“Not that, though.”
He threw his head back and laughed, relieved that she didn’t want him to go out in the sound naked. He would’ve, for her, but he was glad she didn’t want him to.
The water level on this side of the island was lower than on the side the dock was on, or rather, the bottom of the sound hadn’t been dredged as much on this side. There were times they got stuck and had to push their way off with their paddles. They kayaked past beaver dams, saw loons, ospreys, and eagles, and then turned back when the sky clouded up and rain threatened.
It was sprinkling when they got back to the shore, and Dutch could hear thunder in the distance.
“Let’s find cover,” he suggested as the rain’s intensity quickly increased.
He held her hand as they ran under a canopy of trees and huddled beneath it.
“We should try to make it back to the house,” she suggested.
Dutch wasn’t sure that was a good idea, given the thunder sounded closer than it had before.
“I think there’s a shed on this side of the island.”
His memory was fuzzy, but he was pretty sure that it was on the leeward side.
“You wait here, and I’ll see if I can find it.”
Malin smiled.
“What?”
“You’re such an alpha sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
That made her laugh. “I’m not a girly-girl, Dutch. I never have been. I can go out in the rain. I won’t melt.”
He couldn’t explain why the need to protect her surged through his veins, but it did, and what was wrong with that? How was it different than opening a door for her, or carrying heavy groceries, or any other gentlemanly thing she would accept without hesitation?
“My mother raised me to be a gentleman,” he finally said.
“You’ve never talked about your parents. Any family really.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Why not?”
The further he could distance himself from the memories of his childhood, the better. He preferred not to think about it, and he liked talking about it even less, but if he wanted Malin to forgive him—trust him—he needed to do what he wanted her to do, and talk.
“My father died when I was very young, and my mother remarried.”
“Is that it?”
“Pretty much.”
“Siblings?”
“Step-sisters.”
“Okay, then. Subject closed.”
Dutch cupped her cheek with his palm. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t a good situation.”
“I take it you didn’t get along with your mother’s second husband or his daughters.”