Page 39 of Lost With You
He watched her stride through the trees, her shoulders rounded, her head bent. She was escaping him, propelled by panic. Hard to imagine that just this afternoon, he’d peeled a wet leaf off her naked bottom after she’d invited him to a midday tussle in a bed of moss. She’d laughed from her throat then, giddy and unconcerned, open to him in every way…almost. For every step closer he took, she veered two emotional steps back. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted from her, or what he was doing breaking his own rules by eventhinkingabout getting involved. He’d be a fool to look for a deeper relationship, considering how badly his last relationship had ended. Why couldn’t he just be grateful for the smoking-hot body she was sharing with him, rather than wonder why she wouldn’t allow him to get to know her better?
Maybe she was a hell of a lot smarter than he was.
By the time the light stretching through the trees had faded to a blue dusk, they’d pitched camp and finished eating another tasteless dehydrated dinner. Casey filled her mug with the water still steaming in the pot above the fire and then crumpled cross-legged to the ground, more than an arm’s length away.
The distance was like a cold breeze.
She raised her cup. “I suppose you didn’t pack that horrible decaf freeze-dried coffee for this trek?”
He rifled in his pocket, where he’d stored something for a moment just like this. He tossed the packet so it landed right in her lap.
“That’s not coffee.” She tilted her head to squint at the label, and then her face transformed like a kid’s on Christmas Day. “What?”
“A different kind of fortification,” he said, “but just as effective as the last.”
She held up the packet of hot chocolate. “You are a god among men, Dylan MacCabe.”
His heart kicked. She made him feel like one.
“I can’t believe this.” She tore it open and dumped the contents into the hot water of her cup. The scent of hot chocolate drifted between them. “You read my dreaming mind.”
“Stick with me, darling. I’ll get you through.”
She ducked her face. Triggered by thedarling, he supposed. It wouldn’t be the first time he would make her flinch tonight, and not in a good way. He waited to spring his next personal question until she finished stirring with her finger and sucked the remnants of powder from her knuckle. He waited until she then took a long, deep drink of the cocoa.
He said, “You’re a brave, brave woman, Casey.”
Those brown eyes flickered and then narrowed. “Flattery is lovely, Dylan.” She stretched out her legs toward the fire. “But you don’t need to soften me up to invite me into that ridiculously small tent.”
“If I invited you now, you’d reject me in favor of the hot chocolate.”
“Smart man.” She raised her brows. “But I can drink fast.”
“Don’t. We’ve got the whole night ahead of us.” He reined in the effect of her suddenly molten gaze. He wasn’t going to let her dodge his questions so easily tonight. “Though I know you don’t want to be camping so deep in the woods.”
She shrugged. “It’s only a night. I can bear it.”
“How long have you been terrified of being lost?”
She raised her head, and he practically heard bricks scraping against one another as she erected the wall. They’d been sleeping together for a week now. Didn’t she know he was learning how to read her?
She said, “Everyone is afraid of getting lost. Getting lost sucks.”
“I can teach you orienteering.” He flicked the compass hanging from the side of his pack. “Then you’ll always know where you’re going.”
“It’s unlikely I’ll ever find myself in a situation like this again.” She peered beyond the firelight into the growing darkness of the woods. “This is a one-off, that’s for sure. And out in the real world, there are plenty of street signs, thank goodness.”
“Is that why you live in your van?”
The question dropped between them like a felled oak. Metaphorical dust rose from the impact to form a scrim between them. She went still, her lips only a few inches from the rim of her coffee cup. He resisted the urge to make a joke, or tease her, or slip in a sexual innuendo to distract her from what he’d just asked. Coupling was easy between them, hungry and mind-blowing, and already his blood headed south as he thought about what they’d be doing tonight in that tiny tent. But the transactional nature of their fucking was just beginning to needle him. He wanted to delve intoher,not just her gorgeous body.
Most of all, fool that he was, he wanted her to stop wielding their strong physical attraction as a shield to keep his interest at a distance.
The silence stretched, no longer the comfortable camaraderie they’d shared when setting up camp. She lowered the cup without taking a sip and stared into the flames as if mesmerized by the changing colors. Insects chirped in the trees. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted. Disappointment hung like a stone on his heart.
He’d pushed too far, too fast.
“That’s a great horned owl.” He raised his face to the night. “She’s probably checking out this unexpected source of light. There haven’t been a lot of campers pitching tents out here.”
