wrangling and debate. Dylan knew his ex-wife never would have ventured so far into the woods in the first place. She’d been in a constant state of terror during the church-sponsored camping trip where they’d first met. He’d catered to her every need, protecting her from the bears and wolves she had imagined behind every tree. He had liked, back then, how strong and protective she had made him feel.
They’d both been so damn young.
“It might rain.” She glanced at what she could see of the sky above the canopy of trees. “We should build a shelter before dark.”
“I brought a reserve tent.” He slipped his pack off the groove it had dug into his shoulder. “It pops open quick for emergencies, but it’s a lot smaller than the other one.”
He raised a suggestive brow. But the smile she gave him wasn’t the sultry one he’d hoped for, and it faded quickly as she crouched between their packs.
“I hear a stream nearby.” She pulled his water bottle out of its sleeve and retrieved her empty one. “I’ll fill these both.”
“I’ll get the fire going.”
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 even thinking about 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 the darling, 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