She flashed him a suspicious look. “I thought you were too weak for sex.”
“I am, but I can enjoy your tits just fine without fucking.” Instead, he handed her the white tank top he’d worn onto the boat earlier. “This’ll do. You can take it off when we get up there.”
Five minutes later, the hot tub was roiling again, the water still quite warm from when Quinn and Rogan had used it. And, funny, as Carly stripped Jake’s shirt off, leaving her topless, she didn’t even give it a thought.
Who
was
this mysterious woman?
You
, she answered herself then
. The new you. A
better
you. Definitely a
freer
you. And a happier you.
They’d grabbed the boom box from the front deck and now turned it back on, keeping the volume low, before easing into the hot water, bit by bit. Carly sat close to Jake’s side, even lifting her left leg over his right. He settled his hand high on her thigh, then leaned over to give her a quiet kiss. They rested silently that way, eyes shut, just listening to the music, soaking up the night.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she heard a familiar voice say, “Sorry, you two lovebirds can’t hog the hot tub all to yourselves,” and looked up to see Shane. A glance down ensured her boobs were concealed beneath the bubbling water, so—all things considered—she didn’t panic and, in fact, acted as if it were totally normal for a man she’d just met to come upon her without her top. Shane grinned. “If you guys are cool with me spoiling your privacy,” he added.
She was actually kind of disappointed, but Shane was just too friendly—and even kind of sweet at times—to send away. And besides, she hadn’t come here
expecting
alone time with Jake—it was a party, even if a small one. “Climb on in,” she said.
When Jake flashed a look of mild surprise in her direction, she decided to tease Shane. “It’s
his
boat.”
Both men laughed and Shane said, “You really know how to make a guy feel wanted.”
“Really, I don’t mind,” she said with an easy smile, repeating what she’d just reminded herself. “It’s a party, after all.”
As Shane descended into the tub, Jake said, “I thought you conked out. You looked wiped.”
“Yeah. But a couple hours of sleep gave me a second wind. I really thought everybody else would be in bed by now—just figured I’d come out and soak in the tub a while.”
The talk stayed light—Jake asked about Shane’s work, and he shared a couple of cases he was investigating, and then Shane asked about life in Turnbridge. Jake shared his personal pros and cons—he’d found Carly there, and he liked the people, but the job was quieter than he’d expected. That still worried Carly a little—as horrible as it seemed, she almost hoped someone would commit a crime to give Jake some on-the-job excitement. Deep down, she feared that in the end it just wouldn’t be enough for him and he’d leave.
After a while, she began to feel sleepy and announced she was ready for bed. Jake said, “You mind if I stay out here a few minutes more, keep catching up with Shane?”
“No,” she said. “Take your time. I’ll be asleep in five minutes.”
And then, ready to get out, she remembered she was topless. “Um . . .” she began uncertainly without quite meaning to let her quandary show.
But Shane sensed the problem and said with his usual grin, “I promise I’ll shut my eyes until you get your top on.” Then he closed them—so she hurried from the tub, rushing to get the tank over her head even as an unavoidable question planted itself in her brain:
Okay, given that you just let Rogan see every private inch of you an hour ago, what does it really matter?
Still, she felt better once Jake’s shirt dropped around her hips and immediately said, “Okay, all set.”
When Shane opened his eyes, though, she realized that he and Jake were both gaping at her. And Jake said, “Honey, you probably should have dried off first if you were feeling modest.” She glanced down and—oh boy. She looked like an entry in a wet T-shirt contest—the thin white cotton hugged her every curve and left little to the imagination.
“No worries, though,” Shane said quickly. “I consider myself lucky to get such a nice view.”
“Um, thanks,” she said, her cheeks flushing with warmth as she wrapped her arms around herself and bit her lip. Then she scurried off, still selfconscious but at the same time reminding herself once more that this was no big deal.
And again the question rose in her mind:
Who
was
this mysterious woman?
She barely recognized herself.
Though when she’d felt that way as Desiree, it had come with guilt.
And this, so far, came only with a sense of . . . liberation, freedom, and her own beauty.
C
arly slept in Jake’s arms, sated. Not only by the sex, but by the new sense of her sexual self she’d found just since yesterday. Add to that her relaxing day in the sun, the easy acceptance by his friends, and the comfort she felt in his embrace, and it was perhaps the best she’d slept . . . in years.
And yes, when she opened her eyes the next morning to the memory of fucking in front of Rogan, she suffered a little embarrassment, a little worry, over seeing him today. But in another way, it felt as if it had been nothing but a good, hot dream and she hoped it might feel that way to Jake’s bad boy friend, as well.
“You okay this morning, sweetie pie?” Jake asked, as if reading her mind. His arm was tucked warmly around her waist beneath the sheet, where she wore only a cami and panties.
“Mmm hmm,” she answered sleepily. “You?”
“Uh, I’m
way
more than just okay. Because—damn, you were amazing last night.”
She turned to him in the bed, her pussy already tingling. “Yeah?” she whispered, smiling tenderly into his eyes. Maybe she just wanted to hear him say it some more, be reassured.
His gaze heated further. “Hell yes. Fucking me like that on the deck? And not freaking out in the hot tub? You’re officially my dream woman.”
Wow—she liked the sound of that. But the sex on the deck was starting to feel more real and less dreamlike. “So . . . you don’t think Rogan will act . . . weird or anything to me now.”
He gave his head a short, sure shake. “He doesn’t know we saw him. He doesn’t know we . . . got off on being watched.” Then he brought his face nearer, eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t just me, was it? You got off on it, too, right?”
She gave a gentle nod, trying to overcome her habitual shyness about such things even as her cunt flared at the admission. “And Shane . . .” she ventured.
Jake just offered a soft grin. “Shane’s not the kind of guy to judge. None of them are. I mean, I’m closer to some of them than others, but we all share a bond that goes back a long way. Being at the academy was an important time in all our lives. And even though not all of us are still cops, in the H.O.T. program, we all saw each guy at his best, and sometimes at his worst. And so . . . we’ve got each other’s backs, in a big way. Despite how we act sometimes, we have tremendous respect for each other. And no guy on this boat would ever do anything to hurt any woman I’m with, or think badly of her.”
His words worked to assuage her fears—she could tell how much he meant them, and that his relationship with these guys ran deeper than she’d even understood until just now.
“And that’s real convenient for me,” he added, sliding right back into naughty mode, “because I can’t help it—it gets me hot when they see how
totally
hot
you
are, honey.”
Smiling over at him with his sexy blue eyes and sleep-mussed hair, she bit her lip and said, “I’m trying to decide if I like how much you enjoy showing me off to your friends.”
“Take it as a compliment.”
“I take it as you having a big ego and needing to feed it,” she teased.
He arched one eyebrow in her direction, but then let a tiny grin spread across his unshaven face, as if in confession. “You make it easy to feed. When I see the way they look at you, it’s hard not to . . . want them to know exactly how incredible you are.”
Twining her arms around his neck, she gave him a kiss, unable to resist a man who made her feel so good about herself.
“You like them all, though, right?” Jake asked. “I mean, you’re comfortable with them.”
She nodded again. “Yeah—they’re great. And . . .”
“And what?”
“And they’re . . . pretty easy on the eyes, too,” she admitted quietly. And when he let out a short laugh in response, she asked, “So you don’t mind if I think they’re good-looking?”
He tilted his head against the pillow. “I’m kinda used to it, since
most
women seem to feel that way. And trust me—I’m not the only one in the crowd with an ego.”
She giggled lightly. “Don’t worry—I already figured that out. It’s just a good thing confident men appeal to me.”
Jake’s look turned more serious then. “Though I hope you know that if I’m showing you off, it’s not only about
my
ego. It’s that I want
you
to feel as sexy as you are. I want you to know that you don’t have to be somebody else or put on an act for guys to find you attractive.” He stopped, pushed a loose lock of hair back behind her ear. “I guess I . . . want to help you make up for lost time. In the sex department, I mean.”
She gazed up at him. “Well, you’re doing a good job of that so far. And I do . . . feel sexy. I mean, I’m starting to. It’s very strange for me. And at moments, it would be easy to run away from that feeling. But then I just . . .”
“What?”
“Remember you’re with me and that makes it okay. I really do trust you, Jake. Maybe more than I’ve ever trusted anyone.”
T
he day was much like the previous one. It started with muffins and fruit enjoyed on the front deck in the sun. Then Shane pulled up anchor and they ventured away from shore out into the open water of Lake Michigan. They saw other boats, but there was also plenty of solitude, and at times it felt as if the serene body of water stretched forever. It reminded Carly how big the world was and that she’d never even seen the ocean. And that along with all the other changes she was making in her life, she should travel. To the ocean. And the mountains. And the desert. And beyond.
As the large cabin cruiser meandered slowly across the enormous lake, most of the guys seemed a little hungover. Quinn and Rogan indulged in some fishing off the back deck. But as the bright day revived them, they all eventually began laughing and telling stories about their police academy days.
Like yesterday, Carly enjoyed being surrounded by so many strong, attractive men and she could almost feel the testosterone wafting around her in the sun-soaked air. And as Jake had promised, neither Rogan nor Shane acted any differently toward her—although she might have noticed their admiring gazes on her even more often. Despite herself, she didn’t mind. Each time she felt one of Jake’s friends studying her, it made her pussy ache a little. On drives to Traverse City, she’d often felt very aware of her body—but that paled in comparison to this. Having so many men being sexually drawn to her—to Carly, no one else, no one she was pretending to be . . . well, it was a powerful and satisfying feeling.
Lunchtime brought cold cuts and snack chips—after which they found shallow water and anchored for more swimming. Somehow being wet with them all only heightened her physical response to all those muscles and that deep, masculine laughter. And when Rogan hung on the end of her air mattress, chatting about Charlevoix, the lake town where he lived and worked, it gave her a chance to notice just how warm and sexy his brown eyes were.
The day stretched on, languid and surprisingly sensual for Carly—and she found herself seeking Jake’s touch more than yesterday when the other guys had been strangers to her. When she felt like kissing him, she kissed him. When she felt like curling up in his lap for a few minutes, she followed the impulse. And when she put sunscreen on his back, Shane said, “Damn, must be nice—guess the rest of us are gonna burn,” his tone a flirty, playful hint.
So Carly said, “All right, all right—I’ll do yours, too.” And it truly was a matter of practicality, but when rubbing sunscreen into Shane’s back led to doing the same for Quinn, Rogan, and even Cameron, her pussy literally hummed at having her hands on so many men one right after another.
It was after dinner, by which time the guys had been drinking for a while, that a speed boat pulled up alongside them. Quinn and Cameron stood at the railing, talking to the two girls inside it, and Carly glanced over to see a blonde and a brunette, both pretty and in smaller bikinis than hers. Before she knew it, the two guys were climbing down the swim ladder toward the other boat, Quinn tossing a wink at Shane and shouting, “Don’t wait up for us.”
Shane raised his eyebrows. “Seriously, dude?”
The cabin cruiser was anchored about a quarter mile offshore, and Quinn pointed to a small beach in the distance. “They’re camped there. So if we don’t come back, we’ll catch up with you guys in the morning.”
As the two guys disappeared over the edge of the mini-yacht, Shane and Rogan just looked at each other, clearly jealous of their friends’ good fortune. “Damn,” Shane muttered.
“Timing’s everything,” Rogan concluded with a shake of his head.
“Spare a hug for a lonely boat captain, honey?” Shane asked Carly as she walked past just then, adding a playful wink, as if in cahoots with her to make Jake jealous.
Of course, she complied, teasing both Shane and Rogan with, “Poor babies. I’m so sure you two have such a hard time getting girls.”
“Well, in the middle of Lake Michigan,” Shane said, “it’s a challenge.”
“Not for Quinn and Cameron,” she pointed out.
And Rogan cracked a rare grin. “Touché.”
A
s day turned to night, the mood on the boat was quieter. They still chatted and drank, but having the small party’s numbers diminished by two made a difference, and the tone became more introspective as Rogan and Jake discussed their feelings about leaving a larger police force for that of a small town. Rogan, it turned out, had worked in Grand Rapids before relocating to Charlevoix.