Read Online Trail of Kisses by Merry Farmer - Free Book Online Page A

arms at awkward angles around her back to undo each
one.
    If anyone else had been nearby she would have
asked them to help in a heartbeat. The stream wasn’t entirely
deserted. Callie and her fiancé, John, bobbed in the slow-moving
water several yards upstream, talking in low voices. A few more
groups or couples waded and washed beyond them, and a few people
dipped and played in the river downstream. Not many people overall,
but enough to make Lynne feel as though she wasn’t doing something
drastic or unusual.
    She removed her blouse and skirt and
petticoats and draped them over the nearest bush, but kept her
chemise and drawers on.
    “ Turn your back,” she told
Cade.
    He had been scanning the area for imaginary
intruders, his eyes narrowed suspiciously at the stand of bushes
where she had put her clothes. As soon as she spoke, he turned to
her. His expression shifted to frank appreciation, and he crossed
his arms.
    “ I said turn your back,” Lynne
squeaked and crossed her arms over her chest.
    “ Now why would I do a thing like
that?” he said, teasing. “I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you,
aren’t I?”
    Lynne’s shocked modesty boiled to indignation.
She dropped her arms, confident that her underthings were sturdy
enough to hide what needed to be hidden. She huffed in
frustration.
    “ Fine, then. You may not be a
ruffian, but you’re certainly no gentleman.”
    She finished her statement with a tilt of her
chin, then turned her back on him, marching down into the stream.
The water was just a shade colder than she expected it to be, but
she pretended it was nothing and pushed on out to where the current
flowed past her legs at thigh level and dunked to sit.
    Of course, in her moment of protest, she had
forgotten to bring the soap with her into the stream. Still facing
away from Cade, she made a face at herself for her foolishness and
dipped her head back to wet her hair. It was braided again and that
braid was coiled into a knot at the back of her neck, but pulling
out a few pins loosened it. She should wash her hair while she
could. Which still required soap.
    With a sigh of resignation and a swallow to
accompany the swallowing of her pride, she twisted in the water to
face Cade. He stood on the bank, arms still crossed, grin still
smug, the bundle of bathing things she’d brought with her at his
feet.
    “ I forgot the soap,” she said, not
sure if she wanted him to hear her or not.
    “ I noticed.” His smile
grew.
    She waited for him to do the gentlemanly
thing, but he stood still, arms still crossed.
    “ Could you find it and… and throw
it to me, I guess?”
    “ Throw it to you?”
    Lynne blew out an impatient breath.
“Yes.”
    Cade loosened his arms and bent to search
through the towel and hairbrush in the bundle to find the
soap.
    “ This soap?”
    She clamped her jaw tight. If he thought she was the one in danger of an imminent attack from someone
with a score to settle, then he needed to watch his own
back.
    “ Never mind, I can do without,”
she said and turned away from him. She swam farther out into the
center of the stream where the current was faster and the water was
deeper and cooler.
    Less than a minute later, she heard splashing
from the bank. Her heart shot to her throat. What if someone was
coming after her after all? She spun to the bank, eyes wide. They
grew even wider at what she saw.
    Cade had stripped off his clothes and boots
and was wading into the stream toward her. He wore nothing but a
sturdy pair of drawers. His broad chest was firm with muscle and
dusted with just enough hair to make her mouth go dry. His
shoulders were strong and his arms corded with muscle. The plain of
his stomach was flat, narrowing to a slim waist with a line of hair
that ran from his navel to the waistband of his drawers. What lay
under those drawers wasn’t entirely unnoticeable either.
    “ What are you doing?” she asked
and instantly had to clear her throat.
    “ Bringing you