Page 27 of Smokin' Situation

“Not sure that’s possible, but I’ve got a portable shower bag in my kit if we can find some clean-ish water. Worst case, we can take a dip in the lake.”

She stopped walking, turning toward me with a look of disgust. “I’m not getting in that lake after dark, I don’t know what’s in there.”

Stepping forward to hook my arm around her back, I pulled her into my chest. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from any monsters.”

“Except the one in your pants,” she teased, standing on her tiptoes to get closer and rocking her hips into where I couldn’t control my reaction to her.

“You said it, not me.” I met her halfway, my response a rough whisper against her lips before I kissed her again, unable to stop myself.

Annie

Whiletheairwasmuch cleaner at the lake cabins than it’d been where Tripp had rescued me, there was still a haze that made everything look eerie as the sun dipped behind the mountains.

And while they were still in good condition, the cabins we were approaching looked tiny.

“Let’s go check things out before it gets too much darker,” Tripp suggested, nodding toward a slightly larger cabin that was tucked along the water’s edge, accessible by a long wooden platform.

“I don’t even know where we are.” I had a general idea that we were near the mountain pass that bordered Sage Springs, but once we crossed the river, I’d lost any sense of reference.

“North side of the West Peak Ranch. It’s on the other side of the river. This is a natural spring-fed lake. They used to use these cabins as overflow during peak season,” Tripp explained, bending down to pull a small lock box from behind a bench on the little wrap around front porch. “Now they just bring ranch guests up here for fishing day trips. They’re a little rough around the edges, but it should be safe and dry.”

“Why here?” Was he staying at the ranch? Or had I missed something yesterday? I was more than a little curious how he knew the Wests. Maybe he was family I’d never met. I knew Charley had cousins, but since she was an only child, I knew he wasn’t her brother.

Before I could think too much about it, he started talking. “This got a body of water between us and the fire. We can stay heretonight since it’d be dark before we could get back to the main lodge, but we’ll need to head out early. I’d like to get the ranch hands together and run a back-burn line along the river bordering the west edge of the ranch, so it doesn’t jump.”

“I can help.” I didn’t have the faintest idea about what a back-burn line was, or how to make one, but I knew if I gave myself too much time to think, I’d only freak out about the fact I didn’t have anywhere else to go. “Don’t look at me like that. I can do more than just pour drinks. I want to help. This is my community, too. And Charley is a friend. I don’t want to see her home turn into what mine probably is.”

Tripp nodded while he worked on finding the key to the front door of the cabin, flashing me a smile once he got it unlocked. He held the door open and motioned for me to go in ahead of him. My eyes scanned the dim space, sighing in relief when I saw it was furnished and seemed to be in good condition.

A palm cracked down on my ass, making me jump before I turned to glare at the man standing just inside the door with a mischievous smirk on his face.

“Hey, what the hell?”

He shrugged, stepping forward to tug on the end of one of my braids, wrapping it around his fist before he leaned in and kissed the skin beneath my ear.

“It looks good in those shorts. Especially now that I know what you don’t have on under them.”

Maybe he was more playful than I’d given him credit for yesterday. I guess he just needed a high stress rescue to get more of his personality to shine. And while I wasn’t used to it, I couldn’t deny that him spanking me had sent a little thrill up my spine.

“Are you expecting me to apologize for not having any clean underwear to put on this morning? You’re the one who tucked me into a bed that wasn’t mine.”

He chuckled, running his palms along my sides and pulling me into him, his lips hovering next to my ear. “And I plan to do the same tonight, too. But you won’t be going to bed alone.”

“Awfully presumptuous for you to assume I’ll be getting into bed with you after only a day.” God, had it only been a little over twenty-four hours since I met this man? “You don’t even know me.”

He stepped back, framing my face with his hands as he looked down at me. “Maybe not, but we’re stuck out here together, so we should change that.”

Nodding, I tried to scan his expression to see if he was being sincere about getting to know me or if he was just trying to get into my pants again. I already had one complicated situationship to deal with, I didn’t want to jump from one meaningless physical relationship to another. Even if hewasmaking me a little weak in the knees. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to have this strong of a reaction to another person. Things weren’t like this between Jay and me. I wasn’t sure they ever had been.

Despite fairly regular sex—the last four months of abstinence excluded—I wasn’t sure if I’d ever had the kind of physical response I was having to this man before.

“Maybe we should get cleaned up first.”

“We should.” His thumbs traced my cheekbones before he leaned in to graze his lips against mine. I had to ball my fists at my sides to keep myself from reaching up and grabbing fistfuls of his hair to yank his mouth back to mine. “Even though I kind of prefer you dirty.”

“Well, you kinda stink,” I whispered, biting the inside of my lip to keep from laughing.

“Keep on teasing me, Rhey. It just makes me want to spank you again,” he replied before he turned around and walked toward a set of closed doors at the back of the small house.

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