His hand cupped over hers, he helped her reel in enough line that the fish came sliding free of the surface of the water and he reluctantly let her go so he could retrieve her catch. He snagged the line and then expertly slipped the hook from the fish’s mouth.

“Yep. You were right, Zoe. This is a huge one. One of the biggest I’ve ever seen, for sure.”

“Really?”

Her eyes danced with delight and she wiggled in her excitement, causing his smile to grow even more affectionate. Lord but she made it easy for someone to love her. How could anyone not?

“I’m definitely taking pics of this one before he gets cleaned, and I plan to measure and weigh him too. Who knows? Maybe you caught a record breaker.”

And he didn’t think it was possible for her smile to get any bigger or for her to light up any more than she already was. He busied himself dropping the fish in with the others and then he turned back to her.

“Well, Zoe, what’s it going to be? Fish fry for the entire family or dinner for two tomorrow night at my place? At the rate you’re catching them, you’ll have a dozen in the boat in no time flat.”

She flushed and ducked her head in embarrassment but her lips twitched upward in a smile. “Well, I’d hate for you to be up late cleaning more than a dozen,” she said.

He chuckled. “That’s generous of you, sweetheart. All right then. Three down and nine to go. You ready to go again?”

She wrinkled her nose as he put a cricket on the hook and was careful to keep her bobber plenty distant from her body as she swung it out over the water.

“I thought people fished with worms and such. I’ve never heard of using crickets. Not that I’d want to touch a worm either,” she said in distaste. “I’m not sure which is worse. Slimy or creepy, crawly legs.” She shuddered. “How come you got the raw end of this deal anyway? I get the fun of catching them all while you get stuck baiting the hook, taking the fish off the line and cleaning them afterward.”

“I assure you that at no time have I gotten a raw deal,” he drawled, a smile twisting his lips. “In fact, if putting a few creepy-crawlies on a hook, taking a few slimy fish off a hook and cleaning them afterward is the price I have to pay for an afternoon with a fun, cute-as-hell woman who’s made me laugh more than I’ve laughed in longer than I can remember, then sign me up for more.”

This time she didn’t look away nor did she seem to deny that anyone would think any such thing. She looked at him with honest bemusement as if she couldn’t quite figure out his angle.

He took a step closer to her as he guided her line toward the spot where she’d caught the first several fish. He stopped just inches from touching her and stared down into her eyes.

“I’m not hard to figure out, Zoe,” he murmured. “No games. I’m not the flirting type. If I don’t mean it, I don’t say it. And I never feel obligated to say shit I don’t really mean just to make someone else feel better. I think it’s best if we get that out of the way right now. You with me?”

She swallowed, her throat working up and down as she slowly nodded. Her gaze was full of wonder as she continued to stare back up at him, as if processing his solemn statement and measuring its sincerity.

“Yeah,” she finally whispered. “I think so.”

“Then you might want to catch that fish that’s messing with your line,” he said in amusement.

She whirled around just in time to see her bobber plunge under for the fourth time, and she hauled upward on the pole with both hands, letting out a peal of infectious laughter.

“I’m so fucked,” Joe whispered to himself. “And the hell of it is, I’m loving every fucking minute of it.”

CHAPTER 15

ZOE stretched lazily and yawned as the sun beat down over her, warming her muscles to the bone. She could so take a nap. She was tired in the best kind of I’ve-never-had-so-much-fun-in-my-life way, and the sun’s rays weren’t making it any easier to beat back the lethargy that had taken hold of her the minute she’d changed into the swimsuit Joe had borrowed from Rusty.

She’d been horrified when she’d figured out that the suit Rusty had given Joe was a two-piece bikini, and not a particularly modest one either. She’d kept a towel wrapped firmly around her until finally she’d picked out a place to sun herself. Only when she realized she needed the towel to lie on did she finally allow it to fall from her body as she scrambled to get down as quickly as possible.

Thankfully Joe had given her privacy, busying himself with something else, so he hadn’t been witness to the debacle of her in a bikini.

Now that he was done though, it might be a better idea to roll onto her stomach so her boobs weren’t falling out of her top. As soon as she’d settled back down on her stomach, she sighed as the heat slid languidly over her back.

She startled when Joe’s hand came down on her bare back, and she rose, turning her head to look over her shoulder.

“Sorry to disturb you,” he said. “But I don’t want you to burn so I’m going to rub sunblock on your back. Just relax and go back to what you were doing. You won’t even know I’m here.”

She nearly snorted. On what planet would she not know he was there or that his hands would be sliding over her bare skin?

“I can do it,” she said uneasily, trying to push herself up.

He put gentle pressure on her back, pushing her back down. “Unless you’re an octopus or are extremely flexible, I don’t see how you’re going to get parts of your back. Besides, I’ll need someone to do my back when I’m done with yours.”