“A bra and panties isn’t exactly a bathing suit.” She drew in a deep breath, moving away from him as she tugged at the large shirt.
“It’s not exactly naked, either,” he said as he moved to the wheel column. “Think about it. So do we go to the cove anyway?” He glanced back at her, lifting a black brow suggestively.
Kelly breathed in deeply.
“The cove sounds like fun.” She finally nodded firmly.
“And the clothes?” His gaze dropped over her body before coming back to her eyes.
She lifted her brow mockingly. “You haven’t done anything to deserve it yet, Rowdy,” she purred sweetly. “I guess I’ll just have to think about it.”
She was going to have to think about it?
As he maneuvered the Nauti Buoy toward the hidden cove, Rowdy found a smile tugging at his lips. He might not deserve to see those loose clothes coming over her perky little body, but he was going to. The long, thin, denim shirt fell to her thighs and draped over her slender shoulders. Even her jeans were loose, a protective shell to cover herself with.
His jaw clenched at the thought. Kelly had never had a problem wearing clothes that emphasized her slender body, until now. The attack had changed that; she was nervous now, where before she had been confident of herself as a desirable, pretty young woman.
She didn’t tease him like she had for far too many years. She was more contained, quieter. And he realized he missed the spitfire she had been. By now, they should have been arguing loud enough to draw attention, while she drove him crazy with a combination of lust and exasperation.
Instead, she was standing at the glass sliding doors, staring into the distance reflectively as her fingers gripped the drapes at the side.
“I think you’re wrong, Kelly.” He leaned into the back of the barstool he was sitting in, one hand gripping the wheel as the boat plowed through the water toward the cove.
“About what?” She turned back to him with a frown, her gray eyes twinkling with good humor.
“I think I deserve to see you stripped down to something decent.” He scowled. “Stop letting that bastard win.”
She rolled her eyes before turning back to the scenery outside the boat.
“You don’t know everything, Rowdy,” she retorted, but there was no conviction in her voice.
“I know you.” He began unbuttoning his own shirt as he glanced at her, his c**k throbbing in delight as she glanced back at him, her eyes shadowed with interest.
Within seconds he’d stripped the shirt, tossing it back on the chair behind him as he flashed her a wicked grin.
She turned to him then, crossing her arms over her br**sts as she lifted her brow.
“You could at least lose the jeans,” he pointed out. “That shirt is big enough to cover two of you. No one would know.”
Four years ago she had worn that tiny little bikini all damned day, flipping around him like a wood nymph intent on driving mortal men insane. Now, he couldn’t even get her out of her pants.
“You’re pushing,” she warned, her voice holding a subtle snap.
“You haven’t seen me push yet, baby,” he growled in return. “Do you think I didn’t take the time to find out just how much you’ve been hiding since that bastard attacked you? You stopped dressing like the girl I knew and started dressing like your damned grandmother instead. You’re scared.”
“Well, duh!” she mocked him. “Go figure. Maybe I should just prance around na**d for you, Rowdy.” She wasn’t really angry, yet. Her eyes were sparkling though, her cheeks flushing with irritation.
“That would work for me.” He grinned wolfishly. “Let’s try it and see if it will work for you. Take yours off and I’ll take mine off.”
“You would take yours off anyway.” Her laughter was soft, knowing.
“For you, baby, anytime.” He winked.
“A far cry from your answer in the past years.” The shade of mockery in her voice wasn’t lost on him. “Why now? You come back and suddenly can’t wait to get into bed with me? It’s enough to make a girl suspicious.”
“No doubt,” he agreed, grinning back at her. “There’s no secret there, sweetheart. I wasn’t about to take a kid to my bed. Being a virgin will be hard enough for you, I at least wanted you to be mature enough to know what the hell you were getting into. But I had no intentions of not coming back for you.”
Surprise reflected in her eyes.
“And if I decided I wanted someone else?” Her eyes narrowed, her lips thinning at the confidence he knew she was reading in his tone.
“Then Dawg or Natches would have taken care of it until I made it back on leave.” He shrugged easily. “I put a claim on you a long time ago, Kelly. You just didn’t realize it.”
“Somewhere between the little sex games that your buddies shared in?”
Ohhh, now was that just a little shade of jealousy there? He watched her closely from the corner of his eye as he kept the teasing grin in place.
“Sex games are for adults.” He scratched at his chin as he glanced back at her. “You couldn’t handle them.”
“Who says I couldn’t handle them?” She frowned back at him as she straightened and placed her hands on her hips. “You never gave me the chance to try.”
He snorted. “Don’t let your mouth write checks your body can’t cash, baby. Don’t dare me.”
He gave her a dark, warning look, one she immediately recognized. He wasn’t playing here. Not yet. And before he started, he wanted her aware of the rules.
“I’m not stupid.” She pushed her hands into her jeans pockets, staring back at him with an edge of anger, of arousal. “I paid attention to your reputation a long time ago.”
She wasn’t shying away from him. That was good. He didn’t want her shying away from him; he wanted her curious, interested. He wanted her horny.
“Did you now?” He ran his hand over his chest as he guided the houseboat into a turn that would take it off the main section of the lake and into a more narrow waterway leading to the cove. “And you still teased me every chance you had. You’ve stopped teasing me. Maybe you decided you can’t handle it.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re being a prick.”
“I’m being honest, Kelly.” He gave his head a quick, negative jerk. “You listened to the rumors, you say. Evidently you didn’t listen close enough.”