“I’m married,” Alice tells me. “My husband is great; he booked this trip for me so I could have a break. Having three kids is tough.”
“Three?” I squeak. “One is time consuming.”
“I’ve got five.” Faye smiles. “I’d have more if I could, but my husband passed away four years ago, and I just haven’t met anyone else.”
I blink, staring at her. “Ummm, wait a damn second. You have five kids?”
She nods.
“Five?” I go on, eyes wide. “You’re so tiny, where did you fit them?”
She laughs. “I carry well, I guess.”
Yeesh, the girl is a legend.
“I’m sorry about your husband,” Alice says. “That must have been tough.”
Faye smiles. “It was, but I’ve done a lot of healing, and I’m ready to move on.”
“Well, it’s a good thing there are so many to choose from here.” I wink at her.
She blushes. “Gosh, I could only dream.”
“Give it a shot, you never know what might happen.”
Alice laughs. “I must admit, I’m a bit envious of you ladies. If I had the chance, I’d be climbing those cowboys like trees. Damn.”
“So things are going well with your husband then?” I smile.
Alice grins. “He’s great, but you know ... time slowly fades the wild sex. You should get out there, honey, get into those men and enjoy your time here.”
“Trust me, I’m trying. It’s certainly not for a lack of it.”
Faye grins. “Do share. I have seen you and Enzo getting along, and after your grand entrance I’m quite certain he’s fascinated with you.”
I snort. “Or horrified, I’m not quite certain which it is yet, but I’ll win him over. He can’t run forever.”
They both laugh.
And I can’t help it, I laugh a little too.
Dammit, are they growing on me?
3
“Okay, ladies,” Rhett calls. “These kayaks are easy to use, there will be two in each and you can travel to wherever you like, this lake connects to small rivers that go all over the property. You may wish to get out and explore, be aware that we can’t follow you so you’re going to have to be careful and watch out for animals if you stop.”
I put my hand up. “Animals? Like horses, cows? Sheep?”
Rhett grins. “No, sweetheart, like wild animals. We get a few mountain lions and ...”
“I’m fine here,” I say, cutting him off.
“I’ll come with you,” Enzo offers. “You’re the odd one out, anyway.”
I frown and glance at the rest of the group who have already paired up. Faye wasn’t feeling well today —she suffers migraines quite badly and unfortunately came down with one —and one of the other girls really likes Alice so she claimed her, that left an odd one out and that odd one out is me. So I get to go with hot daddy, which is fine with me, because I didn’t come here to lie in the sun and not get ridden like a wild pony.
“Let’s go then,” I say, pointing to the kayak. “I didn’t come here to sit around and chat like a bunch of old grannies.”
Enzo narrows his eyes, and then waves a hand in the general direction of the kayak. “After you.”
I go over and, as gracefully as possible, climb in. It doesn’t take long for me to wobble and nearly tip it over as I try to get in a comfortable position. Enzo watches on with amusement, and then he climbs in behind me. I’m suddenly very conscious of the fact that we’re really close and about to venture off into a big old lake. He has placed some fishing poles in the kayak too, and we have a packed lunch that the chef made up for each of us.
“Don’t do somethin’ I wouldn’t do, brother,” Rhett calls as he puts his foot onto the kayak and pushes us out.
Enzo flips him the bird and then hands me a paddle.
I get the hang of it quickly and soon we’re traveling across the lake at what I’d call a decent speed.
“In a rush to be somewhere?” Enzo calls to me.
I pause, placing my paddle on my lap and twisting my body so I can see him. “Are we supposed to go slow?”
I glance behind us and see everyone is quite a distance away from us. Oops, I’d say I was getting a little too ahead of myself there. I give Enzo a sheepish grin.
“You’re here to unwind, but I’m startin’ to think you don’t know how to do that.”
I huff. “Sure I know how, you just stop what you’re doing and stand there. Unwound.”
He grunts. “I need to teach you the art of relaxing, true relaxation ...”
“Really?” I grin. “I’m down for that.”
He smirks. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean with zero body contact.”
I huff. “Boring.”
“You live life on the edge I’m guessing,” he murmurs, studying me.
“Yes, I do. Life is too short to be tied down and miserable. I am always trying to keep myself busy, and when I can, I like to discover as many new things as I possibly can.”