“Is it because you’re afraid of breaking things?” She strokes the forearm exposed by the too-short sleeves. “Look at this out here. It’s wide open, and if we knock the tent over, it makes for a good story. Nothing is getting destroyed out here.”
My cock is one solid pulsating mass. I could come from her just petting my damn arm.
“It’s not things I’m worried about destroying,” I say lowly. This time the heat is in my cheeks. If Leo could see me now, I’d never hear the end of it. Ruddy-faced like some wet-behind-the-ears cub! “It’s you.”
6
Cole
“Me?” She laughs incredulously. “Cole, I’m not a delicate flower. I’m a… meaty girl. I’ve got hips and an ass”—she reaches around and pats that plush bit of flesh—“that are probably big enough to be seen by satellite.”
I force myself to look down at my hands instead of peering over her shoulder. Her generous ass is one of my favorite things to look at. I never leave my window when she’s walking around town.
“You’re beautiful, Adelaide.” I swipe an unsteady hand across the back of my mouth. “Too beautiful for a brute like me.”
“That seems like a really convenient excuse to let me down gently. Gosh, Adelaide, you’re just so pretty that I can’t stand to touch you.” Hurt mars her lovely face.
I don’t have a good answer for her because that’s exactly what I’m saying, only she doesn’t believe me. She thinks I’m blowing her off with fake words.
She straightens up and bends over to pick up her pack, her shirt gaping open to reveal the deep shadow of her cleavage.
Plaid has never looked sexy before—but now? Every time I go to my closet, I’m going to be thinking of the pattern wrapping around Adelaide’s gorgeous body and I’ll get hard. I’d like to take her plaid top home and lay it on the pillow and imagine that she’s with me. It might be the closest I’ll ever come to having Adelaide in my bed.
I get to my feet too and try to shove my cock to the side so it isn’t obscenely pointing in her direction. She isn’t paying attention to me anyway.
“How far is it to the road?” She squints down the empty trail. The sun is setting, and with the canopy of trees, there isn’t much light around here.
“Probably a half an hour,” I admit. I could make the distance in ten minutes, but a human would take at least twice as long. “And you’re not going to be happy about it, but Samson took off.”
“You know that how?” She wheels back to me.
“I saw him.”
“You saw him?” she repeats. “You saw him drive off in his car, and showed up down this trail that is a half an hour away only minutes later?”
“I’m pretty fast,” I offer lamely.
Her eyes narrow. I could lead her out of the forest easily. My night vision is damn good, but I kind of like being out here, alone with Adelaide, even if she is pissed off at me.
“This your tent?” Samson had done a halfway decent job of setting up camp. There was a tarp underneath the tent and the stakes were driven in nice and deep.
I toss one flap of the opening aside, and my lip curls when I see the setup. A king-size air mattress covered with two sleeping bags. Maybe I’d misread the situation between her and Samson. Maybe she wanted to be out here alone with him.
“Yes. Pat only brought one. I thought we’d each have a tent or I’d share with one of the other girls, but no one else was out here tonight.” She joins me and peers into the tent. “That asshole!” she spits out when she sees the mattress. “No wonder he had me gathering firewood. He was busy setting this up.” She tsks in disgust.
“So you didn’t want this?” I ask with renewed hope that I have no business feeling.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I wanted to camp.” She sighs. “Dammit. This day has gone to shit. I’ve tried for three years to show you that I’m here for the taking, but you’ve ignored every signal until this morning. And then after you kiss me, you run off. We’re finally alone out here in this gorgeous place and you won’t touch me because I’m too attractive or some dumbshit reason, but you know what?”
I shake my head because I don’t know anything. I’m mesmerized by the fire in her eyes. What does she look like when she’s in the grip of passion? When she orgasms, do her eyes shoot flames? Fuck, to be burned by her would be the pinnacle of my pathetic life.
“I’m camping. You can do what you want, but tonight I’m going to sleep in this stupid tent, and tomorrow, when I wake up, I’m going to look for a place to open a spa that is far away from asinine men. And it’ll be a huge hit because there are probably millions of women just like me who are tired of you and your silly games.”
She steps inside the tent and whips the flap closed, the nylon material slapping me in the face. A thought emerges…if I could show her how much I want her, how true my feelings are for her, maybe she would understand and forgive me.
“Adelaide,” I growl. The word comes out more menacing than I intend. I clear my throat and try again. “Adelaide, may I come in?”
“For what?”
“To apologize.”