CHAPTER EIGHT-1
667 Words
CHAPTER EIGHT
Mason was so shocked to see her that he almost set the fishing pole down, but he caught himself at the last moment.
“Um... hi,” he murmured, not sure what else to say.
“Hi,” Maddie parroted back, and he could see her cheeks turning red in the illumination of his little flashlight. “So... about the fish...”
“Yeah,” Mason, with effort, returned his focus to the reason for them standing on the dock. “The way it’s pulling I’m thinking it’s either a pretty good-sized catfish, or an alligator gar.”
“I thought so too. I remember catching a gar once when I was about eight,” Maddie mentioned. “It fought like crazy. Dad had to help me with it.”
Wow, her mind raced as she continued making safe small talk. When did he get so tall? And how is it possible that he got even more cute? I don’t remember his eyes being so blue...
“Yeah. Either way, I think this may take a while. We’ll have to let it tire itself out before we’ll be able to bring it in, I think,” Mason answered.
“Maybe set up something to brace the pole against?” Maddie suggested. “That way we can set it down for just a bit without it getting pulled in.”
“I have an idea. Here, take this, I’ll be right back,” Mason said as he handed her the pole. “Let it do whatever it’s going to do, but don’t let the slack out.”
Their hands grazed as she took control of the fishing pole, and Maddie shuddered.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Fine,” she lied, unwilling to acknowledge the powerful surge of adrenaline caused by their brief physical connection.
He stepped around her, shining his light ahead of him, and disappeared into the dark.
***
* * * *
As he walked swiftly toward his cabin, Mason’s brain was on overdrive, replaying what he’d said to her so far. Nothing stupid, right?
Nope, don’t think so.
Good.
He had so many things he wanted to ask her, to tell her, and he forced his thoughts into serenity.
Calm down. You haven’t seen her in almost twenty years. No need to cover all of them in one night. Relax.
But God, she’s just as beautiful as I remember – and tiny. Was she always that tiny?
He reached his cabin, rooted around and found what he was looking for, then started back over to Maddie’s dock.
***
* * * *
What are the chances of running into him again? A million to one? More?
And how the hell could I not remember how gorgeous he is?
Her mind’s eye replayed seeing him in her flashlight beam. He still had that coal-black hair that just reached his collar, and those amazing blue eyes.
But the rest of him had changed quite a bit. In place of the five-foot-seven shy loner she’d known in school was a six-foot-two, very well-muscled specimen.
Just thinking about him was causing all sorts of very unladylike – and for her, atypical – thoughts of seeing him without a shirt on...
Without anything on, actually... and in my bed...
Whoa, Maddie, reel it in, she chastised herself, then grinned at the appropriateness of the thought given her current situation.
His approaching steps echoed down the worn planks as he returned to her side, and she willed her racing heart back into a normal rhythm.
“What’s the plan?” she asked, and then cringed inwardly as she heard her voice sounding more husky than usual.
Mason went completely still for a moment before finally answering, “Gonna lash it to the dock.”
***
* * * *
God, that voice, he thought with a barely contained groan. That whiskey-rough, bedroom voice...
Hold it together, man.
He moved quickly to rig up the holder, then took the pole from her and fashioned it into place.
“There,” he announced. “Now, we wait.”
An expanding silence threatened to take hold, and Maddie shifted her weight nervously.
“So, Mason. How have you been?” she began. “We haven’t seen each other since...”
“Graduation night,” he finished. “Been a long, long time.”
“I have to ask – when did you get taller?” she blurted out, then said, “sorry. I just... I remember you and I were about the same height.”
***
- Writer
