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“Anytime, Caroline.”
I retreat back to the couch to eat my hot dog. I’m not sure that I trust myself being so close to Heath. I can’t deny it any longer. I’m attracted to him. I have been since I first arrived in town, but I need to do what’s right for Charlotte now, and I don’t think that’s dating Heath, or anyone for that matter. Not right now at least.
The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur of s’mores, cleaning up messes, and telling silly ghost stories. Charlotte is too afraid to do them at night, so we all climb into the tent with flashlights and do it at three in the afternoon.
Through it all, Heath is a good sport. He’s patient with her, laughing the hardest at her ghost stories that don’t make any sense, and helping her clean up when she gets marshmallow all over her face.
I’ll admit, it’s been nice not having to do everything for Charlotte all by myself. Being a single mom is exhausting and I don’t know how anyone does it.
“Should we make more hot dogs for dinner, bunny?” I ask when it’s the evening, and she nods.
This time I sit by them on the floor, next to the fire with Charlotte between us. We manage not to burn any of the hot dogs this time, and I’m not sure if it’s all the excitement of today, the fire crackling and heating the whole room, the rain pattering on the windows and roof, or a mixture of all those things, but soon Charlotte is starting to doze off.
“She wanted to sleep in the tent,” Heath says and I nod, moving to open the flap as he scoops her up in his strong arms.
He cradles her gently against him as we both move into the tent and tuck her into her sleeping bag. She doesn’t even stir and I smile down at her sleeping face, bending over to press a kiss to her forehead
“Goodnight, bunny,” I whisper and she sighs, tucking her little fist beneath her chin.
I follow Heath out of the tent and look around the living room. It’s a bit of a disaster with candy wrappers, graham cracker crumbs and stray smears of marshmallow on the floor by the fireplace.
“Let me help you clean up,” I say, heading past him to where I saw the broom in the kitchen.
“I can get it,” he says, trying to stop me.
His hand wraps around my hip and my breath stalls in my lungs as I look up at him. Our eyes meet and cling to each other as we remain motionless.
“Caroline,” he whispers and I can’t take it any longer.
My whole body feels like it will explode if I don’t feel his lips on mine in the next second. Every cell in my body is urging me toward him and I take another step closer.
“Just kiss me already,” I whisper back and in the next instant, his lips are on mine.
His lips are a little rough, probably from the wind and rain outside, but I love it. They brush against mine softly, his hands tightening around my waist and pulling me closer.
My hands land on his wide chest and I can feel his heartbeat racing underneath my palm. I can feel every hard plane of his body and when my belly rubs against a certain thick ridge in his pants, I can’t hold back my gasp. My panties start to grow damp with my arousal and I step closer to him when suddenly I hear a sound from inside the tent.
Heath and I both jump away from each other as Charlotte sleepily climbs out of the tent.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she says, her eyes barely open and I avoid Heath’s gaze as I help her to the bathroom.
By the time I return, he has the living room cleaned up and is just setting another log on the fire.
“Are you guys coming to bed now?” Charlotte asks and I nod.
“Yeah, I just need to brush my teeth and get into my pajamas.”
“Are you coming, Heath?” Charlotte asks sweetly and his eyes dart to mine.
I look away from him, heading into the bedroom to get changed instead. I hurry through brushing my teeth and then pad back out to the living room. I don’t see Heath and I wonder if he’s in the kitchen as I climb into the tent. There are three sleeping bags lined up inside and Charlotte is already tucked back into the one by the right side wall.
Heath is on the other side, lying on his back, his body tense. He gives me a strained smile as I climb into the sleeping bag in the middle. Charlotte blinks her eyes open at me and I lean over and give her another kiss on her forehead.
“Night, Caroline. Night, Heath,” she says, her eyes fluttering closed.
“Night,” we both say and then we lie there in silence.
I know he’s still awake and I wrack my brain trying to figure out a way to break this tension between us, but all I can focus on is the insistent ache between my legs.
