"You have got to be kidding." There was no way she could balance on that. It was crazy.

"Come on, Maria, it'll be fun." Joey was practically bouncing up and down on the dock.

"Christmas Eve would be a really bad time to die," she said. "Think about it, Joey, you'd be crying while you open your presents in the morning."

"It's a great way to relax," Ritchie said.

"Dying?"

"Paddleboarding."

"I'm sure."

Ritchie was standing waist-deep in the water holding onto the paddleboard.

"Well," Ritchie said, turning slightly away. "It's not for everyone." He paused. "Jillian's out on one all the time. But maybe it's just not your thing, Maria."

Jillian's out on one all the time? So, was Ritchie standing around watching Jillian paddling back and forth in her bikini? Well, that was just great.

"I never said I wouldn't try it." If Jillian could get up on one of these things, then Maria was going to give it her best shot.

"So, can I go first?" Joey was shuffling from foot to foot on the dock, clearly impatient at all the conversation it was taking to get the activities underway. At Ritchie's nod, he was off the dock and into the water.

"Shouldn't he wear a life preserver?"

"Ma-ri-a! No," Joey said indignantly.

"I have some inflatable PFD's in the boat," Ritchie said. "For today though, we're staying right by the shore, so don't worry."

Maria watched as Joey followed Ritchie's instructions, getting on the board on his knees first, then carefully standing up.

"Just find your balance," Ritchie said, reaching up to take the shorter paddle off the dock.

"It's like a surfboard!" Joey said, moving his left foot ahead of his right and crouching in surfer position...and promptly flipping off the board and into the water. He came up sputtering a few feet away.

"Let's try that again," Ritchie said, as Joey climbed back up. "This time, keep your feet even, about shoulder width."

"Ok," Joey said, clearly concentrating.

Ritchie handed him the paddle, but kept ahold of the board until he fastened the ankle strap, then slowly released it. Joey wobbled a bit but hung in there, seeming to gain his balance as he picked up a little speed.

Maria sat down on the dock, wrapped her arms around her knees, and just watched. Ritchie's muscles rippled, the sun glistening on his wet skin as he called instructions to Joey. His arms weren't bulky at all, but she could see how strong they were just in his casual movements. And the etched lines of his chest made her sigh.

It was more than how he looked, though. There was something undeniably sexy about a successful and gorgeous man taking the time to make a kid Joey's age feel special. A strong man, opinionated and a bit stubborn to be sure, but with so much patience.

She hoped he'd reserved some of that patience for her. She'd tried surfing once back when she was in high school, and had been an abysmal failure at it. If she couldn't even manage to get up on a board when it caught a wave, she had no idea how she'd maintain her balance completely still in calm water.

It rankled to know that Jillian – who looked like a cover model and was a fabulous chef – apparently excelled at it. And she was being silly. There wasn't any reason to think he had a past with Jillian, and even if he did, it wasn't any of her business.

Anyway, Joey seemed to be getting the hang of it. By the time they came back to the dock about twenty minutes later she was thinking it might not be so bad after all. Until it took her all of ten seconds to fall off. After her fourth attempt, Ritchie came up with a new approach.

"It's nerves more than anything," he said. "You get up there and the only thing you can think about is that you're going to fall off. So you do.

"Here," he said, patting a spot slightly past the center toward the front of the board. "Just try sitting right here for little while. Until you get more comfortable with it."

She climbed onto the board and settled herself gingerly, sitting cross-legged.

"But how – " She gasped as Ritchie easily hopped onto the board himself, standing directly behind her.

"We're going to tip over!"

"Relax," he said, reaching down and touching her shoulder lightly. "I'm just going to paddle around a little until you stop thinking about it and start enjoying it."

"Dude," Joey said, "if you're just going to paddle around like that, I'm gonna' go watch Jillian cook."

Maria watched him scramble back up onto the dock and head into the house.

"You don't have to do this, Ritchie. We can go back in."

"You'd rather be watching Jillian cook?"

Was he grinning at her? She gritted her teeth and decided just to focus on keeping her balance. After a few minutes she realized they weren't about to tip over and surprised herself by starting to relax.

It was actually pretty amazing to be this close to the water, sitting on a board. Schools of tiny fish darted about near the sandy bottom. The water sparkled in the morning sunshine, and the gentle laps that splashed over the board felt cool on her skin.

They glided over the water, Ritchie's smooth, experienced strokes seeming effortless. He turned, passing their dock, but, she realized with surprise, they were much farther out now. She could no longer see down to the bottom, although the water remained surprisingly clear.

"Shouldn't we go back in a little closer?"

"I wanted to give us a little room to maneuver." She realized that the board had slowed, and they were just gently drifting, instead of moving with purpose. She glanced back behind her and saw that Ritchie had set the paddle down, crossways on the board.

"Shift onto your knees now, and then slowly stand up."

"We'll flip!"

She felt his hands on both of her upper arms, just below her shoulders. "Don't you trust me?"

"Okay, but I warned you..."

She leaned forward onto her knees, certain that she'd find herself flung into the cool water at any moment. But to her surprise, the board remained steady.

"That's it," Ritchie said. "Now, just stand up, one foot at a time."

He ran his hands down the sides of her arms to steady her, and she shivered.

"Keep your feet parallel, even with your hips," he said and moved his hands down to both sides of her hips. "There. That's it. Don't stand on the rails."

"The rails?"

"The edges of the board. Just keep your feet centered, and you'll be fine."

"You make it sound easy."

"It is easy."

She felt him let go of her as he reached down and picked up the paddle, then handed it to her.

"You try."

He moved closer, his chest pressing against her back as he reached around her to position her hands. She could smell the clean male scent of him, mingling with the sea air.

"No, don't look down, keep your eyes on the horizon. Relax, you're trying too hard."

She was afraid to relax. If she allowed herself to relax she might melt right into him. She never would have imagined that learning to paddleboard could feel so... intimate.

"Now pull back in a smooth stroke. Like this." His voice was like a caress, his breath warm on her neck as he bent his head close to hers. Their bodies pressed tighter together as he guided her, moving them smoothly through the water.

"You're a natural."

"More like you're a great teacher." She felt a warm glow, but it was just as quickly overshadowed by an image of Ritchie standing like this on a paddleboard with other women, doing exactly the same thing. He was just a little bit too good at this.

"So did you give Jillian lessons?" She immediately wished she could take the words back.

"No," he said, and she relaxed a little.

"Jillian doesn't need any lessons."

What was that supposed to mean?

"Besides," Ritchie said, his breath tickling her ear. "I'm only interested in teaching one woman new skills."

Every nerve tingled as she thought about the other new skills Ritchie could teach her.

"You'd be amazed the things people can do on a paddleboard."

"Like what?" Her heart was beating faster, and it wasn't from fear of flipping the board and landing in the water.

"Well, there's a group I've seen in Miami that go out on the bay every morning at sunrise to do yoga on their SUP's"

"SUP's?"

"Stand Up Paddleboards."

"They do yoga? They must have amazing balance."

"We can work on your balance." Ritchie gently removed the paddle and set it crosswise behind him. "Try moving a little."

"I don't know any yoga poses." She paused. "But I did take ballet when I was a kid." Free classes at the community center.

"See if you can stretch your leg out behind you." His hands were on both her sides just under her ribs, his fingers spanning her waist.

"Don't blame me if we both end up in the water."

"You know how to swim, don't you?"

She shifted on her left foot and extended her right leg slowly behind her. She knew Ritchie was stabilizing the board and helping her keep her balance, but still she was surprised at how steady she felt. She raised her leg higher, extending her body forward and stretching her arms out to the sides.

"That's it," Ritchie said. "Close your eyes. You just have to let yourself go."

Amazingly, once she closed her eyes, it was actually easier to balance. And her other senses seemed suddenly heightened. She could feel the warm breeze, the slight ripples of the water under the board, the texture of the grip under her feet. She moved slowly through a series of half-remembered dance moves, from a time when everything had been so much simpler. Her movements became surer, her balance more certain. And every way she leaned she could feel Ritchie, shifting with her, as if he was part of her dance.

As his fingers tailed along the back of her knee, her breath caught in her throat. "Are you seducing me?"

"Is it working?"

Instead of answering, she lowered her leg slowly until both feet were back on the board then pivoted so she was facing him, less than an inch between them. The sun was beating down, but the heat she felt seemed to be from his body to hers.

Maria raised up on her toes and pressed her lips on his. She ruled the kiss, her tongue tangling with his, her body pressing closer. She could feel the muscles of his chest against her wet body, felt the heat spreading from her core, her nipples tingling as they hardened and pressed against the thin fabric on her bikini that kept them from being completely skin to skin. She felt powerful, and in control, for the first time in a long time. There was nothing in the world she wanted more that to keep on kissing him right now, in this moment.

Then the balance shifted, so subtly she didn't realize it at first, until she felt herself going under. She was out of her depth, and she didn't care. Because Ritchie was there to hold onto as a thousand electric bolts seemed to shoot through her body, leaving her weak and strong at the same time.

He lowered her onto the board and she felt the hard surface warm against her back, her feet dangling over the sides in the cool water. She kept her eyes on his as he knelt between her legs, bracing his hands near her shoulders. The sun glistened off the water, and on his wet skin. And then he was kissing her again. Softly this time. Kisses that grazed her lips and left her wanting so much more. There was no one around. Even the sea birds seemed to have gone silent. She held her breath as he lifted one hand from the board, stared into his eyes as he stroked the side of her face. Then felt his hand move slowly down to her neck, over her collarbone, then between her breasts, where he tugged on the bow that held her bikini top together.

He shifted his gaze lower as the fabric slipped away from her body, and she was startled by the raw need she saw in his eyes. She gripped the sides of the board with both hands as he cupped first one breast and then the other, running his fingers over her as the sun shown on her skin. She reached her arms back slowly, trailing her fingers through the water, and arched her back toward him. He slid lower, his lips closing over her nipple and the pleasure of it was almost unbearable.

She felt a sudden spike of panic. What if someone saw them? It was indecent. It was...intoxicating.

Ritchie stretched out full length over her, their bodies pressed so tightly together that she was no longer sure where her body ended and his began. He raised his head and her body arched uncontrollably, her breast yearning for the touch of his lips and tongue. She looked into his eyes and saw her own desire reflected there. He slid his hand down her body and over the curve of her hip, shifting his weight to the side.

"Wait! No – " She felt the board tilt and then they were underwater. The cool water hit her heated skin with a shock as she went completely under, her legs still wrapped around Ritchie's. She came back to the surface sputtering, his strong arms holding her up until she caught her breath.

Maria glanced down at her breasts, visible just below the surface of the water.

"Oh my God, I'm topless."

Ritchie gave her a wicked smile. "I'm not complaining."

"Ritchie, come on."

She watched as he swam a few yards away to retrieve the board and sighed in relief when he pulled his hand out of the water to reveal her bikini top.

She retied it quickly and then climbed back onto the paddleboard, scanning the surrounding water until she spotted the paddle floating some distance off and pointed it out to Ritchie, who swam off the retrieve it. His powerful strokes cut through the water, and she imagined him leaning over her in his bed instead of on a paddleboard drifting on the water. But there'd be no shock of cold water to bring her to her senses. Nowhere to fall but into Ritchie's arms. No turning back. As he turned, swimming back toward her with the paddle in tow, she wanted him with a yearning that made her chest ache.

Ritchie pulled himself up onto the board in a smooth motion. Maria sat cross-legged, facing him, as he paddled them back to the dock.

She stepped up onto the wooden platform and waited while he stowed the paddleboard. When she turned toward the house he stepped in front of her, blocking her way. She could feel her heart pounding.

"I told Joey he could sleep in the boat tonight."

"I know, he's really excited." Maria had come up with the idea so she could put Joey's gifts out without him sneaking out of bed to watch her. Sure, he was way past the age of believing in Santa Claus, but she'd worked hard to keep the magic of Christmas alive. And waking up to find the gifts under the tree was a tradition she wasn't ready to put aside.

"I'll help you put the gifts out," Ritchie said.

"Ok, um, great." Why was he looking at her so intensely?

"Then you'll spend the night in my bed." He tilted her chin up. "It's about time we finished what we started."

He reached out and touched the side of her face, and she felt her pulse pounding.

"So if that's not what you want, tell me now."

"It's what I want," she said softly.

https://youtu.be/Sbj23QrC87g

Author's Note:

Sexy times on the paddleboard!  So do you think Maria's going to go through with and finally make love with Ritchie, when Joey's tucked away  on his sleeping on the boat adventure? Or will her feelings about the past get in the way? 

Music:  Zac Brown Band - Feel LIke Making Love