The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,71

campsite. The crickets and cicadas filled the night with their loud calls, and while it wasn’t too hot, the temperature felt several degrees cooler here.

She got out and went to the back of the car, lifting the hatch. “My dad used to take Kevin and me camping here when we were kids. Knickers didn’t go, of course.”

“Are we camping?” he asked, in surprise.

“I don’t know yet,” she answered, handing him a small cooler, then grabbing a stack of blankets. “Let’s decide that as we go.”

For once, Josh was happy to not have a plan.

Chapter Sixteen

Megan had driven here out of instinct. This was where she used to come when things got to be too much with her mother back in high school, which had happened a lot. While she hadn’t been here in years, it still felt familiar and safe. It felt even more right that Josh was here with her, which was surprising. She’d never taken anyone to her special spot before.

“Let’s go down this path.” She turned on the mini-flashlight attached to the car key.

“That’s handy,” Josh said.

“My dad. He was a bit overprotective when I was in high school.”

“Smart dad. He’s not going to come hunt us down like a couple of kids gone parking, is he?”

She laughed quietly. “No. He has no idea I used to come here on my own. We’re safe. Besides, I think he has his hands full.” She followed the dirt path, turning left onto another less used path, which ended in a small clearing. “This is it.”

He gasped from behind her and set the cooler down on the grass. “This is amazing.”

“Thanks.” She beamed with pride. They stood on top of a small bluff overlooking the lake. A wooded shoreline was on the opposite side of the small lake, with no visible electric lights. But the real showstopper was the view of the sky. With few lights around the lake, the stars shone brighter than she usually saw them.

She handed him a blanket and two pillows. “Hold this for a minute,” she said as she spread out a sleeping bag and then a sheet.

“You came prepared,” he murmured, his husky voice sending a shiver down her spine.

“I used to like to lie out here and look at the stars.” She grabbed the pillows from him and tossed them onto the makeshift bed.

She knew how it looked, like she had purposely brought him out here to seduce him. And maybe that was partially true. What would he think of that? For once, she didn’t care.

“I like stars.”

She sat in the middle of the bedding and patted the spot next to her. “Bring the cooler with you.”

He picked it up and watched her with a wary face before sitting next to her and setting the cooler at the edge of the sleeping bag. “What’s in here?”

“Open it and see.”

Josh opened the lid and laughed. “I already had three of these before the disaster from hell. I’m not sure if I should have another.”

“Suit yourself.” She leaned forward, resting her stomach across his thigh, and pulled a bottle out. She sat up and re-crossed her legs. The skirt of her dress had hitched up her thighs, and Josh’s gaze followed the hem. She almost rearranged the fabric, and then decided the hell with it. She was tired of playing it safe. She wanted to live a little.

Holding the bottle toward him, she asked, “Will you open this for me?”

He stared at the bottle as though undecided, then took it from her and twisted off the cap.

“You like beer?” he asked, sounding uncomfortable.

“Love it. Blair and Libby are more wine drinkers, but give me an IPA from Black Raven Brewery in Seattle any day of the week.”

He grinned. “You’re kidding.”

“That I like beer?” she asked in surprise as she took the bottle from him.

“No. That you like Black Raven Brewery. It’s one of my favorite places.”

She took a sip and leaned back on her elbows, her head above the pillow. “Who knows? We may have been there at the same time and never realized it.”

His gaze had returned to her legs before reaching into the cooler for a bottle, twisting off the cap and taking a long drink.

“You grew up in Seattle?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Never thought about moving away?”

“No. My father’s business is there.”

She took another drink, scrutinizing him as she asked her next question. “Your father’s entrepreneurial business?”

His shoulders tightened, and he took another drink. For a man who’d declined a beer, he was downing