His gaze went hot and serious all at once. “I think you already did. I just don’t know from what.”
He kissed her with hundreds of lights dancing around them while the music of water lapping against the shore played softly in the distance.
When he pulled back, he pressed another kiss to her forehead before leading her down the few stairs. They walked to the cozy camp chairs. He’d set blankets on them, moved two of the chairs so close they were touching. Beckett lit the gas firepit, adding more dazzle to the night.
A cooler sat beside one of the chairs.
“Have a seat. I’m making s’mores.”
Presley’s laugh seemed to echo into the darkness. “Your trick to making me like the great outdoors is chocolate and marshmallows?”
He turned from his squatted position, where he was loading marshmallows onto sticks. “And twinkle lights. Did it work?”
With him beside her? Oh yeah. “I think it did.”
He grinned, went back to his task. “If it doesn’t, I also have a cooler full of beer and snacks.”
“I think just being with you might do it.” She said it so low, she wasn’t sure if he heard her.
But when he stood, he left the treats on the tray he was using, put his hands on either side of her face, and met her gaze.
“Let’s pretend we have all the time in the world.”
A lump lodged in her throat, from both his words and his bittersweet tone. “What will we do with all of that time?” She hoped her attempt at flirting would distract her from the ache in the center of her chest.
They lost themselves in a kiss that made her sure of exactly what they’d do with every moment of that time. Until he pulled back, tapped her on the nose, and stepped back.
“We’ll eat s’mores.”
She laughed as she made herself cozy in one of the chairs, a blanket tucked in around her, the lights twinkling everywhere.
“You better watch out, sexy mountain man. If word gets around that you provide chocolate in addition to a great view, you might never get time alone again.”
He handed her a stick that she held over the fire. “Good thing I have you to protect me.”
Good thing.But was it? Presley could tell herself, repeatedly, that this was temporary. In her head, sheknewthat. But her heart wasn’t listening. It’d gotten a taste of what it was like to reallyfeel,without parameters or a to-do list, and reining that in was going to be harder than she could have imagined.
Twenty-Three
The sky shook like a furious fist, sending ribbons of light through the dark gray clouds. Thunder bellowed on the heels of lightning. The rain had started during the early hours of dawn when Presley and Beckett were awakening each other with gentle glides of their lips and hands.
After getting up, showering, and pulling on warm clothes, they’d made a run for the lodge to join the others for breakfast. The day’s plans had taken a sharp turn thanks to the weather. The morning’s hikes and fishing excursions were canceled.
Richard and Mel took the weather as a sign to spend the day reading, curled up in front of the fireplace in their room; so they said over a breakfast of oatmeal, berries, and incredibly fluffy pancakes. While Bo and Morgan were easy enough to appease with the promise of setting up Ollie’s Xbox on the big screen, Libby and Gabby decided a rainy day meant going back to bed. Chantel was watching a movie in her room, and Jill had promised a comfort food lunch for everyone.
Beckett and Grayson had already left for cabin four, intending to use the day to get as much done on the repairs as they could. Presley was trying to eat her last pancake at a normal speed rather than scarfing it down so she could head to cabin four. Not only did she want to soak up more Beckett time but she loved projects and jobs like they were taking on. Sure, she’d never done anything substantial. She’d gone to a sign-and-wine night with Rylee and had come out of it with a gorgeous three-foot piece of wood that she’d sanded, painted, and lacquered. It read:SET GOALS, WORK HARD, SUCCEED. It hung in the hallway of her apartment.
She was doing her bestnotto clue Beckett’s sister in to the fact that last night had been incomparable to any she’d ever had. Which meant not choking on her pancakes or smiling like an idiot.
“Can I go help Uncle Beck and Uncle Gray?” Ollie asked as she cleared her plate from the table and set it in the stack on the trolley.
“Sure. But be careful. There’s lots of tools and stuff down there right now.”
Ollie tilted her head, gave her mom a look that was entirely too mature for her age. “Mom. I know. I’m not a baby.”
Jill’s lips twitched. “No. You’re not. I’ll be down soon. I just have to make sure everyone is settled and make a few phone calls.”
When Ollie ran from the room, Presley met Jill’s gaze and they both laughed.
