Just One Look (16 page)

"Are you two talking about fishing?" Alva asked, her eyes wide as she lazily stirred sugar into her coffee.

"Of course," Jennifer snapped. How dare Matt take that tone with her? He had a hell of a nerve. Everything had gotten all screwed up since that night they'd gone to the exhibit. Until then everything had been going according to her plan. Well, at least according to her revised plan. The one that called for them to fall into bed with each other.

"Some fishermen don't know how to admit defeat when the game is over," Matt said, crossing his arms and staring at her. "They keep fighting when they should just give up gracefully and admit their mistakes."

"Maybe the game isn't over yet," Jennifer retorted, a gleam in her eye. She thought back to the night of the exhibit. He'd been properly apologetic until they'd shared that torrid kiss in the parking lot.

"Maybe it's just beginning," she said, thinking quickly about that night, trying to remember all the details.

"Well, I know the tournament is beginning," Ed said. "Let's get going." He stood up and walked over to Ronnie. Kissing her on the cheek, he said, "Wish us luck, baby."

Ronnie patted his cheek. "Go get that fourteen pounder, Ed."

"Are you up to the challenge," Matt asked with a grin.

"Damn straight," Jennifer said between gritted teeth. How dare he patronize her. She'd had the upper hand until that night in the parking lot when he'd kissed her senseless. They'd been talking about his learning to kiss in the front seat of his old Camaro, she remembered.

Suddenly, she saw the whole scene in her head. He'd called her Jenny, and she'd called him Matthew. It was an exact replaying of the first time he'd kissed her that night after the Christmas prom. Even to her mother rapping on the window.

He knew. That dirty rat knew. Her eyes searched his face. Damn him, he had to know. He must have figured out everything. Her identity. Her desire to embarrass him. Everything. And he'd decided to turn the tables on her.

"I'll help Ronnie clean this mess up," Alva said. "You fisher people are welcome to the windy lake and the smelly fish."

When Jennifer thought of all he'd said about helping her overcome her
problem
, she became incensed. And then the way he'd flaunted his body, teasing and exciting her, then leaving her unfulfilled and frustrated. A red mist descended over her eyes. Her bad mood slid down about forty notches and hit rock bottom. How dare he make a fool of her? Well, two could play this game.

Suddenly, she gave Matt a blinding smile and sidled up to him. "Coming?" She asked softly.

"Not yet," he said, just loud enough for her ears. "But the day is young."

Damn him, Jennifer thought, blushing hotly. She glanced around, hoping, praying, her parents hadn't heard. They hadn't, but Alva had. Her friend snickered and grabbed Bill's arm and whispered to him.

Jennifer forced a smile. "But the day is getting older by the minute so let's get to it." Matt was going to learn a thing or two about frustration this weekend, she decided, deliberately brushing against him.

Matt felt every inch of his body come to attention at her casual touch. He'd love to get to it, he thought, watching the sway of her hips as she walked out of the kitchen. The faded jeans clung to her like a second skin and made him want to reach out and squeeze her luscious bottom.

"The fish are waiting," Jennifer called over her shoulder. "Don't you want some?"

"Indeed I do," he muttered, knowing she was playing a game of double entendre with him.

* * *

The morning mist over the lake had dissipated somewhat by the time they reached Ed's secret fishing spot. He'd guided the boat around dead stumps and past snakes sunning themselves on fallen logs.

Jennifer stretched out on the bench seat at the back of the boat. Matt sat opposite her, watching her, she knew, even though dark glasses covered his eyes. She could almost feel the weight of his thoughts.

The sun felt warm on her face. She removed her own sun glasses and closed her eyes. Leaning back on her elbows, she enjoyed the October morning. Matt's unabashed stare made her tingle, and she enjoyed that too, knowing his gaze was on her breasts. Her nipples tightened, begging for his touch. She felt the need for him in her sex where her pulse pounded.

Thank goodness, her dad was too interested in telling Bill about the lake's honey holes, spots where the fish always bite, to notice what she was doing.

Enough of enjoying his gaze, she thought, replacing her sunglasses. It was time to make Matt suffer. She stretched her arms wide. Her faded red flannel shirt, shrunken from many washings, stretched tight over her breasts. The top button slipped through the frayed buttonhole.

She knew from this angle that only Matt would be able to notice. And notice he did. She could tell by the bulge in his jeans that he was completely aware of her every move. She ran her hands down her waist, over her stomach, down her thighs, as if stretching and massaging stiff muscles. Then she reached up behind her neck and leisurely ran her hands through her short hair, mussing it in what she hoped was a sexy way. She pressed her arms together as if stretching and that caused her breasts to push together until she had maximum cleavage. Then she relaxed her arms and let them fall to her side and once again lay back on the seat. Carefully she peered from beneath her lashes at him. He hadn't taken his eyes off her. He shifted uncomfortably on the seat as if his jeans were too tight and restrictive.

Matt thought about the feasibility of jumping into the lake to control his runaway imagination but he'd have to take his eyes off Jennifer to do so. He decided against it. She was too much of a treat to miss a moment of looking at her. Her shirt gaped open enough that he could see the rounded tops of her breasts. He remembered how her skin had felt beneath his fingers as he'd stroked her there.

For several minutes he just watched the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Laying there the way she was, with her legs slightly spread, made him crazy. Her body was an invitation that he wanted to accept, but he couldn't possibly. Not until they were alone.

He heard Bill say, "Let me get my tackle box from in back."

Abruptly, Matt leaned over and rebuttoned her shirt. He didn't care if her father saw him do it either. There was no way he was going to let another man view what belonged to him.

"Did you come here to fish or to lounge around?" He asked her gruffly.

Jennifer whipped her glasses off and looked at him. "Why fish, of course." She smiled with saccharine sweetness. "I want to hook a big one."

He saw her eyes drop to his crotch and linger before she looked back at his face and smiled.

Matt didn't know how he could have blushed when he was sure every ounce of blood he possessed was centered below his waist. Maybe that explained the slowness of his brain. He simply had no blood left to make the trip to his head.

"Okay, kids, it's every man, or woman, for himself," Ed said, casting toward a jagged stump about twenty feet away.

By noon, only Ed and Bill had caught anything worth keeping. Jennifer had taken several small blue gill perch and one or two crappie but had thrown them all back.

Matt had a comment to make each time. So when he had the same failure to catch anything as she, she returned the favor with remarks about his fishing skills.

Then Ed shouted, "I've got it. I've got it."

Jennifer began shouting instructions along with Bill and Matt. Each of them thought they knew the best way to bring the fish in.

"Oh, he's a beauty," Jennifer shouted, seeing a flash beneath the surface of the water.

Matt grabbed the net before she could reach it. He leaned over the edge of the boat and got the net beneath the fish. Carefully, he and Ed landed the fish.

"Oh, Dad, you did it," Jennifer exclaimed. "He's got to be fourteen pounds if he's an ounce.

"I think he might even be as high as fifteen." Matt grinned. "Looks like you've got that down payment on your motor home."

Ed grinned from ear to ear. "Wait till I show Ronnie."

"Yeah," Bill said, "but first we have to go show the judges." He made sure the second basket, reserved for trophy fish, was secure. Ed placed his fish in that basket to keep it separate from the ones they'd caught for eating.

Forty-five minutes later, they'd had the catch recorded and photographed. Ed even got interviewed by a writer for the local weekly paper. Everyone seemed certain that no one could top his catch.

"That one gets stuffed and hung on the wall," Ed said.

At least something good had come from the day, Jennifer thought, smiling at her dad's happiness.

"I think we should head for the house and see what's for lunch," Ed said, starting the motor. It hesitated then tried to die but after an instant, evened out. Ed frowned. "Looks like that motor is still acting up."

"Sounds okay to me," Bill said, removing the grub from his line.

"I guess this wasn't my day," Matt said.

"Well, maybe your luck will improve," Jennifer said. "Maybe it will be your night." She'd grown quite adept at making him, one might say, rise to the bait, she thought, grinning as her dad pushed the throttle forward over an open stretch of water. The wind felt good on her face. Remarkably, Matt hadn't said anything since her last zinger. Had he tired of the game?

When they got to the dock, Bill jumped out and tied the boat up. Matt helped Ed haul the heavy basket out of the water to retrieve their catch. They carried it over to the sink he'd rigged up on the dock. Suspended over the sink was a garden hose.

"This is a great set up for cleaning the catch," Matt said.

Ed laughed. "Thanks. I had to do it because Ronnie hates for me to clean fish in the house." He shook his head in mock despair. "The things we do to make women happy."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, it's amazing the lengths we go to."

Jennifer frowned up at the two men commiserating with each other. "Dad, why don't you go tell Mom about your trophy winner. I'll take care of the dirty work," she said, hopping onto the dock. "Judging by the catch, I shouldn't be more than twenty minutes."

"No, Jenny. You and Matt go on up to the house," Ed suggested. "Bill and I caught the fish so we'll take care of them."

"Well, I'll stay and help then," Jennifer volunteered, not wanting to be caught walking alone with Matt, out of earshot of their erstwhile chaperones.

"No, go on, Jenny," Ed said.

She knew it would do no good to argue with her father. She took off immediately.

"If you're sure you don't need any help?" Matt asked. At their assurance that they didn't, he raced after Jennifer.

"I'm surprised that you would have cleaned the fish," he said when he caught up with her.

"Why? Taking care of the catch is part of fishing."

"Well, that would be a first. A woman who actually follows through to the conclusion."

"I always follow through," Jennifer snapped.

"Oh, yeah, then prove it." He grabbed her arm and jerked her behind a huge oak tree, out of the line of sight with the house.

"Prove what?" She backed away from him.

"That you follow through. You've been teasing me and shoving your breasts and your hips at me all morning. That's provocation. Let's see you follow through with that to its logical conclusion."

Without warning, she leaped at him, her arms curved around his neck, she pressed her body to his and molded her hips to his. She kissed him as if she had all day to perfect the art and planned to do so. When he had overcome his shock enough to move his hands to her waist, she broke away from him.

"How's that for follow through?" She asked, turning and walking on to the house as if her legs weren't trembling so bad that she might collapse in a heap at his feet.

Matt caught his breath and hurried after her. She was climbing the stairs when he caught up with her.

"That wasn't bad," he said. "For a girl."

Jennifer whirled. "I'm not some silly high school girl. I'm a woman."

"Prove it," he challenged softly, eyes glittering.

"How was the fishing?" Alva asked from the hammock ten feet away.

They both jerked around.

"My, my. You two got it bad, don't you?" Alva sat up carefully in the hammock

"You don't know what you're talking about, Alva," Jennifer said.

"Oh, I'm not blind. Like certain people I could name," she said, looking from one to the other. "Where's Bill and Ed?"

"They're cleaning the fish," Matt said.

"Yuck," Alva said with a graceful shudder. "I think I'll become a vegetarian."

"Not me," Matt said. "I like fish, not to mention steak."

"Yes, I read an article about how men need beef because of the testosterone whereas women's hormones allow them to be satisfied with vegetables," Alva said.

"I read that too. It's true, unless I'm ravenous, a salad fills me up quite nicely," Jennifer said.

"I know something else that will fill you up quite nicely," Matt muttered next to her ear.

Jennifer glared at him. "Too bad we don't have a slab of raw steak around here to appease your elevated testosterone levels."

"Now, children, let's play nice together, or I'll have to separate you," Alva said.

Ronnie opened the door and peered out. "I thought I heard voices. Wash up for lunch."

Jennifer stalked away first. In the bathroom, she tried to come up with a plan, but her rampaging emotions affected her reasoning ability. She seemed to be reacting with a knee jerk response to everything Matt said and did, she thought, seizing each opportunity to figuratively spit in Matt's face. She touched her lips and closed her eyes, wishing that she had been unaffected by that kiss. How much more of this could she take?

She heard her mother squeal with delight. When she walked out of the bathroom, her mother was jumping up and down. "Oh, Jenny, why didn't you tell me?" She asked.

Jennifer mumbled something about wanting to let her dad surprise her mom. She looked at her parents hugging and kissing each other excitedly and wondered what it would be like to have someone with you who always shared your triumphs. Someone who held you when you suffered disappointments.