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Her jaw dropped. “That’s not happening!”

The cold water felt like heaven against my still burning eyes, and I let a slow, wicked smile pull at my mouth. “Come on,” I called. “I dare you.”

She shook her head like she couldn’t believe what I was saying. “Excuse me?”

“Get in,” I said, tilting my head, letting the challenge sit between us. “Unless you’re scared.”

Her eyes narrowed so sharply I felt it in my bloodstream. “Don’t you dare try to use reverse cowboy psychology on me.”

“Then prove it. Although I’ve only tried reverse cowgirl, so you might have to show me that move.”

She stared at me aghast for a long, charged second, mist drifting around her and her hair sticking to her flushed cheeks, and I was sure she’d refuse. “Fine,” she finally said calmly.

I blinked at her in hopeful shock. “Fine?”

“Fine,” she repeated. “But you’re turning around. I am not skinny-dipping under the scrutiny of a man who looks like he’d make Superman cry.”

I raised a brow. “Like what?”

“Like sin with an eight pack,” she snapped. “Turn. Around.”

I bit back a laugh, lifted my hands in surrender, and turned my back to her, facing the waterfall.

Behind me, rustling broke through the quiet, followed by a whispered, frantic curse when something snagged, then another when she realized I could hear her. I grinned.

Then the water broke with a sharp splash.

I whipped around.

Sienna surfaced from the water with a gasp, her hair plastered to her cheeks, her eyes wide and wild and triumphant as her bare shoulders caught the shifting light, leaving no doubt she had nothing on.

Oh fuck. How did I think I could handle this?

She pushed wet hair out of her face and glared at me. “There,” she said, panting. “Happy?”

I took one step toward her through the water, my heartbeat kicking hard enough to bruise. “Sienna,” I murmured, “you have no idea. I’m surprised I’m still alive.”

I took another slow step toward her, water swirling around my thighs, every inch of me tuned to the sight of her as she tried to pretend she wasn’t affected by me right now.

She pointed at me, breathless and indignant. “Just so we’re clear,” she said. “Me getting in here was not an invitation.”

I didn’t believe her for a second and I kept wading through the water. “No?” I said. “You sure about that?”

Her inhale faltered. It was the tiniest wobble, but I felt it like a fist in my chest.

“I—yes,” she said, except her voice didn’t sound convincing. At all. The water rippled as she backed up half a step, but she didn’t take her eyes off me.

“You stripped,” I reminded her softly, closing in another inch. “And jumped in here with me.”

Her cheeks darkened, even as she lifted her chin. “That was because of a dare. Everyone knows you can’t say no to a dare. Everyone,” she repeated, doubling down. “It’s basically a legal obligation. I think it’s in the Constitution somewhere.”

“Mm.” I took one more slow step, savoring every flicker of tension in her face. “It still feels a lot like an invitation.”

“It wasn’t,” she insisted, though her gaze dipped to my mouth for one scorching second, betraying her.

I smiled, nothing cocky, just a smile a man couldn’t stop when the woman he wanted was looking at him like that. “Then tell me to stay where I am,” I murmured. “Really say it so I believe you.”

Her lips parted, but no words followed. A tremor flickered at her throat, her pulse betraying her even as she tried to hold my gaze—something I’d learned to read with precision over the years, every shift and stutter tied to fear, panic…or something else entirely.