I slap a hand to my chest in outrage. “No you didn’t.”
“Hey! I love both. I just think Promite’s sweeter. Have you even tried it?”
“No, and I never will. I’m a Vegemite man through and through.”
She bursts out laughing. “You’re so stubborn! I’ll make you try it one day.”
I shake my head in protest. “Not a chance.”
Once we’ve demolished the sandwiches, we get ready for a swim. I strip off my shirt—I’m already in my boardies. Camille disappears into the portable shower tent to change, and when she steps out, my brain short-circuits.
She’s wearing none other than—thatgoddamn red bikini.
“Baby, you’re killing me,” I groan, running a hand through my hair.
Her eyes sweep over me, slow and deliberate, before she closes the gap, sliding her arms around my neck. The kiss is deep enough to steal my breath, and she gasps when she feels exactly what she’s doing to me.
“So naughty,” she whispers. “There are families here, Mr. Emerson. Maybe, if you can be quiet tonight… we can do something about this.” She glances pointedly at the bulge in my shorts.
“Oh, I can be very quiet.” I kiss her again, then scoop her up, carrying her toward the water.
She squeals before she starts giggling.
She abruptly stops laughing when she sees the sign by the water.
BEWARE OF CROCODILES
She gives me a death glare, “you’re shitting me? Crocodiles?”
“Cammie, if you’ve ever swum in any beach or creek in Queensland then you’ve more than likely been in croc territory. Anyways this is a fresh water creek, so if you ever see one here, they’re probably gonna be smaller. Plus the sightings don’t happen often, they just do it as a precaution.
“Hmm, okay. But if one comes for us, I’m running and leaving you to fend for yourself.”
“Of course. I’ll protect us with these.” I flex my bicep, trying to show her that I’m abig, strong man.
She takes hold of my muscle, biting her lip and looks at me sheepishly.
“I believe you. Now you gonna put me down so we can swim?”
I pretend to think about it but the truth is, I’d happily hold her all day but instead I set her on her feet. We move our way along the rocks and step into the creek.
The water is cool and clear, washing the heat from our skin. We float together, fingers linked, trading lazy kisses.
I feel like I can see our whole future spread out ahead of us. And I’m in. I’m so bloody in. I just hope she is too.
41
Camping
The rest of the day goes by so fast. We’ve showered, eaten dinner by the fire, and now I’m feeling warm—partly from the flames, partly from the couple of glasses of wine I had.
We’re roasting marshmallows now. Well… attempting too. So far, we’ve either burnt them or barely cooked them at all. I’m happy to eat them as they are, so it doesn’t phase me.
“Far out, this sucks! I didn’t realise it was so hard cooking marshmallows. I swear when I was a kid it was easier, or maybe I just didn’t care back then.” Lucas says as he pulls another burnt marshmallow off his skewer.
“Chill baby. Just do what I’m doing and eat them like this.” I take a marshmallow from the bag and plop it in my mouth.
“No, you’rerawdoggingit.” He laughs at me.
