by Oram, Jean
Grabbing the battery-powered lantern she had hanging from the tree, Jen hurried to the water.
“Just kidding!” Rob said, completely dry and grinning wickedly. He held up his bucket of water in triumph.
Dina, laughing, gave him a shove. “You are such a brat!”
He doused the fire and returned for another bucket. Another loud splash. The girls shared a look and continued securing the group’s food in a tree.
Shamefaced, Rob joined them in the clearing, dripping water.
Jen roared with laughter and Dina, knowing her brother, ran for cover, leaving Jen as an easy target. He held out a long arm, his sweater dripping freezing water. “Come here. I think our guide needs a hug after a day well done.”
Jen ducked and squealed, torn between letting him catch her and trying to stay warm and dry. She hobbled away as well as she could, and taking pity, he chased Dina.
“I’ll tell Mom!” she squealed as he neared her.
Ned, who had been watching the incident from the safety of one of the logs set around the fire, came to stand beside Jen, who’d wrapped her arms around herself.
“Cold?” he asked.
Jen dropped her arms. “Nope. I’m okay. Just thinking how cold Rob must be.”
Jen took Rob’s bucket and poured the water on the fire, extinguishing the last of the fire’s light around the camp. She kept moving, edging away from Ned’s presence. “Next we stir the coals.” She poked the coals with a stick, making a wet, grey mush. Rob neared the camp, smiling after successfully giving his sister a hug. “Rob, you should get out of those wet clothes. With the fire out you might find it hard to warm up again.”
“Maybe someone could keep him warm,” Brenda called from her tent. “I’ve heard skin to skin contact is good for hyperthermia.”
Dina cracked up and Rob hurried to his tent to shuck his wet clothes.
“Thank you, Brenda,” Jen called, shaking her head.
“If you change in the tent, you’re going to get everything wet,” Dina whined, following Rob.
“You want me to strip in the middle of camp?” He stalked back into the circle and began to peel off his shirt.
Billy, who had been quietly scribbling in a journal by flashlight, looked up, his attention riveted to Rob. “This should be good.”
Jen’s thoughts exactly.
“I might not have brought a warm enough sleeping bag,” Ned whispered, nudging closer to Jen.
“Wear extra clothes,” Jen replied, eyes on Rob. He had completely failed to take off his wet shirt by the light of her lantern.
Damn.
Everyone drifted off to their tents, but Jen stayed out, making sure every ember in the fire was no longer glowing. And maybe waiting to see if Rob stayed up a bit later, too.
He didn’t disappoint. After getting into dry pyjamas, he came to sit beside her under the pretence of letting Dina change in their tent alone. So, maybe not a pretence, but she’d take what she could.
“That was fun today. Thanks,” Rob said.
“Still thinking of getting a canoe?”
“Hell, yeah.” He shot her a grin. “Saw you chatting with Dina by the lake. She didn’t reveal all my secrets, did she?”
She held the lantern higher. “Maybe. Are you blushing, Rob Raine?”
“Never.” He stood as his sister unzipped their tent, letting him know it was all clear. “Good night, Miss Nature Guide.”
“Good night, Mr. Right as Rain.”
He gave her one of his rich laughs, which she knew would give her sweet dreams. The woods must be getting to her because it was more and more difficult to remember the reasons why she couldn’t and shouldn’t have Rob.
* * *
Jen hobbled around the camp, getting a gauge for how the group was doing before they paddled around the small island, then back to the van to end the trip. Everyone seemed in good spirits, enjoying all nature had to offer on the small island. Well, except maybe the lack of proper facilities. Brenda wasn’t so impressed by that.
Rob, looking slightly sleepy-eyed and tousled in an irresistible way, emerged from his tent, and Jen found herself migrating his way like an inner homing beacon was set to ‘have sex with hunky man.’
“The forest is still standing?” he asked, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
Jen rolled her eyes and gently pushed his hand aside, which had been working out a kink in his opposite shoulder, replacing it with her own. Finding him too tall for her to be able to work on his shoulder comfortably, she ordered, “Sit.”
He dropped onto a nearby stump. “I love it when a woman takes charge.”
Jen laughed. “Good boy. Now stay.”
“So dominating. I didn’t think I’d go for that, but, please, show me more.”
Jen gave his shoulder a playful shove. “You’re such a dude.” She inhaled. A stirring blend of spruce tree and all-man. They could bottle that up and give it to women who were having trouble getting it on. One whiff and they’d be panting and begging for it.
Not that she was.
No, she was much more used to the smell, having spent so much time in the bush. He’d need to pull out more than some olfactory offense tactic to get her to swoon.
“What’s wrong?” Rob asked, glancing over his shoulder.
She peeled her body upright.
“Do I smell?” he asked.
“Um.” She began working on the tight spot between his shoulder blades, her thumbs working across the lump, pretending she hadn’t been inhaling him like she was a scuba diver who’d run out of air several leagues under.
Rob “oooh”ed and “ahh”ed, his head tipped down, making the back of his neck a very tempting and delectable area for her lips. She braced herself and stepped away.
“There you go. A bit better, maybe?”
He rolled his shoulders and grinned. “Much better. You’ve got great hands.” He gave her a look that made her blush down to her toes. If he was thinking what she was thinking, they were going to be in big trouble. Or, well, maybe he was just going to end up unemployed because the courts would find he’d accepted favors from her—of sexual nature. There wasn’t true trouble in that, was there?
She rubbed her hands down the sides of her pants and avoided thinking about what kind of magic she’d love to create elsewhere on his body. The world spun as need took over her body. His Holy Major Hotness knew how to hit every button in her hormone section to send out red alerts to her brain. Mainly that it was being shut down to conserve energy for her body’s upcoming mission of getting that hunk-a-burning-love straddled over her.
She stripped off her sweater and focused on slowly plunging the coffee press.
Ned quickly replaced Rob on the stump, his eyebrows perked hopefully. Holy hell. Was he serious? He pointed between his shoulder blades. “Right in there.”
Dutifully, she limped over and massaged the area, finding knot after knot. Not surprising the way he and Phil had muscled their way through the water yesterday.
“You’re full of knots,” she said.
“Nah, just built,” he said modestly.
Jen stepped away and Ned stood up, placing a light peck on her cheek. “I think you’re great, too.”
She thrust a cup of coffee at him and turned away. Wow. Things were getting weird in the woods. Thank goodness they were heading back to the van this morning.
As everyone worked on dismantling their tents in preparation to set out, Rob came over and sat quietly beside her, flashing the red first aid kit. “Shall we take a look?”
“Oh, my God! What happened?” Brenda asked, crowding in.
“Just a scratch,” Jen said lightly, turning away, hoping Brenda would wander off, but she had a feeling there wasn’t a big, fat chance of that happening.
Luckily, her husband needed help getting their sleeping bags into their stuff sacks, and Brenda hurried away to help him out.
Jen watched the group over the rim of her tin cup. Her ankle hurt like a son of a b
itch this morning and felt hot. There was no way that could be good. Maybe they could put off looking at it until they got back.
“Now, give me your ankle,” Rob said, his warm hands pulling her leg into his lap. “I vant to suck your blooood.” He curled back his top lip as though exposing fangs, and she tried not to giggle and attract attention.
His hands lifted the cuff of her pants and she imagined him running his hands up her leg, skittering higher and higher. She shivered and hugged her coffee closer.
“Cold?” he asked, checking her complexion as though for signs of fever.
“I’m fine.” She pulled on her sweater, watching his expression as he carefully peeled back the dirty gauze, a lock of hair falling against his forehead.
“What? Is it infected?”
“It looks better than I thought it would,” he admitted.
“Surprising yourself, Dr. Raine?”
His head popped up from his examination, and Jen could have swooned he’d cursed his sister under his breath.
“It was only a year,” he said, taking another look at her ankle. “I’m going to change the gauze, but not the strips. I don’t want to risk it opening up. I’ll clean it with more antiseptic, too.”
When done with his doctoring, he encircled her ankle with his warm, strong hand. For a moment, she thought he was going to pull her forward, into his arms, onto his lap, wrap his arms around her and never let her go.
She blushed, kicking herself for how she reacted around him. “Thank you, Rob. I appreciate it.”
He blinked quickly and looked around the camp as if realizing where he was. He stood, his voice low and thick. “Get a doctor to look at it, all right?” He turned away, helping the others who were breaking camp, leaving her wondering what had suddenly created such a change between them. Did he remember who she was and how she’d managed to leave town in order to hold this trip? Had he seen something that had freaked him out?
What was it? And would she see him again after this weekend?
* * *
Jen ran the canoe up on shore and, Ned, already on shore and eager to help, grabbed the bow and yanked the boat onto shore, knocking Jen and Billy off their seats.
Rubbing her back, and grateful for not having to get her throbbing ankle wet, Jen thanked him.
“No problemo.” He flashed her a big grin and began hauling supplies toward the van.
Tenderly making her way out of the canoe, she tested putting weight on her ankle. Damn. That really hurt. Things were definitely not getting better on their own.
Rob appeared at her side and took her elbow, steadying her. “Let me take your pack.”
“Thanks.”
He flashed her a grin. “No problemo.” He blocked her path for the last items out of her canoe, determined, evidently, that she wasn’t to walk on her ankle unless necessary. Fine by her. She was feeling a tad hot, tired, and cranky.
“Thanks, again,” she said. The end of his nose showed evidence of the sun’s touch, and his five o’clock shadow had appeared in a nice, deep brown. Quite sexy.
How was it that some guys, such as Ned, could look unkempt with five o’clock shadow while others looked simply irresistibly rugged in a rip-their-clothes-off-with-your-teeth kind of sexy?
“Your freckles have come out in the sun,” Rob said. He reached out, almost touching them before changing his mind.
Jen smiled and touched her nose, happy that the trip across the lake had settled him back into his old, comfortable self she had come to think of as Outdoor Rob vs Working Rob. “Yeah?”
“You like your freckles?” he asked, his eyes crinkling into a smile.
“Of course! Who wouldn’t?” Feeling better, she returned to the van to pack up.
As she organized bags so everything would fit, Dina sidled up to help. “My friend is having a bachelorette party for me next weekend. Saturday night. It’s only a few hours from here. Can you come?”
Jen’s instinct was to refuse, but Wally’s words about letting people in swam in her head.
“I have a hiking tour Saturday morning…” Jen replied, knowing she might not be able to take the Father’s Day hikers out if she didn’t manage to convince Scott that it was okay for her to go out in the bush—it wasn’t really out of town, and where would she go anyway? But leaving town to go play…it might be tricky winning that argument.
She glanced at Rob. It was starting to feel as though everyone was pushing them together. Dina. Amber. Even Billy hadn’t let it go during the entire trip back to the van. He’d seen something and wasn’t letting it go. Everyone was figuring out she had a crush on Rob, just like everyone had known she’d had a crush on Ken. Everyone had pushed her and Ken together to enjoy a happily ever after. Only it wasn’t Ken’s happily ever after. And they’d ended up far down the line before realizing it wasn’t what they wanted. And now the same thing was happening with her and Rob. They had fun flirting and were a good fit, but he kept pulling back when things brinked on that feeling of something more. Was it for professional reasons, old relationship issues, or something else? Could she trust him to look out for what he wanted, or would his nice guy demeanour trap him with another woman who wasn’t quite a right fit? Because the more she thought about it, and the more she heard about Cindy, they hadn’t been a good fit. And like Jen, Rob had held onto the relationship until Cindy shoved him out the door by breaking the exclusive rule. Just like Ken had had to do with Jen.
“On that ankle?” Dina asked, eyebrows raised reminding Jen of a mother challenging a teenaged daughter.
Jen brought herself back to the present and looked down at the slightly dirty gauze. “Well…” Her business wasn’t exactly bouncing back even with the fire out. Cancelling another hike might just ensure that the rest of her little business marched right on over to her competition in Derbyshire. So not happening if she had anything to do with it.
“Well, come when you can,” Dina said. “It isn’t until the evening and the hike can’t last all day, can it?”
“Leaving town might be a problem,” she mumbled.
“I’m not taking no for an answer.” Dina raised her left eyebrow as she went to talk to her brother.
Billy added his lifejacket to the back of the van’s stack. “Put yourself out there, girl,” he urged. “A good man won’t be single forever. He already likes you in a ‘let’s keep her’ kind of way. Get in his face. Make him fall. The rest will be history. A story you’ll tell at your wedding.”
Jen choked out a laugh as Billy eased away. If only it were that easy.
Within moments Dina was back.
“You told me you’re single!” Dina accused.
“Yeah,” she replied warily, leaning away. “Because I am…”
“Oh, this is gonna be good,” whispered Billy, easing closer again. Jen resisted the urge to tell him to dunk his head under the water’s surface and try counting fish.
She slammed the back doors to the van.
“See!” Dina spun to Rob who looked as though he’d rather wrestle a bear than deal with his sister.
Meddling family was right. Someone was playing matchmaker and hadn’t taken the time to notice the colossal-sized conflict of interest, and the fact that Rob lived a zillion miles away and kept backing off, setting limits between them. Limits that needed to be respected. Limits she should have been setting up, not bombarding.
“He doesn’t believe that you and that guy around town are just friends,” Dina said.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake! He’s just a friggin’ friend.” She hobbled to the trailer and began checking straps so they could get the hell out of here. While Dina was blunt and to the point, Jen was also counting on her shutting the heck up once everyone was in the van.
“See?” Dina said in a tone of voice that made Jen happy she didn’t have siblings.
Rob avoided the group’s stares, his jaw tight.
Jen passed Dina and said quietly, “Thanks, but just let it go, okay?”
“You
guys love the same stuff. Laugh at the same things. The conflict of interest won’t last forever.”
“Hear, hear!” chimed in Billy.
“I’m available,” Ned offered.
“Christ. Anyone else want to weigh in on my love life? Maybe make me into a mail-order bride while we’re at it?” Jen asked, hands on her hips. Everyone shook their heads, ducking into the van. “That’s what I thought.”
As they buckled their seatbelts, Jen in the driver’s seat, Dina said, “I’ll email you the details to my bachelorette party, Jen. And don’t worry. You already know the designated driver, Rob. Plus, he can get you out of town.” She dusted her hands. “Problems solved.”
Great. If she went, Rob would get to babysit an alcohol-infused, crush-crazed female—herself. Adding alcohol to attraction always raised the stakes to uh-oh, and she knew it was an opportunity she’d be bound to talk herself into. Why? Because Rob would be there.
CHAPTER 7
Jen opened the door to the street, the midday sun blinding her as she leaned against the jamb. It had been a rough morning. Her ankle ached from the Father’s Day hike, and she hadn’t slept well due to thoughts of Rob swirling through her head. She’d been brushing off Dina’s party invites with excuses she could tell Dina wasn’t buying.
She needed to back off of Rob. Dina didn’t get it. If she went to Dina’s party, she wouldn’t back off. She’d back the hell on, plus some. She’d get sucked in like someone was holding a giant Hoover over her.
She leaned back into her apartment, shutting the door. Liz was on her way up the street, and there were only so many times she could tell her she didn’t want to put her side of the story in the newspaper before she’d go freak show.
She waited a few minutes then quickly backed out the door so she could avoid Liz and head to Mary Alice’s to grab an armload of chocolate. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar shape finishing a conversation with Liz.
She turned and blinked.