Snapshot (The Jamieson Collection)

by Angie Stanton

  The winds howled.

  “This is wild!” she yelled, gripping her camera and the railing.

  The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Electricity hummed through the air as a jolt of lightning struck the tree Adam had stood near earlier. A crack of thunder exploded like a cannon. Marti dropped and flattened herself to the splintered boards of their precarious fort. With her face near the edge, she watched the devastation.

  The tree lit up in a fiery blaze, and the dry ground around it started on fire as well.

  “Holy crap!” Adam yelled.

  Marti aimed her camera between the slats and took more pictures. The wind blew and spread the fire to adjoining trees.

  She looked at Adam and saw her fear mirrored in his eyes.

  “This could turn into a forest fire!” she yelled even though his face was inches from hers. He wrapped a protective arm around her; the other held his camera as he snapped pictures.

  The pine needles sparked into flames and spread fast. Now she understood the saying, “spread like wildfire!”

  “We better get out of here before this stand catches fire!” Adam said.

  She couldn’t agree more. As they started to move, huge raindrops plopped, and two seconds later, the heavens let loose a deluge of rain.

  They pulled their cameras under their bodies to protect them from the onslaught. Thunder boomed and lightning crackled as the storm raged. Rain pounded down on them.

  The wind howled, causing a tree near them to snap and crash into another. Marti ducked her head. Adam climbed over her body, using his to shield her from the violent attack of nature.

  “Look at that, the rain is putting the fire out.” Adam’s voice sounded in her ear as rain pelted. The drops that got past Adam’s human barrier stung her bare legs. Despite the danger, she relaxed as his warm body lay tight to hers, protecting her from the elements.

  Sure enough, the downpour doused the flames on the forest floor and eventually killed the tree fire. The winds passed, as did the lightning and thunder, but the cold, heavy rain continued on, soaking them to the skin.

  Marti fumbled with her camera case, positioning it under her body to get the camera back into relative safety. The rain ran down her face, plastering her hair to the side of her head. A waterfall poured off her nose. She looked at Adam and laughed. His infectious grin brought sunshine to the rain-drenched day.

  She couldn’t believe they kept finding themselves in trouble like this. Raindrops clung to his dark eyelashes and dribbled into his mouth. He kept spitting water like a fountain. She had to admit she enjoyed getting stuck with him in these crazy situations.

  If only he weren’t a rocker.

  Chapter 9

  Shivering, they broke out of the woods and arrived back at camp. Rain dripped off the trees as the wind blew through.

  “I’m freezing.” Marti’s teeth chattered. She didn’t look forward to the long trek back to their cabins at the far end of camp.

  “Let’s see if there’s a fire going in the lodge.” Goose bumps covered Adam’s bare arms. He shivered but didn’t complain.

  “Good idea.” She hugged herself tighter, and they hurried their pace.

  Once inside, Marti bee-lined to the crackling fire in the stone fireplace. Adam followed, his sandals squishing on the tile floor. They stood together on a large braided rug holding their hands closer to the fire.

  “Oh my god, where were you guys?” Kayla left a nearby table where she played a board game with some guy and joined them.

  “I thought it would be fun to get pictures of the incoming storm. I didn’t think about the cold rain and wind.” Marti turned to let her backside feel the fire. She sighed as the heat hit her bare legs.

  “What a great idea. I wish I would have thought of it.” Kayla sat on the stone hearth.

  “Great idea until I got frostbite in August.” Marti took off her rain-soaked fleece.

  “You guys should go warm up in the sauna,” Kayla said.

  Adam dropped his hands and faced her. “There’s a sauna here? Are you joking? Because if you are, I might hurt you.”

  “No, it’s totally true. It’s in the same building as the laundry room,” she said.

  He grinned at Marti. “Let’s go!”

  “Kayla, will you hold on to my camera?” Marti held it out.

  “Sure. AJ, I can take yours too.”

  “Thanks.” He handed it over and they headed for the sauna.

  Adam opened the heavy wooden door and a blast of hot steamy air escaped. Marti sat on the slated wooden bench and sighed, so happy to feel warmth again. The air smelled moist and like cedar. “This is heaven,” she said.

  Adam took a seat beside her and leaned back. His body relaxed in the hot air. Marti leaned back and closed her eyes. She let the heat seep into her pores.

  “Sure is,” he agreed.

  Marti opened one eye and found Adam watching her, a content smile on his face. She couldn’t ignore the zing that shot through her. He kept pushing against her defenses, peeling back the layers to get to her. “You know you are really annoying.”

  He grinned, and his whole face lit up, making him even more difficult to resist. “I’ve heard that a time or two before.” He scooted closer, his arm touching hers.

  She looked at where their arms touched and arched her brow. “You’re starting to push your luck.”

  “I’m just warming up. Drawing off your body heat.”

  “Is that so?” She bit back her smile. Adam never quit trying to get back in her good graces. She had to admit she really liked it.

  “If I were pushing my luck, I’d do something like this.” He leaned over and captured her mouth with his.

  Damn. Every time he kissed her, a jolt of some powerful drug flowed through her veins. She parted her lips and let his tongue mingle with hers. She lifted her hand to touch him, but then hesitated, unsure of what she wanted. Adam decided for her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and cozied her in closer.

  When their lips parted to take a breath. Adam’s eyes turned dark with little flecks of gold sparkling in their brown depths. He brushed a lock of damp hair off her cheek. The passion in his gaze melted her into a puddle. She could stay lost in his eyes forever.

  “Or maybe I’d do something like this.” Adam lifted her legs and slid them across his lap. Her breath caught as her skin pressed against his thighs. Adam leaned her back and seized her mouth again. Marti relaxed. She liked the little noises their mouths made each time they touched.

  Adam’s free hand caressed her neck and trickled down her arms. She reached up and touched his jawline, noticing the soft stubble that appeared since his morning shave. She let her fingers drift up to the hollow of his cheeks, to his cheekbones and then to tickle his earlobes. He sighed in her mouth, and Marti knew she affected him too.

  She didn’t know how long they made out, but the moist heat of the sauna, combined with the heat she and Adam created, rose to an intensity she couldn’t control. Her previously cold-to-the-bone body now steamed like a firebrand. Her body pulsed with an awareness she’d never known.

  The door to the sauna opened, and Kayla popped in, her new guy in tow.

  “Oops! Sorry.” Her mouth dropped open in surprise, and she grinned like a satisfied fool.

  With her heart pounding a dance of passion, Marti smoothly lifted her legs off Adam’s, pretending it was no big deal to be draped over a hot guy in the sauna.

  “You need something, Kayla?” Adam asked with annoyance. He kept his arm around Marti.

  “Uh, yeah. We’re going out in the paddleboat, and I didn’t want to take your cameras.” She didn’t hold back her smile.

  “Oh. Thanks. We should probably get back to the cabin and change anyway.” Marti didn’t want to leave Adam’s side, but her inner censor knew she should. She heard a low groan from Adam.

  “I’ll leave the cameras out here so they don’t get all steamy. I’ll see you later.” She placed the equipment on th
e floor outside the door. “And by the way, you can lock the sauna door from the inside.” She grinned, and disappeared.

  Marti bit her lip and fought back her smile. She peeked at Adam out of the corner of her eye.

  He flashed his eyebrows at her. “I’d love to be in a locked room alone with you, but I better get you out of here before we both die from heat exposure.”

  And what a way to die, Marti thought.

  * * *

  Marti climbed out of the shower and changed into her cutest pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt with a low V-neck. She applied her make-up a little more carefully than normal and was drying her hair when the other girls burst in.

  “Oh my god! So you and Adam Jamieson are a thing!” Haley squealed.

  Marti glared at Kayla.

  “What? Good news travels fast.”

  “Well? Tell us everything.” Haley bounced onto her bed and waited for Marti to spill the details, which was the last thing Marti intended to do.

  “I don’t know. It’s not that big a deal.” She put the hair dryer away.

  “Not from what I hear.” Brooke raised an artfully plucked brow. “I heard you were draped over his lap with his hands all over you. Not that I’m judging. I have an appreciation for sex.”

  “We were not having sex!” Oh my god! She couldn’t believe they were going there. Marti sat on her bed and yanked a brush through her hair.

  “Okay, great foreplay.” Brooke smiled knowingly, and Marti now understood why any guy in her sights would be toast.

  “Are you going to have sex with him?” Haley sat up and faced Marti. “I mean, oh my god! I know the girl who’s having sex with Adam Jamieson! I can’t believe it!” Haley flopped backward.

  “And you shouldn’t believe it, because it’s not happening! You guys are totally out of control!” She tossed her hairbrush on the table, picked up her lip-gloss and swiped some on. They made her sound like her mother, a groupie who chased famous musicians and screwed them. “All we did is kiss a couple times.” And grope each other like lovesick teenagers, which is pretty much what we are.

  Brooke and Kayla shared knowing looks as if that confirmed that she and Adam were a hot and heavy deal.

  “He’s kissed you more than once? I knew it! I like, totally knew it!” Haley kicked her legs in the air.

  Marti shook her head. “You guys are seriously messed up. We’re just friends.” Which was a big step up from a couple days ago, when she couldn’t stand looking at him.

  “Of course you are,” Kayla agreed, but her expression said otherwise.

  A knock sounded at the door.

  The girls stared straight at Marti.

  “What?” But she knew what they were thinking, and she hoped they were right.

  “I bet it’s Adam. He can’t stay away from you!” Haley giggled.

  “Come on in!” Brooke sang, her wide smile showing off her professionally bleached, pearly whites.

  Marti’s heart pounded as Adam appeared in the doorway. He wore a Metallica t-shirt and low-rise jeans that hugged his hips in the nicest way.

  “Hi,” he said, standing there, his glorious self.

  “Hi, yourself,” Brooke said.

  Haley and Kayla watched like they were spectators at a zoo, waiting for the animals to mate. Could it get more awkward?

  Adam glanced around at their colorful bedspreads and girl stuff. “Nice cabin,” he said.

  More awkward silence.

  “So, you want to walk down to dinner?” he asked Marti.

  “Yes,” she blurted quicker than she meant to. She slid into her sandals and shot to the door. Anything to escape her friend’s inquiry.

  “Guess we’ll see you at dinner,” Adam said on the way out.

  He had to know they’d been talking about him, but he didn’t seem to mind. They weren’t two feet from the cabin when they heard peals of laughter coming from inside. Marti cringed. “Sorry.”

  Adam reached for her hand and linked his fingers with hers. “Don’t be. I’m not.”

  On their way to the lodge, they took a detour behind the nurse’s cabin and snuck in a few kisses. Adam could set her pulse racing in an instant. She couldn’t put a finger on what changed her mind about him, but she was so glad she did.

  * * *

  The days passed like wildfire for Marti. Not in a million years would she have imagined she’d be with Adam Jamieson. She couldn’t bear to spend time away from him, and she was pretty sure he felt the same.

  During the afternoons, they swam and hung out on the raft with their friends, basking in the sun and soaking in the view of each other. At night, around the campfire, Adam roasted her marshmallows and let them burn a little bit, the way she liked. Each morning, they sat on the hill and watched for loons, and at night, met up to stargaze. Of course, their make-out sessions heated up too. Adam had lit a fire in her that couldn’t be doused.

  One balmy evening, they rendezvoused to the playing field. Marti munched on one of her grandmother’s cookies as she hiked the narrow trail. She arrived to discover Adam lying on a blanket with his hands behind his head. She stepped over him and boldly stood with one foot on each side of his hips. She wore a devious grin.

  “Look what I found.” She wiped the cookie crumbs off her hands.

  He offered a sexy smile and reached over to caress the back of her calves.

  “Whatcha doing out here all by your lonesome?” She threw him a flirty smile.

  “Watching fireflies and waiting for a really hot girl to show up.”

  “Sorry, the hot girl couldn’t make it, but she sent me in her place.”

  Adam propped himself up on his elbow. “Is that so?” His eyes traveled over her and stopped on her breasts.

  “Hey, eyes up here,” she scolded.

  “The view’s pretty good!” He flashed her a naughty grin, and her stomach did a flip. “You’ll have to come down here if you expect me to look anyplace else.” He reached and curled his fingers under the waistband of her low-rise jeans and tugged her down.

  Marti straddled him. A zing of sexual power hummed through her.

  “How’s that? Better?” He locked his dark, aroused eyes with hers.

  “Yeah,” she breathed, not trusting herself to say more.

  Adam hooked his thumbs through her side belt loops and caressed her hips. She squirmed on his lap. “You’re killing me.” He pulled her forward and kissed her. They rolled over and discovered the air filled with fireflies.

  “Look at them. It’s like magic.” She snuggled up to him.

  He trailed his fingers up and down her arm, creating little goose bumps on her skin. “When I was little, I used to catch fireflies. I was convinced that if I caught enough, I could put them all in a jar, and they could be a lantern, like in cartoons.”

  “That’s so cute. When I was little, I thought they were fairies flying around to bring me magic. I was so obsessed; it was all I talked about. That’s when my dad got me my tattoo.”

  “What! Are you serious? Your dad got you a tattoo?”

  “Yup, but I must admit that I begged him. He and my mom both had all kinds of tattoos, so I thought I should have some too.”

  “You were how old?”

  “Five.”

  “Holy shit, you weren’t kidding when you said he’s messed up. So where is it? I want to see it.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t notice it already. It’s on my ankle.”

  Adam sat up and Marti immediately missed his warm, cozy body. He leaned over to check out her ankles. She crossed her legs at the knees so he could see it more easily.

  “I’ll be damned.” He held her foot as if he were Prince Charming about to place a glass slipper on it.

  “It doesn’t actually look like a firefly. It’s more of a cross between a fairy and a dragonfly.”

  “How’d he get someone to put a tattoo on a little kid?” He examined the tiny artwork, tracing it with his finger and sending erotic tingles up her leg.

 
; “When you’re Steven Hunter, you always get your way. I wouldn’t be surprised if drugs were involved or an autographed picture. That tickles!” She giggled and moved her ankle out of his reach.

  “Does it?” He grinned. “How about this?” His fingers lingered at her calf and then, light as a feather, danced up her leg. And even though she wore jeans, she felt every brush of his touch.

  Marti nodded.

  “And this?” He trailed his fingertips, soft as butterfly flutters to her inner thigh.

  “Um hm,” she sighed as he teased. Her body awoke with a powerful feeling she had never experienced before.

  Adam crawled up next to her and trailed her neck with sweet hot kisses while his nimble fingers danced lower, unbuttoned her jeans and slid inside.

  Marti let a small moan as his fingers explored. The sensation of his hungry kisses and magic touch caused her to lose all sense of time and place.

  “Marti, I want you so bad,” he breathed in her ear.

  Her heart pounded with a new intensity. “Oh god, I want you too…” She hesitated. She knew she shouldn’t. They should wait. She always planned to save herself for a really good guy, the right guy. Adam might be that guy. Plus they were under a blanket of stars in the most beautiful place she’d ever been. Oh god, this was killing her. Every ounce of her wanted to be with Adam. She ran her fingers over his waist and around his back. He smelled so good and touching him turned her on so much, she didn’t know what to do.

  “Yes, let’s do it,” she said, blocking out responsible thoughts of protection. Her period wasn’t that long ago, so she was confident they were safe.

  Adam paused for a reality check and backed up a little. “Are you sure?” His earnest face offered her an out. She knew he’d be okay if she said no, but she didn’t want to say no. She wanted to have sex with him. More than anything.

  “Positive,” she said.

  “Shit, I don’t have a condom!” He looked devastated.

  “It’s okay, this is the safe time of the month.” She wanted him so bad and couldn’t let anything to stop them.

  Adam grinned in that way that made her insides turn somersaults. He showered her with kisses as their bodies tangled together in a life-altering dance.