Once again she opened her mouth and then closed it again and finally, shooting an angry look at Niles she climbed into his boat.
He allowed her to climb into the boat for following in as well. Figuring that she wasn't even going to go as far as lifting a hand to paddle, he grabbed the oar and began stroking through the water, alternating sides of the boat.
She couldn't help but stare at the way that his muscles contracted and his skin glistened as he paddled them through the lake with the golden sun beating down on them. Her eyes caught his and immediately turned away afraid that if she looked at him long enough he could see right through her. So she did the only thing that ever really felt comfortable with him… besides dancing that is.
"Come on Tidy Bowl, throw me a zinger. You know you want to…"
"Stop it, Miss Babcock." He said with a frown on his face as he continued to keep his mind strictly on paddling through the water.
"Stop what, Oven Mitts."
"Your plan. This whole scheme of yours. I know what you are doing and it is not going to work."
"I don't know what you mean, Dust Buster. Maybe your old age has made you finally go insane." But Niles didn't bite. He didn't throw her a zinger or a barb; he just kept on ignoring her.
"Fine, you don't want to play then I will."
Not realizing what she meant, Niles just kept paddling. She put a hand on each side of the canoe and started leaning from one side to the other to rock the boat back and forth.
"Stop it." Niles practically growled.
"No." CC kept rocking the boat anyways.
It still didn't work. Niles wouldn't give her the time of day so she did the only thing that she could possibly think of that would get his attention. Making sure that her vest was tight and mustering up all the courage in her, she rocked the boat even harder until it finally tipped and both she and Niles were floating in the lake.
Niles held on to the side of the boat and looked over to make sure that she was okay. "Why in the hell would you do that?"
To that she responded with "Why won't you even look me in the eyes?"
"Why do you continue to push me to the edge?"
"Why do you keeping hiding?"
To which he countered with: "Why do you keep running away?"
"Well why do you keep making me want to come back?"
"Why can't you see what is practically right in front of your face?"
"Why can't you see that I'm scared?"
"Well why can't you see that I am right here and practically put my heart out on the line and you still manage to make me weak?"
They were looking into each other's eyes as their bodies migrated towards each other. They were almost touching noses when CC said: "Why won't you just kiss me already?"
Niles let go of the canoe and framed her face with his hands and pulled her face even closer to his as he devoured her lips with his. It was like the kiss in the living room all over again except there was more in between them besides a sleeveless dress and a suit. He tried to pull her closer but her life vest kept getting in the way. His hands were tangled in her wet blonde hair. When the need to breath forced them apart, he kept her close and wrapped his arms around her the best that he could.
When he felt her shaking, he asked "Are you alright, Miss Babcock?"
"Its c-c-cold." He hadn't realized that the sun had begun to sink down behind the trees.
"Maybe we should get you back to dry land."
"We might need the canoe to do that Niles." She said with a laugh.
He look over his should to see that their canoe had floated out further towards the middle of the lake. He didn't want to leave CC alone where she was but wasn't sure if she would be able to swim out with him to where the boat was.
Seeing his agony, CC let go of him and said: "Race you there, Butler Boy." And started swimming towards the boat in the most pathetic way that Niles had ever seen. He let out a chuckle before swimming after her. And then he got an idea. An idea that would have probably gone off differently before this trip but now with what has happened between the two of them he decided that though he told her that he would stop pranking her; this was just too good to pass up.
Since he didn't wear a life vest, he easily slipped under the water and swam towards her. When he got close enough and saw her legs kicking to keep her afloat as she held on to the side of the canoe.
CC looked around and wondered where Niles had gone off to. Before this trip she would have been weary of his disappearance but maybe she was just losing it. She was cold and her arms were covered in goose bumps as a soft breeze blew over. Looking around once more and seeing nothing she started to get worried. They had already had one scare today already and she didn't think she could handle another.
Niles got as close to her as he could without brushing up against her before he ran his hand down her calf and she started to panic and rapidly kicked her legs.
Niles swam upwards towards the surface only to be met with a very angry looking CC.
"Niles! You idiot! What were you thinking?" CC practically screamed as she started slapping against his chest.
He chuckled and pulled her close. "I was thinking that one last prank wouldn't hurt and that now that we understand each other a little better now, I might get to do this a little more often." And he brought her in for another mind numbing kiss.