slipped off the ski and Dillon followed.

He helped her climb back onto it so that she was in the front and then took his place behind her, his arms around her waist. She loved the feeling of him holding her. It was secure, comfortable. Even though she didn’t need to feel that way to ride the Jet Ski, she had to admit she liked it.

He showed her how to drive it, opening up the throttle, and soon she was flying along, feeling a sense of freedom that she’d never experienced before. It was like in that time and place she had no worries, no cares, just enjoying a raw sense of excitement that she was sharing with Dillon.

They headed back to the shore where everyone in their group was hanging out—those who weren’t out on the boat or Jet Skis.

“That was amazing.” Carly climbed down after Dillon did. Wayne and Kaitlyn were out on the other Jet Ski. Wyatt took Sabrina by the hand and they took over the ski that Carly and Dillon had been riding. Zane, Jessie, Danica, and Barry were out on the boat on the lake.

Carly and Dillon hung out on the shore with everything for a while. Everyone took turns so that someone was always on the shore with their lawn chairs and other stuff.

After awhile the crew returned with the boat, and the others came back with the Jet Skis. A group of six went out on the lake in the small speedboat, including Dillon and Carly.

When they got out on the water, a good distance away, Dillon threw an enormous inner tube out into the lake, behind the boat. The tube was connected to the boat by long ropes. Danica swam out to it first and settled into the tube

Wyatt started the engine and dragged the tube slowly, gradually picking up speed. Soon it was bouncing along in the water and Danica was squealing with laughter. The boat hit a big wake, pitching her over the side of the tube.

Danica came up sputtering and laughing and swam for the boat. Sabrina climbed out after Danica made it up the steps, and then Sabrina went for the tube. After she was settled in the tube, Wyatt slowly sped up the boat. As he hit cruising speed, he turned the boat and Sabrina’s tube started whipping around sideways faster than the boat was moving. As the tube hit its own wake in the circle, Sabrina went airborne and disappeared underwater. She broke the surface giggling.

As Wyatt circled back to pick her up he yelled out to her. “You’re supposed to stay on the tube, not dive off of it.” Laughing, Sabrina yelled, “Hey, Wyatt, You get out on that tube. My turn to drive the boat. Let see how long you can last.”

It was Carly’s turn next. The water was cold as she swam toward the tube. She’d waterskied before, but had never been dragged behind a boat on a tube. She felt a thrill of excitement as she climbed into the tube and the boat started to move. She hung on, the tube spinning and bounding behind the boat.

She was congratulating herself on holding on longer than Danica had, when the boat hit a particularly large wake caused by another boat. Carly went flying and tumbled over the surface of the water. She went under then shot back up, laughing and spitting out water. Sabrina was yelling something as Carly swam toward the boat and she noticed all of the men were staring and grinning.

Sabrina gestured to her chest and shouted, “Your top.”

Carly looked down and saw that she’d lost the top of her two-piece bathing suit. She felt a little warm after just having flashed every man in the boat. Then she laughed and looked around and spotted the top. She swam toward it, then with her back to the boat, she put it back on.

When she reached the boat and climbed back on, everyone teased her good-naturedly and she found she wasn’t really embarrassed.

Dillon and Wyatt took their turns, which proved to be a lot of fun. Danica’s boyfriend, Barry, was indecisive at first and then said he didn’t want to. He had the attitude of someone kind of lazy. Maybe it was just the warmth of the day making him more laid back than normal.

When Wyatt was in the tube, Carly tried to strike up a conversation with Barry. He didn’t seem very interested but he did answer her questions, vague though it might have been. She asked him what career he was in and he said he’d just returned to the university to get his masters degree. When she pressed him, though, he didn’t seem to know what he really wanted to do with his life.

Considering what a strong, intelligent woman Danica appeared to be, Carly wondered how she could have ended up with an indecisive guy who didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Around noon everyone was back to the shore. They gathered their things and returned to their campsite where they munched on roast beef, turkey, and egg salad sandwiches, along with potato chips and Carly’s cookies, and they drank cans of Coke and Sprite.

After eating, Carly and Dillon dressed and took off on the half-mile hiking trail that led to Sonoita Creek, a popular birding area. She’d learned that over two hundred and fifty different species of birds populated the creek area.

The air smelled fresh and clean and birds twittered in the trees and she heard small animals rustling the bushes along the path. Her skin felt warm from being out in the sun all morning and she wondered if she still managed to get a bit of sunburn despite the sunblock.

They walked through dappled shadows along the trail and were laughing about something she’d said as they neared a bend in the trail. Just as they rounded it, they came face to face with Geoff.

Surprise had Carly stopping mid-sentence in what she’d been saying to Dillon. “Geoff,” she said.

“Hi, Carly.” Geoff turned to Dillon. “Cameron, right?”

Dillon gave a nod but said nothing. She had the feeling that Dillon didn’t like Geoff and she wondered if it was because she had dated him in the past. Dillon didn’t strike her as the jealous type, but how well did she really know him?

“This is a surprise,” Carly said to Geoff. “Are you here with someone?”

“Nah.” Geoff shook his head. “I haven’t really met anyone around here yet. Thought I’d take a walk out on the trail.”

Carly had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from automatically inviting Geoff to join them so that he wouldn’t be alone. She hated seeing anyone lonely and Geoff sure seemed to be.

She glanced at Dillon who was studying Geoff. Dillon’s jaw looked tense. When she turned her attention back to Geoff, she said, “We’re on our way to Sonoita Creek. I’ll probably see you around town.”

Geoff nodded. “I’ll see you.”

Carly gave him a little wave and she and Dillon continued walking. Funny how she kept bumping into Geoff wherever she went. Was it coincidence? Or was Geoff somehow figuring out where she’d be and following her?

She mentally shook her head. There was no way he could have known because she hadn’t mentioned it to anyone and Dillon likely wouldn’t have shared anything personal with Geoff if he had run into him.

“So you dated Burnside for a while?” Dillon asked.

Carly shrugged. “Not for long. He didn’t take the break-up really well. Not that he reacted badly—he just had a hard time letting go. He wants to be friends now.”

“What does he do?” Dillon asked. “There’s not a whole lot of employment opportunities for a guy like him around here.”

“He does computer work.” Carly pushed hair over her shoulder. “He works remotely from his home on clients’ computers.”

Dillon looked down at her. “He picked a remote enough location to work from.”

Carly nodded. “He certainly did.”

The rest of the hike to the creek was pleasant and Carly enjoyed being with Dillon. Hell, she’d enjoyed the entire day with him. The thought of not going out with him again made her feel somehow…empty.

She frowned to herself. She was sure having problems sticking to her guns about not getting involved with anyone.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Dillon asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Her body warmed and she shrugged.

“Come on, Carly,” he said as they continued walking. “Let it out.”

She cleared her throat. “I was just thinking about how much fun I’ve had today.”

“And you want to do it again.” He smiled. “You don’t like the idea of this being the last time we’ll be together.”

She felt a little warmer. Must be the sunburn.

She looked away from him then met his gaze. “It’s been fun.” She hesitated. “But anymore… I don’t know about that.”

He came to a stop and took her hands. “You do know. It feels right, doesn’t it? We’re having fun, so why call it quits?”

“I told you that night at my house.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve been burned. I make bad choices. I think I’m making a good one and then something happens and I’m sitting there wondering what in the hell just happened. It’s not a good feeling to keep going through that.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dillon asked as they started walking again.

She pushed her hand through her hair. “I’ve just been cheated on, not once but three times, including the man I married.” Her gut twisted. “It makes me wonder if there’s something wrong with me.”

“Absolutely nothing is wrong with you, Carly.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re a beautiful, amazing woman. You just got stuck with the wrong guys.”

“Like I said, I make bad choices.” She looked away. “I can’t seem to make a good one for the life of me.”

He brought her to a stop again and made her face him. “I’m not one of the men you’ve dated in the past.” Dillon reached up and pushed loose strands of her hair behind her ear. “Follow your instincts this time. And don’t tell me your first instinct is to run because I don’t believe that.”

“If I agree to see you again, then we take it slow.” She almost couldn’t believe she was saying this. “Okay?”

“Slow it is.” He leaned down and kissed her, making her want to forget all about taking things slow.

The rest of the day with Dillon’s family was fun all the way down to the barbeque they’d had in the evening, which included hamburgers, hotdogs, and steaks. Everything seemed to taste even better cooked in a campfire in the great outdoors.

Zane and Jessie left before dark to go pick up their baby and head home. Danica’s boyfriend also left early because he had to catch his flight back to San Diego.

“It’s so different now that we all have a niece,” Danica said as she smiled. “Hard to believe how our family has grown over the past couple of years.”

Carly was grateful no one made a comment about maybe something serious going on between her and Dillon. The brothers did tease Danica, though, telling her that they needed to check out Barry thoroughly. At least Carly thought they were teasing.

“I’ve already looked into the guy,” Dillon said and Danica looked appalled.

“He’s good at that kind of thing,” Danica said to Carly with a frown. She turned to Dillon. “You didn’t really, did you?”

He just grinned and everyone laughed.

Danica shook her head. “You better not have.”

The remaining seven of the group hung around telling stories and laughing as they made s’mores with marshmallows they’d toasted along with graham crackers and chocolate.

Even when everyone was ready to go, Carly was still wired from all the fun they’d had that day. The drive back to her house took no time at all.

“Come on in.” She unlocked the door to her home and held it open. “I have beer and wine coolers in the fridge.”

Dillon gestured for her to go before him and then he entered and closed the door behind them. He set her duffel bag on the floor and then followed her into the kitchen. She grabbed a couple of beers out of the fridge and handed one to Dillon. He cracked his open and handed it to her then took the one she was holding and opened it, too.

“I could really use a shower,” she said as she wandered into the living room and sat on the couch with her legs curled under her. “I feel like I’ve been out on a lake all day.”