His lips twitched.“Good to know.How are your feet?”
It was nice of him to ask.“They’re still a little sore, but better.”
An awkward silence stretched between them.She tugged the sash a little tighter.Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, because she couldn’t stop thinking about how naked she was under the robe.How much she wanted him to peel it off her body and satisfy every decadent fantasy that had taken up shop in her head.And there were a lot.She’d come up with some more while she was in the shower.One night wouldn’t be enough to burn through them all.
Too bad that wasn’t an option.The proverbial line had been drawn in the sand, and she wasn’t going to be the one who crossed it.
Navarre stood, crumpled the Clif Bar wrapper, and tossed it into the little trash can by the dresser.He closed the distance between them but stopped less than a foot away.He stared down at her, and it was hard to think straight when he looked at her like that.Like he knew exactly what she was thinking and was tempted to scratch a few of those fantasies off her list.
But instead, he said, “I’ll be out in a few.There are bandages and ointment in my ruck if you want to use them on your feet.”He gestured toward the camo jacket, where the pistol he’d given her was still tucked in one of the pockets.“Keep your gun within reach.We should be safe for the night, but it never hurts to be careful.”
Her feet stayed firmly rooted in place as she heard the bathroom door close behind her.It was only when she heard the sound of running water that she followed Navarre’s advice and retrieved the gun from her jacket pocket.She set it on the nightstand of what she’d decided was her side of the bed, and then dug through his ruck for the first-aid kit.Once the blisters were treated and wrapped, she made herself comfortable with a can of soda and a Kit Kat bar.She could have chosen something with a shred of nutritional value, like a granola bar or beef jerky, but screw it, she wanted candy.
She’d polished off the Kit Kat and moved on to a pack of Nutter Butters when she heard the water in the shower turn off.Minutes later, Navarre emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his trim hips, and her mouth went completely dry.
So that was what he’d been hiding underneath all that black.He had the sleek, powerful build of a gymnast, a tapestry of sharp lines and taut muscles, with a ripped eight-pack and a dusting of chest hair that tapered down into a V until it disappeared behind the towel.A motley assortment of scars, pale against his tanned skin, marred the perfection of his physique, but it only added to the rugged quality that she found so damn alluring.Even as a curl of heat unfurled within her, she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d gotten them all.
“Sorry, I forgot—” He paused mid-stride, concern on his face.“What’s wrong?”
Heat flushed her face.She hoped it wasn’t noticeable.“Nothing.Why?”
“You made a weird noise.”
That was probably her trying not to swallow her tongue.“I think some Nutter Butter went down the wrong way.I’m okay now.”
Her answer seemed to satisfy his curiosity.He grabbed his ruck and went back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Leaving her mind to wander.
Needing a distraction, she grabbed the remote and flipped through channels until she settled on a nature show about cuttlefish.When that didn’t do the trick, she switched to one of those news programs where the guests yelled at each other.
Hair still damp from the shower, Navarre came out of the bathroom a short time later, this time wearing the robe identical to hers, which was good, because it covered a lot more skin.She was fairly confident she could resist the allure of his well-defined calves.
“Feel better?”she asked.
“Yeah.”He dropped the bag on the floor along his side of the bed.He sat next to her, back propped against the headboard, and reached for the pack of trail mix.
“I knew you were going to pick that.”She grinned.“It’s the most adult choice left in the pile.”
He gave her a look.“Keep it up, and I’ll eat the Skittles.”
Her eyes narrowed, because she’d told him how much she liked them.She was saving them for last.“You wouldn’t.”
A devilish grin formed on his face as his fingers inched toward the bag.She smacked his hand, and he laughed.
To their credit, it took them the better part of an hour to consume their bounty of vending machine food.Outside, the storm raged on, with howling winds and torrential rain that pounded against the window.Claps of thunder shook the cabin, but thankfully the power stayed on.Strange as it sounded, the storm made her feel safer, because no one in their right mind would be out there looking for them.
Navarre gathered the wrappers and dumped them into the trash.“I can’t remember the last time I ate that much junk food.”
“Lightweight.”Sloane drank the last of her Coke and set the empty can on the nightstand.“If it wasn’t for Mountain Dew and Peanut M&Ms, I wouldn’t have made it through my last semester of college.”
The mattress dipped under Navarre’s weight when he sat back down.He crossed his legs at the ankles.“It’s a shame those vending machines don’t sell beer.”
“That’s what the minibar’s for.”She gestured to the small refrigerator beside the dresser.
He shook his head.“I’m not paying eight bucks for a bottle of Budweiser.”
“Come on, live a little.After what we went through, you deserve an eight-dollar beer.”
