“Holy hell, baby. You’re driving me crazy.”

He reached in and adjusted himself as I smiled.

I used my finger and motioned for him to come toward me. “I’m not walking over there without shoes on.”

Gunner smiled bigger and picked me up so quickly that I let out a small cry. I looked up and could barely see someone running by through the trees. Gunner walked us over to the cypress tree. I’d expected him to just pleasure me with his fingers, but when he leaned me against the tree, he pushed my panties out of the way and began teasing me with his tip. I was so overcome with what we were doing that I almost came on the spot.

“Oh God, Gunner. I’m going to come fast. It’s already building up,” I whispered.

He smiled. “Hold on, baby, you’re about to take the ride of your life.”

Before I could even say anything, he pushed inside me and began moving. Somehow, Gunner always knew the spot to hit to make me come fast and hard. He leaned down and began kissing my neck. The sounds of dogs barking and people talking, running, or riding their bikes were beginning to blend with my low moans of pleasure. I quickly looked out toward the water, and we were barely covered by all the tree branches. If someone looked hard enough, they would see what we were doing.

A warm feeling ran through my body, and I felt my orgasm building. Then, I heard a woman talking.

“So, Laura said the report is due back by five. That’s why she couldn’t join us.”

Two women had stopped practically right above us.

I closed my eyes as Gunner slowed down, and then he pushed inside me harder.

“Come, baby,” he whispered. He gently bit on my earlobe.

I placed my hands on his shoulders and began moving right along with him. I needed to feel more of him.

“Deeper,” I whispered.

“Well, that’s a shame. Laura was so looking forward to coming today.”

I closed my eyes and whispered, “So am I.”

Gunner pulled back, and I opened my eyes. He slowly smiled, and I let out a giggle. He pressed his lips to mine. The kiss started slow and sweet but quickly turned passionate. I pulled back and dropped my head against the tree. I began moving hips to meet Gunner’s movements.

Oh God. He’s so deep. It feels so good.

“Faster, Gunner, go faster.” I didn’t even care that I hadn’t whispered.

The two women had either moved on or stopped talking. All I heard was Gunner’s body hitting mine as he moved in and out, harder and faster.

It took everything out of me not to let out a scream when my orgasm hit me. I whimpered, and Gunner captured my lips with his. He kissed me, and my orgasm seemed to go on forever.

He poured himself into me as he whispered, “Fuck. Fucking hell, Ellie, it feels so good.”

Gunner and I rested our foreheads against each other as we tried to catch our breaths.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” Gunner said as he looked at me and smiled.

I let out a laugh and hit him on the shoulder. Gunner looked up, and I did the same.

“Do you think they heard us?” I asked in a whisper.

I peeked back at Gunner, and he was smiling so big that it caused me to giggle.

“I’m pretty damn sure they heard us.”

I bit my lower lip. “You certainly rose to the challenge, Mr. Mathews.”

He laughed and began carrying me back toward my jeans and sneakers. He set me down gently and stood in front of me while I quickly got dressed.

I slipped on my sneakers. “God, I can’t wait to tell Ari this.”

Gunner shook his head and pushed the canoe back into the water. “Come on, I have another place I want to go.”

“More public sex?”

He helped me into the canoe and shook his head. “No, ma’am. No more of that. I was scared shitless someone would see you.”

I sat down in the canoe and watched as he got in and pushed away from the shoreline. My whole body was still on fire, and I couldn’t help but feel happy, knowing Gunner had worried that someone might me.

He looked at me and said, “What was that like for you, Ells?”

I felt my face instantly redden. “I thought it was hot. I don’t think I’ve had an orgasm like that in a while.”

He chortled. “Hot doesn’t even begin to describe that, baby. It was beyond hot.”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, it was. It’s not something you’d think a couple with two kids would be doing after being married for so long.”

“I feel another challenge coming on.”

I laughed. “No! No more challenges.”

The second I turned down Fourth Street, Ellie started clapping her hands. “Oh my God! We’re going to Halcyon, aren’t we?”

I chuckled. “Yep.”

“Oh, Gunner, I can’t even believe how incredibly romantic you are.”

I pulled into the valet parking, and a young kid walked up with a cocky little grin on his face.

“Wow, dude, nice truck.”

I smiled. “Yeah, it is. You put a scratch on it, and I’ll hang you up by your balls.”

“Gunner!” Ellie walked over to me and hit me in the stomach.

The kid’s smile faded, and he nodded his head. “Yes, sir. Not a scratch, sir.”

I put my arm around Ellie’s waist and began walking her to the Halcyon.

When we walked in, I was flooded by memories. This day was exactly what we’d needed.

“Oh, Gunner, today was exactly what we needed.”

I stopped and looked at her. “Ellie, I was literally just thinking the same exact thing.”

She smiled big, and her blue eyes sparkled. “Great minds…”

“I guess so.”

We walked up to the counter, and Ellie started talking to the young girl, “Good afternoon. Oh, let’s see, I’m going to take the chicken wrap and a lemon drop martini.”

I ordered next and got the Halcyon salad along with a chocolate espresso martini. I also ordered the tableside s’mores but asked for it to be brought out after we finished our lunch.

We sat down in the same corner booth where we’d had our first unofficial date. As we ate, Ellie began texting someone.

“Who are you texting?” I asked.

She looked up with sadness in her eyes. “Alex. She said she snuck her phone into class to ask if we were having fun.”

I smiled as my heart filled with warmth. I loved Alex and Colt so damn much. Alex was so much like Ellie. I could see it already. It was too bad she was also stubborn as hell like me. Colt, on the other hand, was so laid-back that it was unreal. Hardly anything bothered that boy, except his sister.