Wild For You (Always a Bridesmaid 3) (11 page)

The look Nick shot her was too shocked for Melody to keep a straight face.

“I’m kidding,” she said, giggling. “I’m not into skinny dipping in the day time. Or any time, really. The closest I’ve come to skinny dipping is swimming in my Underoos in the baby pool in our back yard when I was five.”

“You’ve never been skinny dipping,” Nick said, as he hit the trunk release button and jumped out.

Melody slid out of her side of the car and grabbed her swim bag from the back seat, straightening in time to see Nick pulling out a gigantic beach blanket and a picnic basket.

“You brought a picnic?” she said, clapping her hands. “Oh, I’m so happy with you right now. Food makes every good thing better.”

Nick looked shy, but pleased. “It’s not anything like your cooking, but I did my best. I got the good cheese, at least.”

“Good cheese is one of my favorite things in the entire universe,” Melody said, reaching for the blanket. “Here, let me carry that.”

“No, I’ve got it.” Nick slammed the trunk with one elbow. “Let’s return to the previous topic.”

“What previous topic?”

“Skinny dipping.” His eyes sparked with trouble, and Melody suddenly felt warmer all over. “You’re telling me that you’re twenty-two and have lived within twenty miles of three lakes all your life and you’ve never gone skinny dipping?”

Melody shrugged and fell in beside him as he started towards a trailhead that hadn’t been noticeable until they got out of the car. This beach really was going to be private…or so she hoped. She was already having fantasies about stretching out next to Nick on that blanket and getting another taste of his lips.

“Well?” Nick urged. “What’s your excuse?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m sure there are lots of twenty-two year old girls in Summerville who’ve never been skinny dipping.”

“But you’re not other girls,” he said.

Melody shot him an appreciative look beneath her lashes. “Thank you for noticing.”

“I don’t know how any man could
not
notice,” Nick said. “I’m considering it a small miracle that I caught you between boyfriends.”

Melody looped her arm through his. “I will take that as a compliment.”

“You should,” Nick said, smiling down at her.

They hiked the rest of the way down the trail in companionable silence, separating when the trail grew too narrow and coming back together near the bottom. By the time the beach came into view, they were holding hands and Melody was wishing it was a little further to their destination. It was nice walking through the woods with Nick.

“Here we are. What do you think?” Nick asked in a loaded tone Melody didn’t understand until he added, “Look like a good place for your first skinny dip?”

Melody’s eyes went wide. “No way.”

Nick laughed as he set down the basket and spread the blanket on the grass a few feet from where the rocky beach began. “Why not?”

“What if someone I know boats by?”

“There’s hardly anyone here,” Nick said in a logical voice that seemed out of place in a conversation like this one. “The summer rush is over, and most people are at work at this time of day on a Tuesday.”

“Most, but not
all
. Some of my dad’s best friends are retired.” Melody shuddered at the thought of being caught in the buff by one of her dad’s old fishing buddies. “Besides, my mom would die of humiliation if anyone she knows saw me skinny-dipping. She almost had a nervous breakdown when my dad got arrested for streaking down Main Street during that reunion prank. She would skin me alive.”

“I doubt it.” Nick moved closer, prowling in that almost feline way he had sometimes, the way that made Melody’s heart beat faster even before he took her in his arms and let his fingers skim down her spine.

“But if you’re not up for it today, I’ll take a rain check,” he said, touching his forehead lightly to hers. “We could always sneak down here at night. Skinny dipping is way less scary at night and it’s beautiful here in the spring when the trees are all blooming.”

“I can probably work my courage up by then,” she said, but what she was really thinking was—

Spring! That’s almost a year away. Nick is already thinking that you two will be together almost a year from now. That is totally and completely crazy!

But for some reason, it didn’t seem crazy. It seemed crazier to think of walking away from this man. All she wanted to do was get closer—physically, mentally, and spiritually.

At the moment, physically most of all…

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer, sighing as her curves pressed tight to his lean, muscled body. She could feel him starting to get harder against her hip, but it didn’t make her nervous the way encountering the evidence of man’s desire had in the past. She loved knowing she affected him that way, loved it so much that she couldn’t keep from circling her hips, nudging closer to his erection.

Nick moaned and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment before they opened again. He sighed, staring into her with an expression that made her shiver.

“Do you know how crazy you make me?” he asked.

“I think I have some idea,” Melody said, circling her hips again, drawing a swift breath when Nick’s hands dropped to her waist and his fingers dug none-too-gently into the softness of her hips.

“What am I going to do with you?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

“I can think of a few things,” she said in a seductive tone she hardly recognized. But Nick brought out that part of her, a sensual, confident part that made her feel beautiful and powerful at the same time.

“I’m thinking you’d better take off that cover up,” Nick said.

“Oh yeah?” Melody’s heartbeat became a staccato rhythm.

“Yeah, because I’m going to throw you in the lake in about one minute,” Nick said. “Only way to cool you off.”

“I’m not the one who needs to be cooled off.” Melody kicked off her flip-flops, and reached for the bottom of her cover-up, drawing it over her head in one smooth motion, satisfaction sweeping through her when Nick eyes widened with approval. “Last one in buys drinks tomorrow night!”

She ran for the water, giggling as Nick hurried after her, shedding his shirt and hopping on one foot as he tried to unhook the strap at the back of his sandal.

“Shit!” he cried as Melody hit the water seconds before him. “You’re such a lousy little cheater.”

She laughed as she waded deeper into the pleasantly cool water. “I know. I totally had a head start. I’ll buy drinks.”

“No, I’ll buy drinks.” He waded toward her, eyes flicking up and down her body appreciatively, making Melody feel free to do a thorough inspection of Nick’s bare chest.

He was even more beautiful than she’d imagined, lean all over, but with clearly defined muscles that spoke of sweat and hard work. She suddenly felt a little soft in comparison. She took long walks almost every day and did her best to stay healthy, but she was a far cry from a gym rat.

She started to cross her arms over her stomach, but Nick was already so close she brushed the bare skin above his waist as she moved. The second they touched, the water no longer felt cool.

“This swimsuit should be illegal,” he said, pulling her in for a light kiss, banishing Melody’s moment of self-consciousness.

“There’s more of me covered in this bathing suit than a bikini. Like, three times as much.”

“Exactly,” he said. “It leaves too much to the imagination, and when it comes to you, I have a very active imagination.” He smiled as he brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “So where are we going tomorrow night?”

“I have rehearsal with the band at eight,” Melody said, letting her damp fingertips trail up and down the hollow of Nick’s spine, unable to resist the urge to keep touching him. “They practice in the old garage behind the bar so I’ll be close to your shop. I could come by after I’m done and we could grab a drink or something.”

“Sounds good. Just let me make sure John can close tomorrow night. I don’t think he has plans, so he shouldn’t mind, but Wednesday is technically my night and you know we try to stay open until midnight.”

“Well, I could always just stay there and hang out with you,” Melody said. “Organize your tattoo books alphabetically or something.”

He grinned. “You don’t have to do that. You could just keep me company. You give good company.”

“Why thank you,” Melody said, with a playful splash on his back. “Come on, let’s get all the way wet. I can’t stand doing anything halfway.”

“Me either,” Nick said. Seconds later he dove toward the center of the lake. Melody followed with a smile, shivering with delight as the cool water closed over her head.

They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and taking breaks to eat the fruit and cheese Nick had brought. By the time the sun started to set, Melody was pleasantly exhausted and full—two of her favorite sensations. The only thing that could have made the afternoon better was more time. She couldn’t seem to get enough of Nick.

They hiked back up the trail in silence, but this time it was a more melancholy silence. It was obvious neither of them wanted the date to end.

There was nothing but the sound of their footsteps and the wind rushing through the trees for so long that when Nick’s shout came it seemed even louder than it would have if they’d been chatting.

“What the hell?” He dropped the empty basket and blanket and ran the last few steps into the clearing where they had parked his MG Midget. “What happened to my car?”

Melody hurried after him, looking in both directions, hoping they’d simply wandered off the trail in a different spot and the car would be waiting up or down the hill. But there was no sign of it.

The long gravel road was empty. Nick’s car was gone.

Chapter Nine

By the time they reached the main road, Nick could tell Melody’s feet were hurting—flip-flops weren’t ideal footwear for a five-mile hike—but she didn’t complain. She was positively upbeat, in fact, and kept assuring him that they would find his car, that it must have been towed by a ranger or something and that as soon as they could get cell service they’d call and straighten this all out.

Nick figured it was more likely that the Midget had been stolen—he’d been coming to that spot for years and never seen a sign of a ranger, but he
had
seen other people, some of them not the most savory types—but he didn’t share that with Melody. He didn’t want her to feel anxious walking down the deserted road in the near darkness, wondering if there were car thieves cruising through the park.

“I have bars!” Melody shouted, waving her cell phone triumphantly as they passed the entrance to the park and started down the two-lane country road toward town. “I’m going to try Aria first.”

“Wait.” Nick caught her wrist gently. “Then Nash will know we were on a date.”

Melody bit her lip. “Okay, but if I call Mom he’ll find out, too. Mom is incapable of keeping her mouth shut when it comes to boy-girl stuff.”

Nick sighed. “Well, all of my family is out because of the Nash thing, so…”

“Let’s see, Kitty is in Atlanta being forced to visit her mom and half sisters,” Melody said, ticking off options on her fingers. “And my other girlfriends all have tiny babies. Nana is probably awake because she never sleeps anymore, but having Nana drive at night to meet us would be putting the entire town’s life in jeopardy. Plus, she doesn’t approve of me going out with boys unchaperoned.”

“Unchaperoned? Is she under the impression we’re living in the 1800s?” Nick smiled, marveling that he could still be having such a good time when his car had likely been stolen.

“Might as well be,” Melody said, rolling her eyes. “Nana thinks unmarried girls should have a friend or relative with them on all dates, unless the date is in a public place, preferably one where most of Nana’s church cronies like to hang out, like the buffet with the five-dollar seniors’ night. She’s also scandalized that Mason and Lark are living together before they’re married, even though they’re engaged and have a wedding date set and everything.”

Nick grunted, his smile fading as he pulled out his phone. “She’s probably not going to like me, is she?”

Melody made a non-committal noise. “We’ll have you wear long sleeves the first time you meet Nana, make sure she falls in love with you before she sees the tattoos and decides you’ve escaped from prison.”

“Right,” Nick said, not looking forward to meeting Nana at all, but he supposed meeting the family—even the old-fashioned members of a family—was part of having a real relationship. “I’ll call John. If the shop’s not busy, he might be able to come pick us up.”

“Or we could walk.” Melody looped her arm through his as they ambled down the side of the road. “That would be an adventure.”

“An adventure that would end in pain,” he said, glancing down at her feet. “Your shoes aren’t made for that kind of walk.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “You’re right, but…”

There was just enough light left for Nick to see Melody’s eyes light up. She squeezed his arm and turned to whisper in an excited voice—

“We could hitchhike! I’ve never even
thought
about hitchhiking before.”

“That’s good. It’s not smart for a girl to hitchhike alone,” Nick said, the anger he felt when he’d learned Melody had been attacked rising inside of him all over again. He couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to her. It made him hate living in a world where women had so many things to be afraid of even more than he had before.

“But I won’t be alone,” Melody said. “And the chances are somebody we know will drive by. Between the two of us, we’re probably on a first name basis with a third of the town.”

Nick flipped his phone over and over in his hand. If he called John to do him a favor tonight, his partner would be less inclined to do him a favor tomorrow night, and he’d much rather use his favor to have another date with Melody.

“All right,” Nick said, slipping his phone into his pocket, laughing as Melody yipped in excitement. “But you let me go up to the window if anyone stops, okay? You stay back and get ready to run if anything weird happens.”