Page 11 of A Cowboy Takes A Chance

“I’ll try to remember.” Jaxon glanced away from her.

As the sun dipped behind the mountains, the cooler air moved in. Most of the people moved closer to the fire or headed for their tents. When Presley stood, he looked over at her.

“I’m beat. I’m off to bed. What time do we get up tomorrow?”

“Chip and I will get you all up around seven if you’re not up by then. We’ll have breakfast and then head back. Once you get back, you can do what you want for the rest of the day.”

“I think I’ll find the pool when I get back. Goodnight, everyone,” Presley said as she headed for her tent.

Jaxon watched her enter her tent and heard the zipper closing the flap. Exhaling, he stared into the fire. The warmth from it reached out to him. Little by little, people entered their tents until it was just Bett, her friend, Chip, and himself. He couldn’t get into his sleeping bag until the two women headed to their tents and he had a feeling that Bett was waiting him out. Chip yawned then excused himself to walk into the woods.

“This is what’s bad about camping. Going to the bathroom in the woods,” the other woman said.

Jaxon bit back a grin as he remembered his cousin, Roark, telling him that Priscilla had asked about a porta potty. He’d made her go on a camping trip with him when she was following him around to do an article on him for a magazine. Roark got a good one there. Priscilla was an amazing woman, and Roark adored her.

Jaxon huffed thinking about Bethany. She’d been the love of his life, and no other woman ever appealed to him until now. He looked toward Presley’s tent and mentally shook his head. Why her? Why after all this time was he interested in another woman? Taking a deep breath, he stood and stretched. The women were moving into their tents, and he was more than ready to get some sleep. Plenty of wood sat next to the log, and he’d keep the fire going. It would be chilly in the morning too. After one more glance toward Presley’s tent, he took his boots off and crawled into his sleeping bag. Hopefully, he’d drop off quickly.

****

Presley jerked awake and glanced around, but she couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black inside the tent. Rolling over, she reached her hand out to where she thought the lantern sat on the ground. She had to use the bathroom.Pffft!What bathroom?After lighting the lamp, she moved to the zipper,slowly raised it, and peered out. She could see the fire and two figures in sleeping bags close to it.Shit! It was cold!After pulling her shoes on, she grabbed a roll of toilet paper and crawled from the tent then stood. The full moon lit up the camping area. She wasn’t sure what to do. The thought of going into the dark woods alone terrified her. What if there were bears out there? Just ready to pounce while she peed. She shivered and this time, not from the cold. Looking over to the two sleeping bags, she knew she’d have to wake one of them. Tiptoeing over to them, she was shocked to see Jaxon with the sleeping bag down to his waist. Wasn’t he cold?

Squatting down beside him, she whispered, “Jaxon.”

His eyes snapped open almost immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I have to, uh…pee.” She was thankful it was dark to hide her blush.

“Oh. All right.” He unzipped the sleeping bag the rest of the way, pulled his boots on, and stood. After grabbing another lantern, he led the way.

She tripped over a tree root and almost did a face plant but fell into the back of Jaxon.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“Here, take my hand.”

Placing her hand in his larger one, she felt a zap all the way to her toes. She wasn’t sure if he felt it, but he did glance back at her. Anytime they came to a log or something she could trip over, he’d let her know.

“You can go here. Just go behind the bush. I’ll turn my back.”

“Thank you.” She lifted the lantern high in front of her then moved behind the bush to do her business. When she finished, she walked back out to where he stood. He still had his back to her. Such a broad back it was too. Glancing up to the night sky, she thought it was beautiful. Thousands of stars twinkled above. She’d never seen so many. It was so quiet. The only sounds were crickets and bullfrogs.

“Are you ready to go back?” Jaxon asked her.

“Yes. It’s so beautiful here.”

“You wouldn’t think that in the winter when the snow’s up to your ass.”

Presley chuckled. “Such a wonderful way to put it.”

Jaxon shrugged. “Just telling it like it is.”

She’d love to see him smile since he never seemed to. Maybe all his teeth had fallen out since she’d last seen him. She laughed, and he turned to look at her.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? You just laugh for no reason?” He stood in front of her staring down into her face.

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