Heturned. “Yes?”
“My first day of camp? It wasn’t really so bad. At least not until I set myself on fire.”
Sam laughed with sheer relief.“Good to know.”
He opened the tent flap and held it while Libby walked outside, where even the kids stood silently waiting.
“I’m fine,” Libby said to them. “Sam put some salve on my leg, so it barely hurts. Thanks for worrying about me, but I’m okay. I’m going to take a couple of Advil and go to bed. I’ll see you all in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Libby,” Jenny said, and the others chimed in.
She flicked Sam a last glance, then crossed to the tent she’d been assigned. The crew tents were set a little apart from the others to give the guests a feeling of privacy. As the group dispersed, Sam glanced over to see Libby disappearinto her tent.
A shadowy figure stood in the darkness not far away, and unease filtered through him. The man in the shadows was Vince.
* * * *
Libby awoke in the middle of the night. It was pitch dark, so black she couldn’t tell the front of the tentfrom the back.
Outside, a soft shuffling and occasional sniffing sound moved along the bottom of the tent. Her hands tightened around the sleeping bag. Exhausted, she had forgotten to zip the tent when she’d gone to bed.
The shuffling and sniffing continued, the animal moving toward the open tent flap. Was it a bear? Oh, God, what should she do? If she didn’t sound the alarm, was she putting everyone in danger?
Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her temples. The shuffling was getting closer. Sam would know what to do. She slipped out of her sleeping bag. It was now or never.
Libby bolted through the tent opening and rushed out into the darkness and over to Sam’s tent, which fortunately wasn’tzipped either.
She ducked inside. “Sam...” she whispered, leaning down to shake his shoulder. “Wake up. There’s a bear—”
He was already awake, she realized as he sat up in the dark and swung his long legs to the side of the cot.
“It’s not a bear,” he said quietly as he drew her down beside him. “It’s a raccoon. They won’t hurt you.”
Libby breathed a sigh of relief. “I was afraid it might attack someone.” Her eyes had finally adjusted, and she could see him sitting there, shirtless, in just a pair of boxers. He had a beautiful body, all smooth muscle, just a dusting of gold on his hard, amazing chest. Soft heat curled low in her belly.
“I’ve never seen a raccoon,” she said, forcing her mind back where it belonged.“Except on TV.”
She caught a flash of white as he smiled. “They come looking for food scraps. That’s one of the reasons we keep everything packed up.”
“I guess I screwed up again. I’m sorry Ibothered you.”
“You didn’t screw up. You’ve never been camping. When we get back, I’ve got a book you can read on animals in the area. Next time you’ll know what it is, and you won’t be afraid.”
Next time.Something warm blossomed inside her. She wasn’t leaving yet. She would still have time with Sam. The warmth inside her swelled. She wanted to reach outand touch him.
“How’s your leg?” he asked, barely above a whisper, and yet she thought his voicehad roughened.
“The aloe worked. I’m okay, but...”
“What?”
“But maybe you should...umm...take a look.” Oh, God, had she really said that? Was she making a fool ofherself again?
Sam took her hand and placed it over his heart. It was beating as hard as hers had been when she rushedinto his tent.
“If I touch you, Libby, I won’t want to stop. I’ll want to touchyou all over.”
It was dark and quiet, the whole camp dead asleep, the other tents some distance away. Libby ran her hand over the muscles on his chest. “That’s how I feel, Sam. Every time I look at you, I wantto touch you.”
