to size. He put on clean socks and glanced at his soaked boots and hat. They would have to do. Getting out of that tent and away from Silver Meadows before he gave in and made love to her was absolutely imperative.
Chapter Nine
By the time Ben came back, Silver had put on proper clothes and set out some of the freeze-dried meals and protein bars. Part of her wanted to stay right where she was, naked in Ben’s sleeping bag, preferably with him wrapped around her. If she really got in his face about his past, would he finish the job and actually make love to her?
But that wasn’t fair, was it? And he’d know what she was trying to do, and call her out again. She didn’t want to destroy the fragile trust they’d built between them while her body was still purring like a well-petted cat.
“It’s still raining, the animals are fine, and the creek’s even higher.” Ben came in and stripped off his boots, his expression grim. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“Should we move up the slope?” Silver asked, handing him one of the towels to dry his hair. “Is it possible that the water will reach here?”
“I’ve never seen it happen before.” He spread the towel out to dry. “BB wouldn’t be letting his ranch guests come up here if there was even a chance of it being unsafe. If we settle in for the rest of the day, and make plans for tomorrow, we’ll probably be fine.”
Silver frowned. “You don’t sound very convinced.”
“I’ve never seen the water so high and so dangerous up here.” He shoved a hand through his still-damp hair. “I’m going to try and contact BB tonight and see if he has any more up-to-date information on the state of the valley.”
“Let’s have something to eat,” Silver suggested. “Maybe that will cheer you up. You must be hungry after all your exertions.”
He winked at her. “Honey, that wasn’t work.”
“I meant all the work you’ve been doing outside the tent, not in it!” Silver protested, and then laughed when he grinned at her. Why had she ever thought he was stern looking and average? “Okay, maybe I could’ve put that better.”
She turned to the icebox. “What would you like for lunch?”
“You?”
Silver clutched the freeze-dried packet to her chest and felt herself blushing. “I thought our lesson was over.”
“You don’t want part two?”
She handed him the container of hot water. “There’s a part two?”
“Sure there is.” He took a pack at random and opened it up. “If you’re interested.”
“Does it have something to do with reciprocal pleasure?”
His brow creased. “I’m not sure what that means, but if you want to learn a few things to drive a man wild, I’m more than willing to teach you.”
“Don’t try and play the dumb cowboy with me. I bet you went to college.”
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, something she’d noticed he did when he didn’t want to talk about something. “Yeah, I got a football scholarship.”
“Where to?”
“Stanford.”
She slowly closed her mouth. “So why aren’t you in the NFL right now?”
“I wasn’t good enough.” His smile was wry. “And I crashed out of college after two years, so I’m definitely not as smart as you think.”
“What did you do?” Silver asked.
“Failed my academic classes.” He looked down at his hands. “Didn’t live up to expectations, so they were delighted when I screwed up my finals.”
It didn’t sound like him at all, but one look at his closed-in expression made Silver realize he was unlikely to elaborate on what he’d already said, or appreciate her asking him about it.
“I didn’t get the chance to go to college.” Silver filled the tense silence. “I barely got schooling because I was on set so much.” She sighed, aware of the tension leaching from his frame as she didn’t ask him any more questions about himself. “We had tutors, but sometimes they were having such a great time being on a movie shoot, they forgot they were supposed to be teaching us stuff. I suspect I only graduated high school because my dad paid off the one I had in senior year.”
He stirred his food and sat down on his bedding while she poured two cups of coffee and shook the empty pot.
“Maybe we should start rationing this if we aren’t going anywhere until tomorrow.”
“I can always boil more water.”
“And get soaked to the skin again? We have nowhere to dry all the wet clothes already.” She stirred