I gazed into the still, dark pool as we stepped onto the ramp. “Do you come out here to go fishing?”
“Nope. Can’t. Too much of the mining minerals saturated the water, it’s full of alkali.”
I glanced at him curiously. “Alkali?”
He nodded. “You know, the stuff that goes into batteries. Nothing can live in this pit because of the alkali...which makes it perfect for swimming.”
I shivered. “Wouldn’t swimming in battery acid be dangerous?”
Knox grinned as if my cluelessness was cute. Then he shrugged. “Never made me sick before. It stains my clothes an awful muddy brown, but that’s about it.”
My breath caught at the thought of him wet and splashing around in this very pit. “So...you’ve swum here before?”
He seemed to move closer without even really moving. “Every summer for as long as I can remember.” Even his voice was quieter. Deeper. I couldn’t breathe so well.
Turning my attention to the water, I cleared my throat. “Did you build this dock?”
“No. That must’ve been your father, or one of your brothers.”
“Garrett, probably,” I mused more to myself. “He’s handy like that.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he toed off his shoes and sat on the edge. As soon as he swung his legs over the side and let his feet dangle into the water below, he eased out a big sigh.
Then he grinned up at me. “If you hand me your shoe, I can rinse it off in the water for you.”
I made a face. “And let you stain it with battery acid water?”
He rolled his eyes. “I think the shoe’s already ruined. I was just offering you a less muddy walk home.”
Ugh, he made a good point. “In that case, I can do it.” I slipped off both shoes and took the muddy one in hand before bending over the dock and out into the water.
“Careful,” he cautioned, grasping my hip. “Don’t fall in.”
I hadn’t been in any danger of falling at all until he went and touched me. At contact, I jumped like a scalded cat. He had to tighten his grip and yank me against him to save me from a strip pit full of battery acid.
“Damn, City Girl,” he murmured into my ear. “What’re you so jumpy for?”
He knew exactly why I was jumpy, and that cocky little grin he sent me said so. I frowned. “You’re really going to call me City Girl from here on out, aren’t you? You couldn’t think of anything else.”
“Nope. I like City Girl. It suits you.”
“Does not.”
“Does too.” He kept holding my hip until he had me sitting next to him, close enough that our thighs brushed and I was nearly in his lap.
I forgot to argue back. Taking a deep, shuddery breath, I laid my shoe out on the dock next to the clean one to dry out in the sun. Then I dangled my legs over the side of the dock to dip my toes into the water.
Knox smiled approvingly and caught a piece of my hair.
I sighed, happy and relaxed as he began to play with a couple locks. The dock bobbed in a lulling rhythm under us. “It’s nice out here. The water feels great on my feet.”
“Yeah.” He sounded distracted. “We should wear our suits tomorrow and go for a swim.”
I snorted. “You’re crazy if you think I’m swimming in water that stains clothes.”
With a shrug, he grinned. “We’ll skinny-dip, then.” As my mouth dropped open and words failed me, Knox just kept smiling. “Can’t stain clothes if you’re not wearing any.”
“I...you...that...”
He threw back his head and laughed. “I’m kidding.”
I would’ve slugged him on the shoulder again and told him how funny he still wasn’t, but his brown eyes danced with so much enthusiasm when he looked at me, I forgot what I was going to say.
I knew he could read all the temptation and longing in my expression when his smile died.
“Do you ever think about kissing me?”
My mouth dried up and my mind turned to mush. “Wha...what?”
He just kept watching me as he coiled my hair around his finger. “Because I do. All the time. Right before I go to sleep each night, first thing when I wake up in the morning, whenever I’m coming out here to meet you, whenever I’m with you.”
The last part was a whispered confession he made as he leaned in and pressed his forehead to mine.
I closed my eyes, afraid to breathe and even more afraid to reopen my lashes in fear this moment would end and I’d find out it was all a dream.