Sunset Thunder

  ***

  VIOLET ABANDONED THE soaking wet lifejacket on the bow of the boat, to dry out, after their refreshing dip in the lake.

  It was like the water had washed away all her earlier feelings...well, the pessimistic, nervous, and anxious ones anyway. After splashing around in the water with Ryder and her kids, Violet’s other feelings for Ryder amplified.

  Amplified? That couldn’t be good. Could it? It felt good.

  Parker and Sophia also shed their lifejackets, promising to stay on deck, and avoid the swim board or the bow. Alternatively, they both decided there was a bag of chips, right before lunch, that were calling their names and they settled under deck.

  Violet had the growing suspicion they’d settled with their iPad’s. They were too quiet, being too good and that typically meant their heads were tucked behind an electronic device. Normally, she would yank the iPads out of their hands in order for them to appreciate the day, and their surroundings...however, Ryder offered to show her how to fish. She didn’t want to be rude and pass that up.

  Ryder stood less than half a foot away from her, on the bow of the boat.

  “Alright, so there is a magic button on this reel,” he explained, as if she was going to be able to concentrate on anything else besides their closeness.

  Why were they always so close to each other?

  She could literally lean her bare arm across to feel the muscle wall of this man.

  And why did she find her face couldn’t help but smile? The entire time. At Ryder.

  The actions of an adolescent...or a happy person.

  Ryder clicked the button back and forth, demonstrating for Violet, in a smart-ass way, like she was supposed to have known that little secret.

  She loved the smirk he sent her.

  Alright, so, apparently she didn’t have a broken fishing pole, she just didn’t know how to use it. Beginner’s downfall.

  “You’re sure I’m safe here...with you?” she teased.

  Violet could have laughed out loud at finding herself teasing with Ryder. It must be the effect of heat stroke.

  “Maybe I should strap into my lifejacket.”

  Ryder leaned closer.

  Her teasing caught in her chest, as the delicious smell of him circled around her like a twister.

  “I promise not to throw you in,” he said in a low whisper. “Besides loving the opportunity to look at you without a lifejacket on...”

  Violet swallowed hard.

  He was a constant charmer, hitting on her, teasing her, making her insides feel alive like never before. “...besides I like your kids too much to leave them motherless.” He chuckled. “Have you met Missy? She’s sweet, but she thinks deep fried pickles are eating vegetables.” 

  Was that his indirect way of giving her a compliment that wasn’t sexual?

  Violet couldn’t help but smile. “I like deep fried pickles.”

  Ryder made a face of dislike.

  “Have you tried them?” she asked.

  He shook his head.

  “Do you like pickles?”

  “I do and I can’t see why you have to go and ruin a good thing.”

  Violet laughed. “You can’t judge them until you’ve tried them and tasted the juicy battered coating and thick pickle inside.”

  “That’s called grease.”

  Violet licked her lips. “It’s called deliciousness that you are missing out on. The first one I tried was when I was pregnant with Sophia. One of the food huts at the beach was advertising them and that was the beginning of my love for deep fried pickles. I was hooked.”

  “I guess, I will have to try them...someday...maybe.” He looked skeptical.

  “I order them from The Bamboo Lounge, one of the restaurants at the resort,” she explained. “On the rare occasion, when the kids aren’t feeling like eating their veggies,” she added, surprised to find how easy it was to joke with Ryder.

  “Is that an offer?” Yes, it is. “I’m sure Missy cannot cook like Violet Caliendo.” The way Ryder said it again, irked her. It was judgement. He had been evaluating her from the moment she stepped on the boat, but until he said her name like that, she didn’t sense it. It was quite the opposite.

  Her joking and teasing was spurred from the comforting way she felt around him, as though he wasn’t analyzing her. But truthfully, he was.

  “Why do you do that?” she asked. “Say my full name, as if you think I’m so perfect that I’m faultless. I am human you know. So I don’t know how to fish, but can cook a killer lasagna. That’s just who I am.”

  There was the heat stroke again, affecting her own good judgement and stealing away the filter she’d been missing all morning.

  Violet didn’t have to ask him why, she fully grasped he thought she was a stuck-up snob. And what was wrong with him thinking that? Everyone thought that about her...even her family. Why did she feel the need to prove to Ryder that she wasn’t?

  Ryder looked up at her again, in that way he was so good at...and again it bounced attraction between them. But, tangled in there was his sincerity.

  “You’re right. That does sound condescending. I apologize,” he unexpectedly agreed. But wasn’t that what she was fishing for? “I guess you’re just surprising me today, is all.”

  “Because you think I’m stuck up.” 

  Violet stop talking. What is happening with my mouth? I feel like I’m watching Izzy. That girl has no control over her mouth whatsoever. 

  “Yes.” 

  Her eyes narrowed at his honesty.

  “And you assumed I would have sex with you in the bathroom.” He said it with the same accusing tone she’d used to him.

  “You did have sex with me in the bathroom,” she pointed out.

  “So you’re positive everything you’ve always thought about me is accurate?” he asked.

  No, I’ve been dying to have this conversation so you can prove me wrong. So I can find out if you do this with all the women, or you want me, or what the hell all the touching, staring and confusion is about.

  “I haven’t been thinking about you at all.” This time she could have slapped herself for avoiding the truth. He was so straightforward with her, it was almost terrifying.

  “You’re a liar.” Terrifying and fresh. No one talked to her with such honesty. “You’ve been thinking about kissing me since you’ve boarded this boat.” 

  Oh my goodness, I have. How would he know that? Was he thinking about kissing her?

  That moment while they were bobbing in the water, his arms around her lower back and hers wrapped around his neck the thought had crossed her mind...but Parker and Sophia had interrupted. Thankfully.

  Did he want to kiss her?  

  Violet rolled her eyes, mostly to break the vision between them. “Get over yourself,” she said.

  “And you’ve been thinking about touching my abs again.”

  Every time her eyes fell on his bare torso.

  “Here. I don’t mind.” He grabbed her hand and placed her palm on his chest.

  It felt so good. 

  Violet yanked her hand away. “Are you delusional?”

  He laughed. “Alright. I will teach you how to fish.”

  “Do you do this with all the women?” There it was, out in the open, the question she was dying to know the answer.

  He grinned more. “So you do think I sleep with a lot of women.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Everyone thinks you sleep with a lot of women.”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  Why had she asked in the first place? She was ready to be done with this conversation. It was going nowhere, and making her feel stupid, when he asked, “Do you think I do?”

  “I can’t answer that, I don’t even know you.”

  Except that you tried to get up my sister’s skirt at my wedding.

  He changed the smirk, smart-ass way he was talking. “I want you to know me better. I want to know you better.” I
want to know you better. “I don’t do this with all the women.”

  “So with some?”

  “You don’t trust me.”

  “I don’t trust anyone. Don’t take it personally.”

  He eyed her quietly, assessing her, judging her, driving her senses wild with curiosity at his conclusion.

  “You don’t like me.” It wasn’t a question, nor was it a solid statement. Rather, he said it like the revelation amused him.

  When did he think she did like him?

  Violet couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you making that sound like an appealing aspect?”

  “Because everyone likes me.”

  All the women certainly liked him. “Maybe that’s your problem.” He was so conceited. What had she been thinking? That she was special to Ryder? That he actually liked her, saw her? What could the outcome of today possibly be? And why was the reality that nothing was the answer saddening?

  “My charm?” he asked.

  “Your arrogance.”

  Ryder laughed again. “And no one talks to me like you do.”

  “Yes, I’m just full of surprises.” Violet turned to walk away. Charming, teasing, and joking...it was all flirting. They’d been flirting with each other all morning and for what?

  “Hey.” Ryder touched her gently. His fingers circled her wrist, but not tight enough to hold her. If she’d wanted to walk away, she could have.

  Her feet stopped.

  Violet stared past the bow of the boat, across the endless sparkling lake, knowing their flirting could never amount to anything more than the small waves she saw.

  “That wasn’t an insult.” The genuineness of his voice inked a path across her barriers. “Please, don’t go. The truth is I haven’t laughed with a woman in over two years. And when I did, it has never felt the way it does when I laugh with you.”

  Walk away. It was the smart thing to do.

  Violet turned, finding the arrogance and charm splashed away from his serious face and she met the reflections of his honesty.

  If she stayed what did it mean?

  But she couldn’t walk away.

  “If you do a good job at teaching me how to fish, I might invite you over and order in some deep fried pickles.”