Sweetness in the Dark Read Online Free

float trip would clear his soul of the wrath he often felt towards his ex.
    Looking at Amanda helped clear out something. His feelings for her continued to grow and Amanda seemed excited about the float trip as her first chance to meet the family.
    Paul had kept the two separate until he had a better feeling where things might lead. Amanda had made the right moves and things seemed serious. He knew he was taking a chance on having her meet his children, but Paul knew it had to happen sometime.
    “Do you do this often?” Amanda asked.
    “Do what often?” Paul asked.
    “You know, float the river?”
    “Oh yeah. We get up here to the Middle Fork every year. We make it onto the Snake River through Hell’s Canyon once in a while and we’ve been lucky to float the Selway almost every year. I’ve been floating Idaho rivers each summer for the last twenty-five years,” Paul said. And then he regretted it. He had paddles older than Amanda. Don’t say stuff about your age, you idiot , Paul thought.
    At forty-two, the fifteen year age difference between him and Amanda bothered Paul. He knew younger women often went for older men because of the money, but he certainly didn’t have that kind of wealth. So he dwelled on why a younger woman would be interested in him. He was distracted from that thought when Amanda stood up and took off her life jacket.
    “If we’re going to be sitting here for a while, I want to get sun all over.” Amanda said. She proceeded to get down to her very small bikini. Paul stared as she laid down on the aluminum storage box strapped to the raft frame that acted as her seat. “Could you put some sunscreen on my back?”
    Paul reached for the mesh bag beside him that carried their sunscreen. Like everything else, it was lashed to the raft in case they overturned. He untied the bag, took out the bottle and squirted the contents onto Amanda’s back.
    “Oh, it’s cold.”
    Paul placed his hand on her warm back and started spreading the lotion around. She relaxed from the initial shock, although at ninety degrees outside, how the sunscreen could feel cool was beyond him.
    “Could you get the back of my legs, too?” Amanda asked.
    Paul finished her back and started on her legs. Long and athletic, they were already well tanned. She spread her legs as Paul worked the sunscreen up her thighs.
    “Hi, Dad, keeping busy I see,” Matt said as he pulled his kayak into the eddy. He slid into a spot beside the raft and grabbed the side of the tube.
    “Matt,” Paul stammered. Amanda stayed motionless as she relaxed in the sun. “We need to pick up the pace. We’re running out of sunlight in the canyon. The temperature will drop a bit when the sun goes behind the hill.”
    “OK. Meredith and I have been surfing some great waves. We’ll pick it up.” Matt pushed off the raft, dug his paddle into the water and accelerated upstream to hit the eddy line. He leaned on his paddle and swung out into the current just in time to pick up his sister coming downstream. “Come on Meredith, that eddy is kind of busy.” Paul noticed Matt’s smile as he led Meredith down the river.
    Paul hated this whole dating routine around his kids. He had avoided putting the two together until now. He started to regret his decision inviting Amanda along. But then Amanda picked herself up off her perch, stood up on the floor between the two cataract tubes and faced Paul. She slowly bent over and kissed him on the mouth. Paul forgot all about the kids as he returned the kiss.
    “Almost got caught there, didn’t you? We could hang back and let everyone else get ahead, you never know what might happen out here in the wilderness,” Amanda said. The invitation was very explicit in her voice. Her eyes radiated softness and desire at Paul.
    “I understand the offer, but can you save that thought? We are running behind. Maybe tomorrow we can be the laggards,” he said, ruining the mood.
    Amanda smiled as she put on her life jacket.