Page 38 of Enticing Her Love

“Shh.” He held his hand up.

Sutton moved closer to him, grabbing his arm. “What is it?” she whispered, frantically looking around. “Something big?”

“No. Listen.” He was quiet for a second. “Do you hear water?”

Her brows knitted, and she listened intently. “I think, maybe.”

“Let’s check it out.” The sound grew louder as they neared its source.

“That sounds like a lot of water,” she said excitedly.

He let her lead, falling a step behind and lifting the camera to catch her initial reaction for himself more than the show, though he was glad for the excuse, because there were few things as beautiful as an excited Sutton. She pushed through a thicket of plants and stood stock-still. Flynn lifted the camera higher, filming the sun beating down on a waterfall surrounded by rocks, lush plants, and colorful flowers.

“Flynn, look!” She spun around, radiant with her sun-kissed cheeks, eyes dancing with delight, and a beaming smile that hit him square in the center of his chest. “Oh! You’re filming. Give a girl some warning next time.”

“And miss that spectacular reaction? Not a chance, Steele. Go on. Do your thing.”

She didn’t miss a beat, and he followed her toward the water, filming her as she told the audience about how the air felt cooler and smelled fresher. “Even the birds sound magical, like something out of a fairy tale. This could almost make me forget the dangers that lurk here.” She went into detail about waterfalls being a natural source of negative ions, which had positive effects on mood and were known to help some people breathe easier.

All Flynn knew was that being around Sutton used to make it hard for him to breathe, but lately she’d become his waterfall, and he was not doing a good job of keeping that attraction under wraps.

She finished her segment and didn’t wait for him to stop filming before whipping off her shirt. “Put that thing away. Let’s make sure there are no creepy monsters waiting for us and go in!”

Someone is learning.

As they walked around the perimeter, Flynn went through the same careful inspection he had at the river, checking out the plants, grasses, crevices of rocks, and the surrounding brush.

“This is beautiful, isn’t it?” Sutton asked as she peered around a plant. “Do you think it’s…?” Her brow furrowed. “Wait a second. How did you know to film me?”

“I always film you.”

“Yes, but you weren’t taking the video camera out when I found the waterfall and turned around. You were already filming.”

“We heard water,” he said as he looked under a plant.

“Barely. I wasn’t even sure I heard it, but you made a beeline for it.” She cocked her head, eyes narrowing. “You knew this was here, didn’t you? That’s why you wouldn’t go explore that hill with me, isn’t it? You said you had mapped out the safe areas and the river. It’s all starting to make sense.”

“You caught me.” He motioned to the waterfall. “Welcome to your au naturel water treatment, Ms. Steele. This spa doesn’t have plush robes or fancy wine, but the views are great, and I hear the company isn’t half-bad.”

She smiled. “When he’s not barking orders or trying to make me blush.”

“Yeah, well, you need to be pushed, I need to keep you safe, and you’re fucking adorable when you blush.” He needed to stop saying personal shit like that, but he longed to be closer to her, not drive more distance between them. “Most people would have cried uncle the first night here. But not you. You’re fierce, and confident, and you’ve got a big-ass chip on your shoulder and something to prove, which I’m sure I contributed to.”

She held up her index finger and thumb an inch apart, mouthing, Little bit.

“That’s probably not going to change, but I was hoping being at the waterfall might help you feel less like a trapped animal and would be more along the lines of the lifestyle you’re accustomed to. Not that you’re a diva. I didn’t mean that. You’re…” Jesus, Flynn, get your head out of your ass. “Fuck it. I don’t know. You’re like Sam in My Side of the Mountain.”

“Are you comparing me to a twelve-year-old boy?”

“Mm-hm. Yeah, I guess I am.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That probably wasn’t the best choice.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Good. Wait. Has someone been talking shit about you? Because I’ll put a stop to that real quick.”

“Only you.”

“I don’t call you names or talk shit about you,” he said defensively, noticing too late the tease in her eyes. He ground his back teeth and tried to focus on what he was saying. “Anyway, what I meant by you being like Sam was that you’re tenacious. You make up your mind to do something, and no matter what challenges you face, you don’t give up. That’s admirable, and I have no fucking clue where I was going with this, but here we are, so as long as there aren’t any critters in that water, you can get undressed and enjoy it.”