Starlotta snoozed in Lee’s arms as the Sun rose over Lake Guntersville.

It had been quite a party.

A surprise party.

For two.

The purr of a motorboat broke the morning quiet, forming a chevron pointing toward shore.

Starlotta rolled onto her back and stretched her legs, hanging her feet off the arms of the sofa.

“Morning, cutie!”

Lee leaned down to kiss her. “Good morning.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Thirty, forty minutes, maybe.”

She grabbed his head and pulled him back down for a long kiss.

They had met a few hours before when Lee left the lake house to get another six-pack of beer before the store closed at midnight, Starlotta telling the liquor store owner she had come to town to party and couldn’t find one person who would invite her to their lake party.

Lee pretended to be shy with his closest friends in order to reduce complications.

With strangers, especially while out of town, Lee threw caution to the wind.

He asked what she drank and she held up a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Ten minutes later they were at his lake house rental.

They chatted in the kitchen while he put the beer in the fridge.

They guzzled half the bottle of Jack with a thirst that went further than booze.

He played a 90s Alternative station on Amazon Music and began dancing, first in the kitchen, then the open living room as she watched.

She pointed at his shirt.

He rotated his hips and unbuttoned his flannel shirt, motioning her toward him.

She removed her high heel shoes and walked into his arms, kissing his chest.

He traced a line from her spine across her shoulder blades and out to her fingertips, pulling her fingers to his face as he kissed her palms.

She cooed, then laughed as he tickled her wrists with his thick moustache.

She rotated her hips in time with the music, matching his moves.

They danced around the room, mixing Texas two-step with East Coast Swing, changing to a waltz and ended up leaning against the column in the middle of room, her arms wrapped around his waist, her head leaned back as he kissed a circle from her neck to her ear to her mouth.

It was only 1 a.m. Lee had to check out by 10:30. Nine and a half hours with her would be perfect, long enough to have fun but not so long that they’d get bored or have to act like they wanted to know more about each other.

Starlotta enjoyed the attention. The back-and-forth delivery of her kids to her ex in-laws every other weekend was hard on her. She wasn’t interested in hanging out with them and didn’t want to run into anyone she knew in town. Some weekends she didn’t want to drive two hours back to her place so she’d look for a random party on the lake.

There was always a party on the lake.

They both wanted company but not companionship.

They left a trail of their clothing as they moved toward the sunroom overlooking the lake, moonlight casting shadows, illuminating a lone fisherman bobbing in his boat offshore.

He lifted her in the air and spun her around.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and they fell backward onto the sofa.

They made out for thirty minutes, took a break to drink more Jack, danced for a bit then returned to the sofa, repeating the cycle until the bottle was empty.

The Sun rose at 5:30.

They made out again until the Sun was high above the lake.

“You hungry?”

Starlotta nodded.

“I can fix breakfast.”

Starlotta wiggled her butt in his lap. “Are you sure you want to move from this position?”

“Maybe not.”

They laughed.

They had four more hours. Why waste time fixing breakfast?

They knew what happens at the lake stays at the lake.