The Naked Truth (The Honeybrook Hamdens)

“Got it,” he said, and then she noticed exactly how close he was. Only inches from her.

Close enough to…

She didn’t know what she was doing until she’d already done it.

And once her lips met his? There was no turning back.

Present Day

It was there. Big and beautiful and just like she remembered it, right down to the rope dangling from a nearby branch. The seat they’d used back then to swing into the little pond had splintered here and there, and on the top of the seat moss had started to form, but there was no denying that it was the same one her grandfather had built when her mother had first gotten pregnant with Luke.

“Did Luke ever tell you about the rope swing?” Julie took a step toward the tree and touched the thick, intertwined cords.

“No, but your grandmother did once. She said it was just like the one she had when she was a girl.”

Julie nodded. “It was how my grandparents met.”

“She didn’t tell me that part.”

It had always been her favorite story that Gran told, and she remembered every sentence like the old lady was still reciting it to her before bed every night. “It was a hot summer day in 1952 and my grandmother was home from college to visit her parents and sisters. She’d met up with a few of her friends to go swimming, so they all wore their bathing suits to go down to the local pond.”

“Sounds very wholesome,” Chase said.

“Yeah, it starts out that way. As it happened, though, my grandfather was already down there fishing with his brother and he didn’t want to give up a good fishing day just because my grandmother and her friends wanted to swim.”

“Who can blame him? If the fish are biting—“

Julie rolled her eyes. “Well, he didn’t stand a chance. My grandmother climbed on the rope that hung from a nearby tree and jumped straight into the water. She scared all the fish away, and when she came back up, she splashed my grandfather and told him to stop being a fuddy duddy and realize that he was surrounded by beautiful girls.”

“So what did he do?”

Julie took the rope in her hand and swung it back and forth. “My grandmother always had a sort of talent. When she spoke, my grandfather listened. He stripped down to his boxers, climbed on the rope, and swung in there after her. From then on, they were inseparable.”

“And he never went fishing again?” Chase asked.

“Not if Gran wanted to swim instead.”

“That’s a good story.”

Julie smiled. “I always liked it.”

“I do know a better one, though.”

Julie raised her eyebrows. “That so?”

“It is. Mine is about a girl who never had the courage to get on the rope swing, and then when she was a woman, she came back to the spot, stripped down to her underwear, and conquered her fears.” Chase pulled his shirt from over head. “Then, her brave and charming date dove in after her to make sure she didn’t drown.”

“I wasn’t scared, I just didn’t want to fall and belly flop.”

“And that’s different from being scared because?”

“It is, okay?” She turned to find him stripping off his pants, and when he straightened she did her best not the stare at the contours of his rippling, bare chest and powerful, muscled thighs.

“What if I go with you?” he asked.

“What difference would that make?”

“I’ll help you. I’ll teach you how to do it.”