by Marie Force
“Now I’m forgiven for earlier. All it took was a few million stars.”
“Not forgiven yet.”
His laughter made his body shake behind her. “Does this mean you might let me take you camping again?”
“Don’t press your luck. All I’ll say is maybe. I have to admit you and Will did a great job anticipating our every need, right down to the wine, the bug spray, the sunscreen and the salad.”
“Don’t forget the toilet paper.”
“Don’t you always bring that?”
“Nah, we’re men. That’s for sissies.”
“I’m not even going to ask . . .”
“It’s better if you don’t.” He rubbed his hard cock back and forth over her bottom.
She pushed back against him, making him groan. “Ahh, there he is. I was wondering where he’d gotten off to the last few hours.”
“He’s been there all along, sad and lonely, hoping you might notice him.”
“Poor baby. He’s so neglected.”
“I’m glad you feel for his plight.”
“What do you say we make it an early night? I heard that air mattress you brought is ultra deluxe.”
“Only the best for my girl.”
She took one more look at the incredible sight above, committing it to memory. “Lead the way.”
He helped her down the steep incline, keeping her from tumbling a couple of times as they worked their way back to the path that led to the campsite.
“How long do you think it’ll be before I can walk down a steep Vermont hill without your assistance?”
“A few more months. It takes a while to get acclimated to mountain life. You shouldn’t be expected to figure it all out overnight. You’re doing great so far.”
“Am I? Really? I sort of feel like I must be a drag because you’re so good at it.”
He stopped walking and turned to her. “You could never be a drag to me, Luce. I get us around in the mountains. You get us around in the city. It all comes out in the wash.”
“Yes, I suppose it does.”
“I love that you’ve never done any of this before. I love that I get to share these experiences with you and introduce you to things I enjoy doing. And I love you—no matter what we’re doing.”
“I love you, too.” She reached up to place both her hands on his face and tugged him close enough to kiss. “In fact, I might be prepared to show you just how much I love you.”
“Tent. Now.” He moved swiftly through the trees until they emerged into the campsite where Will and Cameron’s tent was aglow from the lantern they’d lit inside.
“Oh shit,” Colton whispered as their silhouettes came into focus, showing exactly what was going on inside the tent. “Someone please remove my corneas.”
Cameron was bent over Will, making all his camping fantasies come true.
“Turn off the light, Romeo,” Colton called to them. “Your tent is see-through.”
Cameron let out a scream. “Will! Oh my God! They can see us!”
“How’s this my fault? I didn’t know it was see-through. I’ve never had sex in this tent before.”
Lucy was crippled with laughter as Will begged Cameron to continue what she’d been doing before they were so rudely interrupted.
Colton nudged her toward their tent. “I believe certain promises were made,” Colton reminded her as he unzipped the mosquito screen.
“I need to pee and brush my teeth.”
“I can assist with both those things.”
After they’d attended to business, Colton was more than happy to help her out of her clothes and into the sleeping bags he’d zipped together earlier to make one big bed for them.
The soft flannel felt incredible against her bare skin but not as good as he felt when he joined her.
“Shut the light off. I’ve been on display enough today.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He flipped the switch on the lantern and plunged them into darkness.
“Wow, that’s dark.”
“Uh-huh.” He nuzzled her neck. “No one will see a thing.” With his lips and tongue and teeth, he set her on fire.
Something about the cocoon of the tent, the sleeping bag, the pervasive darkness and the nearness of the man she loved had all her inhibitions melting away as she gave herself to him with the kind of abandon she’d rarely experienced.
“Jesus, Lucy,” he whispered at one point. “I need to take you camping more often.”
She laughed and threw her arms over her head, giving him free rein to take whatever he wanted. Her obvious capitulation seemed to make him a little crazy, and they went at it like they hadn’t had sex in a year . . . Until a loud pop followed by a hiss stopped them cold.
“What the hell was that?” she asked as he froze above her.
Colton lost it laughing as the air mattress below them rapidly deflated. “You broke the bed, babe.”
“I broke the bed?”
“Yep, it’s all your fault. You went all wilderness vixen on me. And besides, I was told I had to provide the hottest sex of your life to get you to go camping again. I was just doing as directed.”
Laughing at the term wilderness vixen, she said, “I thought this air mattress was super ultra deluxe?”
“It is, but it’s no match for Lucy when she lets loose.”
She smiled and reached for him, kissing him with abandon. “If you finish me off in spectacular style, I might forgive you for all of this.”
He pushed into her, apparently up for the challenge. “Ohhh, really? You’re on.”
“So, wilderness vixen?”
“You like that, huh?” he asked, sounding more breathless by the second.
“I love it.”
“I love you, my wilderness vixen.”
She put her arms around him and held on tight as he finished her off in very spectacular style. “I love you, too.”
“Told you tent sex was the hottest sex you’d ever have in your life.”
She squeezed his lips shut. “Stop talking before you ruin it.”
He nibbled his way free of her fingers. “Yes, dear.”
Lucy held him close, happy and in love with him no matter where they were, even in a tent in the middle of nowhere, Vermont.
* * *
With special thanks to Holly and Erica, last names omitted to protect the saucy, for sharing some of their favorite camping stories, and to all the readers who made me laugh so hard with their camping (mis)adventures. This is why I’m with Lucy—give me a resort and spa ANY day! And thanks to Julie, who came up with the PERFECT name for this story over a fun dinner in San Francisco.
Turn the page for a preview of the next book in the Green Mountain series
AND I LOVE HER
Coming March 2015 from Berkley Books
Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.
—Richard Branson
When her sister and brother-in-law said they wanted to talk to her after closing, Megan Kane assumed they were going to tell her they were finally expecting the niece or nephew she’d wanted for as long as they’d been married. But the words that came from Brett and Nina in stuttering, halting sentences had nothing to do with babies.
“Moving overseas.”
“Selling the diner.”
“So sorry to do this to you.”
“It was an amazing opportunity.”
“We couldn’t say no.”
“You can come with us.” Nina seemed crushed to be delivering this news to her “baby” sister, who was almost twenty-eight and hardly a baby anymore. “I’d love that. We could run around and explore together while Brett is at work. It would be so fun.”
Megan shook off the shock and found her voice. “No. You’ve been taking care of me since you were twenty-two, Neen. It’s time to go live your life. I’ll be fine.”
“We really do mean it when we say you should come with us,” Brett said. He was always so kind to her, never once in all the
se years acting as if her tight bond with his wife was a problem for him.
“I can’t do that. I can’t crash your party. I’ve been around your necks long enough as it is.”
“You’re hardly around our necks, Megan,” Nina said. “We could have so much fun! Would you think about it before you automatically say no? Please?”
“Fine.” Megan said what her sister needed to hear. “I’ll think about it.”
“Great!” Nina said, beaming with pleasure at the small victory.
“If you decide to stay here, we’ll help you find another job,” Brett said. “Maybe the new owners of the diner would want to keep you on. They’d be crazy not to.”
He’d been a terrific brother-in-law to her since he married her sister nine years ago. A teacher at a nearby boy’s prep school, he’d apparently applied for overseas positions in the past but they’d never materialized until now.
Work at Nina’s Diner without Nina? Unthinkable. “I’ll figure something out. You guys don’t need to worry about me.”
“Of course we’ll worry about you, Meg.” Nina reached for her sister’s hand across the table. “I don’t know how not to worry about you.”
“It’s probably time I got a life of my own.” Megan tried to stay calm even as she panicked on the inside. Not see Nina every day? Unbearable. “Mom and Dad would be horrified if they knew I was still living in the garage apartment.”
“They’d be proud of you.”
“No, they’d be proud of you, but you deserve it. You’ve created such a wonderful business here, and now you have this fantastic opportunity to travel. I’d never hold you guys back from doing what you want.”
Brett’s relief was so visible he practically sagged under the weight of it. Obviously, they’d worried about telling her their news. “You really can come with us if you want to, Megan,” he said. “It would be great to have you in France.”
“I’d love to come visit while you’re there, but this is home.” In reality, Nina was home to her, not Butler or the house where they’d once lived with their parents, but Megan kept those thoughts to herself.
“You said you’d think about it!” Nina said.
“Neen, I can’t just go traipsing off to France, as fun as that sounds. I need to figure out my life and what I’m going to do with it. I can’t do that in France. I don’t want either of you to worry about me. I swear I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Nina asked tearfully. “You’d tell me if you didn’t mean that, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m very sure.” Megan kept her emotions out of it—for now anyway. “This could turn out to be a good thing for me. It’ll give me the kick in the butt I’ve needed to move on.” Megan had been marching in place for more than ten years, since the snowy night they lost their parents in a car crash during her senior year of high school.
Nina had been her rock ever since, acting as mother, father and big sister all rolled into one. The sisters had held on to each other for all these years, and the thought of everyday life without Nina was unfathomable to Megan.
“If you agree, we’re going to rent the house,” Brett said, “but the garage apartment is all yours for as long as you want or need it. We told the Realtor it wouldn’t be part of the rental.”
“Of course I agree. No sense the house sitting vacant when you could be making some money.” Her brother-in-law’s sweetness nearly broke her emotional dam, but she refused to cry in front of them. Since there were going to be tears—and lots of them—she had to get out of there immediately. No way would she make them feel bad about something they were so excited about. Knowing she was on borrowed time where the tears were concerned, Megan gathered up her belongings and stood. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
“Let me drive you home,” Nina said.
“That’s okay. I could use the fresh air after being inside all day.”
“You’re sure you’re all right?” Nina asked.
Megan bent to kiss her sister’s cheek. “I’m fine, and I’m thrilled for both of you.”
Nina held her tight for a minute. “Love you, Meggie.”
Megan couldn’t remember the last time Nina had called her by her childhood nickname. “Love you, too.”
Feeling as if she’d been set adrift, untethered from the one sure thing in her life, Megan stepped out of the diner, taking a moment to breathe in the fresh, clean early-autumn air. The tears she’d managed to contain in front of Nina and Brett broke loose in sobs that had her looking for a place to hide until the storm passed.
She crossed the street and ducked behind the Green Mountain Country Store, planning to hide out until Brett and Nina left for home.
The last thing she wanted was for them to see her crying, and nothing short of a miracle would help her keep it together tonight.
* * *
After another twelve-hour marathon in front of the computer, Hunter Abbott stood and stretched out the kinks in his shoulders and back. As the chief financial officer for the Green Mountain Country Store and other Abbott family businesses, Hunter worked pretty much all the time. If it weren’t for the pressing need for food that his body demanded every few hours, he’d probably work around the clock.
It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. And wasn’t that a sad, pathetic fact of his life?
His stomach let out an unholy growl that had him checking the time on his computer. Nine ten. Great, the diner was closed, which left pizza as his only option in town at this hour. He dialed the number to Kingdom Pizza from memory and ordered a small veggie and a salad. If he was resorting to eating junk, at least it was somewhat healthy. Before his twin sister, Hannah, had remarried over the summer, Hunter might’ve headed for her house to bum some dinner and conversation. But with Nolan now living with Hannah and the two of them in starry-eyed newly wedded bliss, Hunter steered clear.
He turned off his computer and glanced at the stack of files still awaiting his attention. Bring them home or leave them for tomorrow? After a brief internal debate, he shut off the light and left them. His tank was running on empty, and tomorrow would bring more of the same.
In the outer office, he was surprised to find the light still on in his sister Ella’s office. He went over to knock on her door. “You’re working late.”
“As are you.”
“Except I always do. What’s your excuse?”
“Getting some new products entered into the system, and dealing with a pile of paperwork that never seems to get smaller no matter what I do.”
“I hear you there. So much for being self-employed, huh?”
She smiled at him, but he noted a hint of sadness in her eyes that caught him by surprise. Ella was one of the most joyful people he’d ever known—always happy and upbeat.
“Everything okay?”
“Sure. Why do you ask?”
“You just seemed . . . I don’t know . . . sad or something for a second there.”
“I’m fine. No need to worry.”
“Okay then.” Hunter took a step back, planning to leave, but there it was again—the sadness he’d seen before. “You know if there’s anything wrong, you can come to me, right? We may see each other a thousand times a day, but I’m right over there if you need me. No matter what it is.”
“Thank you, Hunter. That’s very sweet of you. I know you want to take care of everything for all of us, but some things . . . Well, some things can’t be managed. They are what they are.”
More confused than ever, Hunter wasn’t sure whether he should stay and try to force the issue or give her some space to deal with whatever was bothering her. “I’m here, El. I’m right here. Don’t suffer in silence.”
Her smile softened her face. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Do you want me to wait for you so you’re not here alone?”
“No. I’ve got another hour or so, and I can lock up.”
“Give me a quick call to let me know you got home okay.”
“Hunter . .
.”
“What? You’ll always be my little sister, so call me.”
“I’m only four years younger than you.”
“And I vividly remember the day you were born.”
“Freak.”
Hunter chuckled at the predictable comment. His family teased him every day about his photographic memory and ability to recall facts and figures from years ago that should’ve been impossible to remember. Sometimes he wished he could forget some of the crap that rattled around in his brain, but it was his lot in life to be a walking, talking data warehouse. “See you in the morning.”
“Have a good night.”
“Call me.”
“Go!”
Hunter went down the stairs thinking about what Ella said about him wanting to take care of things for everyone. Perhaps it was also his lot in life as the oldest of the ten Abbott siblings, but he wanted the people he loved to be happy and their problems to be few, even if that meant taking on more than his share of the load.
Hannah had been after him recently to work less and play more. If only he could think of something he’d rather do than work.
Totally pathetic. He knew it, but damn if he could figure out how to snap out of the rut he’d fallen into. When had he become an all-work-no-play stick-in-the-mud? If he were being honest with himself, he’d been in the rut for a long time, probably since he graduated from college and joined the family business full time. College had been the last time he’d been truly free of responsibility and obligation.
Thinking about the blissful college days had him remembering his late brother-in-law Caleb, Hannah’s first husband, who’d died in Iraq seven years ago. If he came back to life and saw how ridiculously out of balance Hunter’s life had become, he’d raise holy hell.
Raising holy hell was on Hunter’s mind as he stepped into the cool darkness and waited for the motion-sensitive light to come on. Once it did, he turned to lock the door behind him. Ella would see to setting the alarm system. Leaving her alone at the store made him anxious, but he would check on her if she didn’t remember to call him.
A sound to his left had him stopping to listen. Was that sniffling? “Who’s there?”
