“I can make do. I guess I could sleep in my van, but I don’t have food now, so…”
Aaron turned the hot dogs over and closed the grill before turning to face me with his arms over his chest. “No, you’ll stay in my cabin and eat my food.”
“I will?”
He nodded. “Do you have food for the menace?”
I nodded. “In my van.”
“Then it’s settled. You’re staying.”
Chapter Nine
Aaron
Iput a plate of hot dogs on the table along with buns and all the fixings. “Eat, you’ll feel better.”
“You don’t have to feed me,” Skye protested, but when I slid the plate closer to her she relented and took two.
Good girl.
I grabbed three and started spreading ketchup on the bun.
After she had taken a few bites and fed a little piece to the menace, she turned her attention to me. “You really don’t have to feed and house me.”
I did though. Otherwise she would leave, and as much as I had wanted that yesterday, today the idea had my mood plummeting.
I shrugged, trying not to give away how important it was to me. “It’s not a big deal, Skye. Stay, finish your article. I have plenty of food.”
I did.
It was space that was the problem. As in, there was only one bed in my cabin and nowhere else to sleep but the hard ground. Or her van, but there was no way that was happening on my watch.
I needed her close in case the bear came back…sure that was a good excuse.
We’d figure that out later. For now I needed her to accept what I was offering.
She sighed. “I know you came here to relax…alone.”
I took a drink of water and swallowed. “I did, but now I’m invested in your article. Besides, clearly Kyle needs some stern discipline.”
She smirked and looked down at where Kyle was tangled in his leash at her feet. “Maybe that’s true.”
“Good. It’s settled.”
Skye worked on her laptop at the picnic table for the rest of the afternoon.
Photo editing took a hell of a lot longer than I thought.
I busied myself cutting firewood and, okay, maybe I took a little extra time preparing dinner. Not that I wanted it to be special or anything. I just had some time to kill.
Once we’d eaten, Skye stood from the picnic table. “Let’s go for a swim. I feel gross from the hike.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
We went to our respective cabins to get ready. By the time I got to the dock, Kyle was already in his life jacket and Skye was back in her little red bikini.
“You trust the menace near the water?”
