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“Hey.” He nudges my cheek with his fingers. “Still talking here. Earth to Sarah Jo.”
“Present.” God. Am I blushing? Please say no.
“You work here,” he repeats, “and that makes you part of the team, okay? That means the Rogues have your back. Trouble follows you here, trouble has to deal with us. I sent Hill packing.”
He got rid of Thad. Relief courses through me, and it turns out that all that adrenaline actually does make my knees weak. There’s a funny, low-grade buzz throughout my body and a prickle of heated awareness in my belly and lower. Where Pick spent quality time yesterday. I can’t tell if I’m just relieved or horribly turned on. I can go back to camp, and my nemesis won’t be waiting for me there. The reprieve will be only temporary—Thad is stubborn—but, God, I appreciate it.
“Right. Trouble.” The most pressing trouble I have right now is my reaction to this man. I kissed him and went up in flames. I don’t need another chance at his mouth to know that the reality of Pick will be better than any fantasy I can dream up.
“Bottom line me,” I suggest, tilting my head back. The move buys me a few inches, no more. Certainly not enough to defuse the six-plus feet of rugged charm pressed against me. “Are you offering to be my knight errant?”
He blinks, all delicious masculine confusion. He finally doesn’t know what to say. Good. He doesn’t get to have the upper hand here. I might be done with men, but confused Pick does something to my insides. Dazed suits him, and I love knocking him off balance.
Just to keep him off said balance, or so I tell myself, I run a hand down his chest, savoring the solid beat of his heart. That’s my Pick, rock solid inside and out. He’s dependable. Loyal to the core. He looks out for his team members, but I’m no hotshot. No matter what promises he makes, I don’t really belong here. His fire camp is a temporary pit stop on my journey, and I’ll move on sooner rather than later.
“You in the market?” he asks finally as my hands dip lower, resting against the rock-hard muscles of his abdomen. This is crazy. I blame him.
“No.” I push gently and this time he backs up. Hopping down off the picnic table, I head back to my car. I don’t need his help. Don’t have to humble myself to accept it. I stand on my own two feet. Always.
“All right.” He follows me and opens my door for me so I can slide into the driver’s seat. “You headed back to camp?”
I hear the unspoken question: or am I hitting the road? His face watches mine patiently, focused and determined as he waits for me to answer.
“For now, yeah.” Where else can I go, really? Back on the road, sure, but the paycheck, however small, is desperately needed, and running out on the girls seems wrong. Besides, I like to think that the girls in the Break Up Club and I are friends, so I’d have to stop and say goodbyes there, too.
“Good.” He shuts my door. “Wouldn’t be the same without you, and that’s the truth.”
Now it’s my turn to be speechless. Does he… like me? What does that even mean? Rather than try to come up with something to say, I settle for driving off. Leaving Pick standing by the side of the road is unexpectedly difficult, and I regret every inch I put between us. I do it, though.
I’m not stupid.
That man’s every bit as dangerous to my peace of mind as Thad Hill.
Chapter Ten
Sarah Jo
I shouldn’t.
I really, really shouldn’t.
I slipped away from Baby Bear Lodge as quietly as I could. Yes, I coasted down the driveway before starting the engine. I was in super sex ninja stealth mode. My fellow members of the Break Up Club would probably condone this little midnight field trip, but I’m not in the mood for their teasing. Not now. Somehow, what started as a camp game, a gentle tease, has grown into something more, but that more is between me and Pick. Just the two of us and no one else. I tried to figure out what it might be the entire drive from my cabin to camp, but answers eluded me.
Wrapped in sleep, the fire camp is dark and silent. Stars dot the night sky above, impossibly bright. I don’t even need a flashlight to see where I’m going. Pick’s RV is parked on the other side of camp, and the man inside draws me like a compass to magnetic north.
