“Come on,” he said, grabbing her by the hand and running through the pouring rain.
By the time they reached the Jeep, Corrie’s hair was plastered against her cheek. Her shirt clung to her skin. At least hershirt was black. Ford’s white button-down, on the other hand, was practically see-through, highlighting every bump and divot of his perfect pecs and abs.
“Here, take this,” he said, tearing her attention from his chest and handing her the smaller of her bags as he grabbed the other. “Now follow me.”
They ran back through the camp, following the string lights as the rain came down so fast and hard that it couldn’t even soak into the ground. Puddles started to form throughout camp, splashing up whenever Corrie and Ford ran through them. Finally, they reached one of the tents, and Ford pulled open the door to let her in. Once inside, a calmness settled over her, despite the loudness of the rain pounding on the roof.
“These are waterproof, right?” she asked as Ford came in and set her bag on the wooden platform floor.
“Yes. You’ll be fine.”
He ran his hand through his hair, shaking out some of the excess water while she took in her surroundings.
The space was large. Larger than any tent she’d ever slept in. There was a bed, arealfull-size bed in one corner with a trunk at the foot. A desk covered with papers sat immediately across from it. A couple of comfortable-looking wooden chairs with a small table were in yet another corner. And by the entry was a bench with a pile of gear.
“This is nice,” she said. A little fancy for her tastes, but, hey, it sure beat waking in a puddle in the middle of the night.
“You’ll get one like this, too. If you stay, I mean,” he said.
She couldn’t help but feelslightlyguilty that she hadn’t made up her mind.
“Here,” he said, handing her a towel and then taking off his glasses to dry them off.
She took it in her hand and pressed it against her hair and then her chest, trying to blot the water soaking through.
“Ugh, my stuff is probably all wet,” she said, kneeling to open one of her bags to check.
“We can lay everything out to dry,” Ford said, opening the other bag.
Thebigbag.
Oh no. Not that one.
“That’s okay, I can do it,” she said.
“It’s not a problem. I don’t mind,” he continued, clearly not hearing the panic in her voice.
“No, really. I’ve got it.” She started to get up, watching his arm disappear into her bag. “No, don’t go in there!”
Ford pulled out his arm, and along with it a long purple contraption. “What is this?” he asked, eyeing the device suspiciously.
“It’s... it’s my vibrator.”
He instantly dropped it, sending it to the floor with a loudclunk.
“My God, Ford, don’tbreakit,” she said, rushing to pick it up off the ground.
“Well, what is that doing in there?”
“What do you mean, ‘What’s it doing in there’? It’smybag. I told you not to go in there.”
“Well, why didn’t you warn me?”
“Ididwarn you. I said not to go in there.”
“Yeah, but you could have said why.”
“Oh, really? What was I supposed to say? ‘Don’t go in there, Ford. That’s where I keep myvibrator’?”
