CC Chapter 5

"Are we going to talk or sit in silence all day?" Jack asked as Denise threw her line out again to the exact spot she actually wanted to hit seven casts ago.

"I'm liking the silence." She smirked as she glanced at him.

"Fine with me." He leaned back against the seat and tipped his hat over his eyes.

Ten minutes of silence drug on and on as Denise cast her line and reeled it in time over and over. She kept stealing glances at the man sitting across the boat from her. Every once in a while he would twitch or sniff or make some sort of noise breaking Denise's concentration on the task at hand. That task consisted of actually two things, fishing and trying to ignore him. She was failing miserably at both.

As she stared at the water and the little bugs skipping along the surface, she started thinking about her life. She knew she wasn't happy. She hadn't been happy in a long time. When had her marriage just become a marriage? When Jeremy had left? It seemed her life had lost purpose at that time. No more running lost shoes to basketball practice, lunch money to the school, parent teacher meetings, family dinners. Everything had changed, Jeremy had left and Frank had been shipped off to war. Then they get tossed back into her plate again, back on target to only be sent away again. Leaving her alone. She was tired of being alone. Tired of being the one standing on the sidelines waiting.

Going back to school had opened so many doors to her life and shown her she was still wanted in the world. She wanted what she had before. She just wanted. Plain and simple. Just an easy want. She still loved Frank but they had grown apart. She didn't see that she could love him that way again as she had before. She never realized that a love could be… what was the word? Sat out on the side and forgotten? She needed to tell him. A separation was what she needed so she could think more. Divorce? That was so final. Maybe though, maybe final is what she did actually need.

Jack jumped and sat straight up just as Denise's pole took a dive toward the water. She jerked the pole back up and a smile lit across her face.

Out of the water jumped a huge bass, flipped its tail and splashed back below the surface ready for a fight.

"Take it slow. Don't reel too fast." Jack instructed.

"I know how to catch a freaking fish." She snarled at him.

"I don't doubt you do Sweetie BUT how long has it been since you went fishing?" He tried to smooth his instructions over nicely.

She cast a sideways glance at him and gently raised a worn out bass to the surface of the water. "Happy?" She asked as she held the fish up.

"Yes you have your dinner."

"Can you take it off?" She asked.

"What?" He smiled and his eyes glimmered. He reached for the hem of his shirt.

"The fish Jack." She shook her head at his mischievous smile.

"Oh yeah, sure." He reached for the fish and took it off the hook, then dropped the fish in the live well behind him.

He started to rebait the hook for her but instead took the pole from her hand. As he stood up in front of her, the boat rocked a bit causing Denise to grab the sides of the boat.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she looked up at him, watching him take his shirt off.

"Im hot." He smiled and dove into the lake leaving her behind. As he surfaced he pushed the water from his face and smiled. "Water is perfect, come on in Denise."

Denise had worn her swimming suit under her clothes just as a precaution, but never expected to actually be seen wearing it. It was a black skimpy little bikini that not even her husband had seen her in.

"Live Denise. I know you have a suit on, come on." He laughed from the water as he splashed water on her.

"Live," She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. She stood up and lost the shorts and stepped up on the edge of the boat. "Live." She said again as she opened her eyes and saw a gorgeous wet man smiling at her. She jumped into the sparkling water feet first and heard him laughing above her as she felt the water suck her into a new world.

When she rose out of the water for air, she gasped. "This is not perfect. It's COLD." She yelled at him.

"Perfectly cold that is. Made you live though didn't it. If I would have said its cold you wouldn't have jumped in." He laughed and splashed at her.

Denise grabbed his splashing arm just as he moved it back to himself, pulling her along for the ride. She felt her leg brush against his and arm slip out of her grasp to slide down around her waist. She took a deep breath as she moved into place against his body.

"You were supposed to let go." He smiled at her with lips only inches from hers.

"I uh." She stammered.

"Answer me one thing. Do you want me to kiss you right now?" He whispered.

"No." She replied while holding her breath.

"Good cause I didn't bring a tic tac." He laughed as she laughed as well, breaking the awkwardness in the situation.

Denise started to move away from him and felt his hand release the grip he had around her waist. She reached up to grab the edge of the boat and then realized she had to get back in.

"This will be fun to watch." He laughed and moved away from her swinging arm.

"Do me a favor Jack. SHUT UP." She yelled as she pulled herself up over the edge of the boat and swung her leg over the edge like it was an everyday task. Thanking God all along that she could do it on the first try.

"Move over slick." He moved gracefully into the boat and tossed Denise a towel, eyeing her in her black bikini.

"I have to say something." He started.

"Don't say anything." She held up her hand and pointed to him as she grabbed her shorts and slid them on.

Jack was praying silently that she would leave the shirt off. Much to his happiness, his prayer was answered. She leaned back against the side of the boat and placed her sunglasses on her face.

"This is nice." She said as she pulled her wet hair up in a pony tail.

"Yes it is." Jack answered and dodged the towel being thrown at him. "Nice view. Beautiful day. Endless possibilities." He smirked as she glanced at him over the rim of her glasses.

"You two done playing or you gonna keep monkeying around in the water?" Sam asked as his boat pulled up along side of theirs.

"Done. Denise caught a nice bass." Jack reached in to grab the bass out for show.

"Good job girl. What have you caught Jack?" Sam nodded.

"A much nicer one." He started and then smiled at Denise. "But she slipped out of my grasp."

"Use that line often?" She asked while she looked over the top of her glasses once again.

"Nope, just this time. How was it?" He laughed as Denise shook her head and leaned her head back to receive some much needed sun.

"It would if you could hang on to her next time." Sam snorted as Denise sat up fast in the boat. "Lets go kids." He started his engine and took off to the dock leaving a stammering Denise and laughing Jack behind.

"Hey." Denise was in shock at the old man.

"MM might just have to work on that then." Jack laughed as Denise turned her glare on him.

"Don't you even dare Jack." She pointed at him.

"I like how you say my name." He smiled.

"Would you shut up? You never quit do you?" She laughed and threw her hands in the air.

"Nope, I'm like that energizer bunny, just keep going and going and going and going and going and…"

"SHUT UP." With one swift movement she stood up and placed both hands on his chest, pushing him backwards over the side of the boat into the waiting lake. "That's better." She brushed her hands and smiled with happiness.

"Ill get even." He said as he pulled himself back aboard the small vessel and leaned in close to her. "And that's a promise.".