by Jill Shalvis
They all nodded. Double sounded good.
The last thing Elle had planned on doing Saturday night was driving up to Big Basin in the dark with Pru and Kylie to bring Finn some mysterious item he had to have. They’d tried to get Willa to come too but she and Keane had turned off their phones.
They were smart.
And probably going at it like bunnies.
Elle didn’t blame them. In fact, she was a little envious of them.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Pru said. “I’m sure you were both busy.”
Kylie laughed. “If by busy you mean staying home and trying to beat my Lumosity score, then yes, I was very busy.”
Elle was driving Finn’s vehicle because Pru didn’t have one, and also because she couldn’t find her glasses. Elle wasn’t a camper. In fact, she’d never camped. She didn’t see the appeal of sleeping on the ground or having to use the wild frontier as a bathroom. Nope, she required electricity and a flushable toilet.
They’d left the city behind long ago and she’d never seen such darkness. She leaned closer to the windshield, squinting into the black night. The road was a bitch and she didn’t want to miss the turnoff. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. You so owe us. And what are we delivering anyway?”
“It’s complicated,” Pru said noncommittally, a very large brown bag at her feet.
“Complicated how?”
Something in Pru’s silence sent impending doom through Elle’s gut. She slid another look at Pru. “He’s camping alone, right? Because that’s what you said. Even though camping alone is stupid and selfish because of the danger, and Finn isn’t either of those things.”
“Turn right!” Kylie called from the backseat. Their resident navigator had her nose practically pressed to her cell phone screen. “In twenty-five feet.”
Elle turned right and the road went from asphalt to gravel. Bumpy, rutted gravel that took every bit of her concentration for the half mile until they came to the campgrounds.
“I think half my fillings just fell out,” Kylie said.
“Campsite twenty-four,” Pru said.
Five minutes later they rounded a tight corner and came upon the correct campsite. Elle calmly parked, turned off the engine, and stared out at the rip-roaring campfire, around which sat one, two, three . . . four men-sized shapes, one of them looking suspiciously like Archer. She felt the righteous annoyance that always hit her in his presence, for him simply being a breathing human being. “Dammit, Pru.”
“It’s not what you think,” Pru said quickly.
“No? Because what I think is that you’re a big fibber,” Elle said.
“Okay, so it’s a little what you think,” Pru said, sagging in defeat. “But mostly I didn’t want to drive up here alone. I knew you wouldn’t come if I told you that Archer was here, and I really needed to deliver the s’more supplies. They were desperate.”
Even as she said it, the guys all stood up and turned toward them with varying degrees of expressivity. Finn was out-and-out grinning, clearly excited to see Pru. Spence was looking hopeful, which made sense now that Elle knew their true mission. Spence had never met a dessert he didn’t love.
Archer had never been one to give anything away, but his expression was relaxed, far more so than Elle had ever seen.
The wilderness agreed with him.
That is until his sharp gaze beamed in through the windshield—which he wouldn’t have been able to see through if Kylie hadn’t chosen that moment to open her door so that the interior light lit them up like they were in a fish tank.
Archer stilled for a single beat and his carefree smile vanished.
Terrific. She’d ruined his evening. Just as she’d ruined his life once upon a time—it was good to know she still had it. “Let’s just get this over with.” She said it calmly but she was having an inner and private moment of panic and anxiety, feeling a whole lot like that stupid sixteen-year-old daughter of a grifter, who’d continuously put Elle and her sister, Morgan, into desperate situations, using them as pawns, making them all live like thieves in the night.
Finn and Joe rushed forward like eager puppies, grabbing the brown bag. Well, Joe grabbed the bag and Finn grabbed Pru, the two of them in a tight lip lock like they hadn’t just seen each other earlier in the day. In fact, given how they were busy eating each other’s face, it was as if they hadn’t seen each other in years.
Leaving the lovebirds at the car, Joe smiled at Kylie and Elle. “Ladies, welcome. Come to the fire and get warm.”
“We’re not staying,” Elle said.
“Oh just for a few minutes?” Pru asked, tearing her mouth from Finn’s to do so. “Please?”
Elle looked down at her heels. She’d assumed they were doing a quick turn and burn. It was Saturday but she’d worked regardless and had left straight from the office. And since she hadn’t expected to stay, she hadn’t bothered to change.
Joe took in the problem with one sweep of his observant gaze. “Hold on,” he said, and running to the fire, he shoved the bag into Spence’s arms and then ran back for Elle.
Before she could stop him, he’d scooped her up and carried her to the fire. “I know how you feel about camping,” he said earnestly.
“Joe,” she said on a laugh. “Put me down.”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes!” Under any other circumstances, she might’ve enjoyed the physical contact of being up against a man. Joe was tall and built and sexy as hell. He had a trouble-filled smile that promised a girl a good time, and she knew thanks to gossip that he had the moves to back up that unspoken promise.
But the only thing she had backing up was the air in her lungs because she could feel Archer’s gaze on her. Dark. Assessing.
“It’s not that Elle doesn’t do camping or bears,” he said dryly. “She doesn’t do hiking shoes. Or, apparently, jackets.” With that, he shrugged out of his down parka and came toward her.
The initial buzz of warmth at the realization of how well he knew her vanished when she saw his intention. “Not necessary,” she said, eyes glued to the midnight blue flannel shirt he wore beneath, opened over a matching T-shirt, both stretching to accommodate his broad shoulders.
“Your lips are blue,” he said. He wrapped her up in his jacket, which was deliciously warm from his body heat and, adding to the torture, also smelled like him. Which was to say delicious.
She opened her mouth to say something, she had no idea what, but it didn’t matter because the minute he’d finished tucking her into his jacket, he turned away from her and headed back to the fire.
“I’m not cold,” Pru said. “I’m wearing my new camping jeans. They’re fleece lined.” She executed a little twirl. “They’re thick, so as a bonus, I won’t get any splinters sitting on that log in front of the fire.” She stilled and then twisted around, trying to see her own ass. “Wait. Are they too thick? Do they make me look fat?”
The look of panic on Finn’s face did improve Elle’s mood very slightly.
Pru gave him the big eyes. “Do they?”
“No.” Finn looked a little like a deer in the headlights. “No. Of course not.”
Joe nudged him. “Man, when a woman asks if she looks fat, it’s not enough to say no. You gotta look and act surprised by the question. Leap backward if necessary.”
Finn grabbed Pru and pulled her down into his lap and sank his fists in her hair, staring into her eyes. “I don’t think you look fat in those jeans. I don’t think you look fat in anything. Or in nothing at all. I love every inch of you.”
Pru grinned. “Thanks, babe. I love you too.”
He narrowed his eyes. “That was a test.”
“Yes.” She kissed him. “But don’t worry. You passed.”
Elle felt another little tug of envy and wondered if she’d ever feel so comfortable with someone that she could open herself up like Pru had, in front of an audience no less, as if she didn’t care if the entire world knew how much she loved Finn. Ell
e had always assumed that kind of love made one weak. But nothing about what Pru and Finn had felt weak to her.
They roasted marshmallows. Elle was trying hard not to rush Pru, but she really wanted to get out of there before she did something stupid. Like melt a marshmallow over Archer’s hot bod and lick it up.
“Truth or dare!” Joe decided, handing out beers to everyone.
“What, are we twelve?” Elle asked.
Joe just grinned, looking very relaxed, reminding her that the guys had a head start on the beer. An all-day head start.
“Chicken?”
This came from Archer, uttered in his low, sexy voice, and her stomach executed a free fall. She risked a peek at him and caught sight of a predatory smile barely curving his lips. She shifted a bit. Was it hotter all of a sudden? Or was that only her internal temperature that had skyrocketed? “I just think that games are dumb—”
“Me first!” Pru said happily, clasping her hands. “Spence! Truth or dare?”
He thought about it until Pru gave him a hurry-up gesture.
“Give me a minute,” he said. “I’m trying to decide how evil you’re going to be if I choose dare.”
Pru smiled, and Spence swore. “Okay,” he said, “so very evil. Truth.”
“Well that’s no fun.” She pouted.
“What’s no fun is taking a dip in the river in February. Truth,” he repeated firmly.
“Hmm.” Pru stared at him intently. “What do you want out of life?”
He stroked his chin, giving it serious thought. “Tacos. What?” he said when she rolled her eyes. “We had fish but I’m still hungry. Did you bring anything besides s’mores stuff?”
Spence was always hungry. They all ignored him.
“Me next!” Kylie called out, bouncing on the log on which she sat, clapping her hands. “Elle. Truth or dare?”
Elle narrowed her eyes. “Why me?”
“Truth or dare?” Kylie repeated.
She sighed. “Truth. But only because I’m not leaving this log for any stupid dare.”
“Okay,” Kylie said so happily that Elle knew she’d walked right into Kylie’s plans, whatever they might be. “You always look so fantastic and perfectly put together.”
“Thanks but that wasn’t a question,” Elle said.
“Do you ever let anyone see you when you’re not . . . perfect?”
Archer snorted but turned it into a cough when Elle glared at him.
“No,” she said to Kylie. “My turn.” She looked at Archer. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” he said warily.
“What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?”
“Playing this game with you,” he said.
Everyone but Elle laughed their fool heads off. Idiots, all of them.
“That one didn’t count,” Pru said in Elle’s defense. “She gets to go again.”
“Okay,” she said, looking once more to Archer. “Truth or dare?”
“You really want to come after me again? Oh and two isn’t going to look good on your resume.”
“Now who’s chicken?” she asked. Baited really, because they all knew that Archer was a lot of things but chicken wasn’t one of them.
“Well to be fair,” Finn said. “The last person to lose had to strip naked and get into the water. Which I know because it was me.”
“And the water was cold,” Spence added helpfully.
“How do you know?” Finn asked. “You didn’t have to get in.”
Spence raised an eyebrow at him. “We could tell.”
Finn narrowed his eyes. “Hey, shrinkage is a real thing!”
“Truth,” Archer answered Elle.
She mentally cracked her knuckles. “What’s your most embarrassing moment?” she asked.
He didn’t say anything, just looked at her.
“Come on,” she taunted, having no idea why she was poking the bear. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
His voice dropped to a pitch that sent tingles down her spine. “I already know yours.”
Actually he didn’t, but she refused to discuss it here. “Fine. I’ll adjust the question. What’s your biggest regret?”
Again he just looked at her. Mr. Talkative.
“Are you refusing to answer?” she asked. “Because you know what the dare is.”
“Watch out for shrinkage,” Spence muttered.
“Yes,” Archer said without hesitation, his gaze holding hers prisoner. “I’m refusing to answer.”
One hundred percent certain he’d choose to change his mind about talking if he thought he had to go for a dunk, she pointed to the river.
But she should’ve known better. There was no budging Archer when he’d made up his mind about something. Just as he’d clearly decided long ago that she was still a young, vulnerable street rat to be protected and nothing more, he wasn’t going to be pushed into answering a question he didn’t want to answer. Instead, he stood and walked to the water’s edge. The shadows shielded most of him from view but she could still see his general outline. And although he undeniably annoyed her by just breathing, there was also no denying that even just his outline affected her pulse.
Not twenty feet away, and apparently completely unconcerned by having an audience, he began to pull off his clothes. He did this quickly and efficiently, dropping both of his shirts to the ground, kicking off his boots and socks, shucking his jeans, all without looking back.
“Where’s your gun?” Joe called out.
“Locked in the truck,” he said. “To keep me from killing anyone who pisses me off tonight.”
Around the campfire, the others were talking amongst themselves, laughing and having a great time, but Elle couldn’t tear her gaze away from Archer.
He was stripped down to nothing but boxer briefs now. And then those were gone too and he walked out into the water a few steps before diving in and vanishing beneath the gleaming black surface of the rushing current.
Chapter 6
#CarpeDiem
Elle strained to stare at the spot where Archer had vanished. “He’s in the water!” she told everyone in horror.
“Yeah,” Finn said. “You dared him.”
“But . . . that’s crazy. He’ll get hypothermia.”
“I didn’t,” Finn said.
“Just shrinkage,” Spence said with a smirk.
Finn threw an empty beer can at him, which Spence easily dodged.
And still Archer didn’t surface.
Elle stood up. Waited. And then when she couldn’t stand it anymore, she started toward the river’s edge.
“You going to strip too?” Joe asked hopefully.
She turned back to glare at him.
He blinked and pointed at Spence. Spence gave him a shove that had Joe falling off his log.
“Hey, man,” Joe said from the dirt. “You really have been working out.”
“Told you.”
Elle kept walking toward the water.
“Elle, he’s fine, stay warm by the fire,” Finn said.
She stopped her forward motion but didn’t sit down.