That got his attention. With a growling sound that made her giggle, he buried his hand in her hair and lowered his mouth to hers.
There was a lot more kissing and a lot more touching—her hands caressing his bare skin, but only from the waist up—and as she drifted off to sleep in Rob’s arms, she heard the faintest rumble of thunder and smiled.
Chapter Sixteen
The only thing worse than doing the walk of shame was doing it in cold, sopping wet clothes. Rob gritted his teeth and walked fast, willing to risk the chafing if it meant less of a chance he’d be spotted in the dim light of very early morning.
He’d been tempted to gather up the wet laundry and sprint across the campground in his boxer briefs, and he might have done it if he wasn’t one of the owners. After all the work he’d put into the social media accounts, he’d be the laughingstock of the family if the campground went viral because one of the owners was running around in his underwear.
After making sure he hummed as he went into the house—a habit he’d gotten into so Stella would know it was him and not bother barking or getting out of bed—Rob stripped out of the wet clothes and took a fast, hot shower. As much as he’d like to stretch out and go back to sleep, he got dressed and crept out of the house.
Luckily, he only had to worry about the main bathhouse this morning. They locked the one on the hill when nobody was staying in the cabins because people would just ride in from the ATV trails, use that bathhouse rather than the one in the store so they didn’t feel obligated to buy something, and then leave. They got tired of the bathhouse on the hill being muddy and devoid of toilet paper, even when there were no campers staying up there, so they’d padlocked it.
Because there were only two transient sites rented during this week, he made quick work of cleaning and restocking, but Brian was up and making breakfast when he got back to the house.
After giving Stella a quick tousle, Rob poured himself a coffee and sat at the table to drink the much-needed caffeine. “Can you not kill my eggs today? Over easy would be great.”
Brian snorted. “I gave up on over easy years ago. The yolks always break when I flip them.”
“You could practice instead of just giving up.”
Brian set the carton of eggs on the counter with enough force to make Rob wince. They might have to eat alotof eggs this morning if he broke them. “You’re in a pretty piss-poor mood for somebody who had sex last night.”
“I didnothave sex last night, actually, not that it’s any of your business.”
“Okay. The mood makes more sense now.” Brian cocked his head. “But you were out all night.”
“Yeah. We hung out, but it didn’t feel like the right time, with the storm and all.”
When his brother stared at him for a long moment, Rob just stared back until Brian shrugged and turned back to the stove. He didn’t have to justify his decisions to anybody, and he had no regrets about not surrendering to his desire for Hannah.
He refilled his coffee cup just as the toaster popped, and he buttered the toast while Brian finished the eggs.
When they sat, he saw that his brother had made an effort with the eggs. Sure, one of the yolks had broken, but they were in the ballpark of over easy. “This looks good. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
They ate in silence for a while, the only sound in the house the rattle and chomp of Stella working her way through her bowl of kibble. The quiet didn’t bother Rob, except for the fact he could tell by the sighing and shifting that his brother had something on his mind. And when Brian hesitated to voice his thoughts, they were usually heavy.
“Spit it out,” Rob finally said.
“Is it serious?”
Rob sighed and set his fork across his empty plate. There was no sense in pretending he didn’t know what Brian was asking. “I mean, I’m falling for her. That’s not a secret.”
“Definitely not a secret.” Brian shrugged. “From us, anyway. Have you toldheryou’re falling for her?”
“Of course not.”
“Don’t you think you should?”
“Nope.” Of course he knew heshould, but he wasn’t going to. Hannah had taken off for three months so she could figure her life out with no pressure. He wasn’t going to pile an entirely different kind of pressure on top of her.
“It seems like she’s pretty into you. Hasshesaid anything?”
He shrugged. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious we’re into each other. I didn’t sleep on the folded down dinette, if you know what I mean. But it’s not going anywhere, so there’s no sense in bringing feelings into the mix.”
“Seems like the feelings are already mixed in.”
