Page 46 of Runaway Road (Runaway 1)

Fuck the office. I stood from my chair and took my truck keys off the hook by the door. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I might have insisted on dinner here if I’d known about it.” Londyn stood at the end of my dock, staring down at my boat. “What else are you hiding from me?”

I held out my hand to help her into the boat. “Not a lot.”

Only my teenager.

She smiled, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses as she took a seat in the passenger chair. She hadn’t changed from the office. We’d driven over together and while I’d run into my house to swap my jeans and boots for board shorts and sandals, she’d wandered around the back of the house and found the dock.

“This is some place.” She glanced back toward the house.

“It wasn’t easy to come by, but I got lucky. My dad worked with the previous owner. She was a doctor at the hospital with him. She and her husband retired to Florida. Dad knew I was looking to buy and gave me the tip.”

Lakefront homes with a private dock didn’t appear on the market in Summers often. This one hadn’t even been listed. We’d agreed upon a price, and when they’d moved out and I’d moved in, it was the talk of the town for weeks.

Some didn’t like that they’d been cheated the opportunity to bid. If they knew how much I’d paid, they wouldn’t be bitching. My offer had been three times as much as a house like this in town would cost. But the location had been worth taking a loan from my parents.

“Ready?” I asked and Londyn nodded.

I started up the boat, the rumble radiating from the engine through the floor. Then I eased us away from the dock, pointing the bow toward the center of the lake. When we were clear, I lowered the throttle.

Londyn’s smile widened, her eyes aimed at the shore behind us as we flew. She pointed to the rock when she spotted it and laughed.

From the rock, the shoreline of the lake jutted out about thirty feet, hiding the dock from view. But out here, in the middle of the water, you could see how each landmark bookended my property line between my neighbor on one side and the motel on the other.

“This feels so good!” Londyn yelled above the rev of the engine and the slap of water against the hull.

The air rushed around us, creating the breeze we’d been missing. Her hair flew behind and around her face as she spun forward, watching where I was going.

We cruised, making the long lap around the lake. There were a few other boats out on the water today, all fishermen bobbing along the banks at slow speeds, and we waved as we passed them by. Tomorrow the lake would be packed, everyone out to enjoy the weekend and beat the heat.

I brought us to the center of the lake, to a spot where we’d have some privacy, and shut off the boat. No one would bother us out here. The fishermen were working the edges and coves where the walleye and smallmouth bass were searching for food.

“Thank you for this.” Londyn slid her sunglasses into that long, blond hair, revealing those shining jade eyes.

My mouth went dry. “Water. Need one?” I sure as hell did. My head was dizzy and my heart was beating in hard thunks. The heat was getting to me again—I was burning up, from the inside out.

“I was thinking of going for a swim.”

Thunk. “Didn’t think you had a suit.”

There was no tie at the nape of her neck. She hadn’t gone to the motel to change after coming to the office.

“Do I need one?”

Thunk. “Uh, no.”

She gave me a sly grin, one that said she was ten steps ahead and I’d better catch up fast. Her tank top was gone in a flash of cotton, leaving nothing but skin and black lace cupping perfect breasts. Londyn looked up at me through her lashes as her fingers trailed down the flat line of her stomach to the waistband on her denim shorts.

Those slim, lithe fingers flicked open the button. The zipper clicked, one notch at a time, until her hands slid toward her hips to push the shorts down her legs. She shimmied, a gentle sway, until all that was left was black lace.

“Are you swimming with me?” She stepped out of her sandals and walked to the back of the boat, stepping up on the bench seat, then the rear deck. Her toes wiggled forward until they were gripping the edge, ready to catapult her into the water.

I managed a nod.

Then she was off, the dive graceful and smooth, like the woman herself. The stunning woman who’d swept into my life and captured my attention like no other.

Thunk.