She laughed softly and it looked as if she was about to say something, but the sound of a truck slowing out on the main road made him turn. Sure enough, it was dark enough so he could see the red glow of brake lights, and he sighed.
“More campers coming in. I should go help because wedefinitelydon’t want people trying to find their sites in the dark.”
“It’s getting late.”
“Yeah. The previous owners told us that Friday nights can be long, especially on long weekends when the traffic down south is particularly bad. Sometimes it can be as late as midnight, and we still have a few more to come in.”
“It’s a big weekend for you,” she said, and his phone chimed at the same time.
Rob pulled out his phone to read the text message from Brian.Dude.
It was only one word, but he had a lifetime of knowing his brother and knew he was seriously annoyed that he hadn’t come back from checking on the sound, and that he knew he was at Hannah’s site.
“I have to go. Thanks for the tip,” he said, nodding toward the Scotts’ site.
“No problem. And good luck this weekend.”
As he stood, he was tempted to lean over and give her a quick kiss good-night, but two things stopped him. One, they hadn’t spoken since the last kiss, so he couldn’t be sure she actually wanted to do it again. Maybe she’d gotten a taste and didn’t like it.
But mostly it was the fact he didn’t want to give her a quick kiss. He wanted to give her a long, slow and very thorough kiss, and doing so would require actually getting to spend time with her.
Alone.
Brothers really were a pain in the ass, he thought.
Hannah didn’t leave her site for the entirety of the long weekend. The place was packed and almost everybody but her was there for the four-wheeling. Some of them rode ATVs and some of them drove side-by-sides, but they were all loud and kicked up dust. She wasn’t opposed to them, but since she’d already done her grocery shopping and had everything she needed, she wasn’t tempted to venture out.
And Rob was busy. Without the temptation of getting to talk to him, there was no real incentive for her to leave her comfortable, reasonably private site. She’d heard him once, from a distance, yelling to a guy who was exceeding the five-miles-per-hour speed limit on his four-wheeler. And she’d been leaning against the front of her truck, talking with Melissa Scott, when he’d driven by in the UTV pulling a small trailer filled with bundled firewood to sell to the campers.
He’d waved and though he didn’t stop, his gaze had definitely lingered on Hannah before he gave her a smile that made her feel like she wasn’t the only one who’d rather he was sitting under her awning with her at that moment.
She sat under the awning now, even though it was getting dark and she usually would have blown out the citronella candles and gone inside at dusk in favor of burrowing into her nest with a good book.
There was no denying—especially to herself—that she was hoping if she sat outside long enough, Rob would be able to squeeze out a few minutes to stop and chat.
And she’dreallylike to kiss him again.
Sometimes Hannah wondered if he regretted kissing her and didn’t want to do it again. But that didn’t seem likely because as far as she could tell, he hadn’t been disappointed at all by the kiss at the waterfall.
It was more likely his brothers were more of an issue than he’d led her to believe. Hewasthe youngest, and she’d gotten the impression he felt as though he had something to prove to them, so if they were adamant about him not spending time with her, he might have to give in.
In the few times they’d managed eye contact since the kiss, though, the look in his eyes made her think that if he was really forced into choosing between pleasing his brothers and kissing her, she had a chance.
A flash of movement in the brush caught her eye, and Hannah smiled when she spotted the skunk.
It was adorable, snuffling around as it looked for an evening snack. While she gave them a wide berth for obvious reasons, Hannah had always thought skunks were one of the cutest of the campground critters. Raccoons were chaotic and they could be destructive. And as gorgeous as bears were, their visits weren’t a good thing.
But skunks were cute little creatures, with precious faces and fluffy tails. She especially liked the way they stomped their tiny front feet as a first warning that things were about to get smelly. Of course, she’d never been sprayed herself. Being doused might have changed her opinion of them slightly. But she enjoyed watching them from a distance, hoping a dog or a human didn’t startle them or harass them.
She’d probably see a lot of little critters while she was here, since the smart ones would avoid the other side of the campground. Oscar might not be a big dog, but that honey badger mouth and attitude would have the skunks and raccoons—and any bears who wandered in—finding quieter spots to go foraging.
In her peripheral vision, she saw a camera lens, but she didn’t run into her camper this time. One, she didn’t want to startle the skunk. But also, she could make out enough of the photographer’s face to recognize Rob, even though he was crouched in the shadows.
Hannah watched the skunk, humming softly to let it know she was there without being threatening, until it decided to forage farther up the hill. The Scott family was outside—making s’mores, judging by the sounds—so Hannah figured the skunk would cut their site a wide berth and check out the quieter side of the hill. But with kids, graham crackers and sugar in the mix, it would probably circle back later.
Once it had moved on, Rob crossed the road to join her under the awning. He sat in the other chair, which she’d left out and open for just this purpose. “Here I am taking pictures in your general direction again. You might change your mind about whether or not I’m actually trying to take them of you.”
She laughed softly, so happy to see him she didn’t care about the camera. “I’m not quite as exciting a subject as wildlife.”
