The cabin is tucked behind a cluster of aspens whose white bark catches the afternoon light. It’s one room with a queen bed covered in a patchwork quilt, a nightstand with a lamp that has a pull chain, and a kitchenette along the back wall with an ancient microwave, a mini fridge, and a coffee maker that looks like it predates indoor plumbing.
We’ve been assigned a cabin with one bed.
I set my duffel on the floor and keep my face neutral. Mariel isn’t looking at me like she thinks I’m an opportunist who traded one successful man for a wealthier model. But I know what people assume about women like me. The phrase gold digger sits in my belly like a stone.
Annie hands Jeremy a printed itinerary. “The kickoff meeting is in an hour. Dinner after that, and then a sing-along around the bonfire.”
“With s’mores?” Jeremy asks hopefully.
The three of us stare at him with what I’d guess are identical looks of disbelief. Even he looks surprised by his own enthusiasm, and I wonder if he’s ever uttered the word s’mores in his life.
“With jumbo marshmallows,” Mariel confirms, and the way she matches his exuberance makes me like her even more. “We take our s’mores very seriously around here.”
A pine-scented breeze drifts through the screen door after she and Annie leave. I hear birds and the faint sound of voices in the distance—other guests settling in no doubt—as Jeremy examines the small space like we’ve just docked at the International Space Station.
“Did you ever go to summer camp?”
He stops pacing. “No. Sometimes Mom and Dad dragged Sloane and me along to dig sites in Morocco or Peru. The other archaeologists were nice enough, but their parenting style was pretty much entertain yourselves while we catalog pottery shards, and try not to touch anything important or die. In that order.” He sets the itinerary on the nightstand. “You?”
“Piney Lake Camp in the Adirondacks. Very exclusive, and full of the kids whose parents my dad wanted to schmooze.”
“Do you have good memories?”
A smirk tugs at my mouth before spreading into a full-on grin. “I fucking ran that camp. Won every ribbon they gave out. Archery, swimming, the talent show. I organized a rebellion against the counselors the year they tried to cancel our end-of-summer hoedown.”
He laughs and steps close enough that I can smell the soap on his skin and feel the warmth radiating off his chest. He leans in and my breath catches, but his lips land on my cheek instead of my mouth. It’s a kiss that makes me feel like he’s content with just that. Wish I could say the same.
“I’m sure you did.” He gestures toward the itinerary. “Prepare yourself to be disappointed in a major way tomorrow. They have us paired for the games, and I’ve never won any sort of athletic competition in my life. You’re saddled with dead weight, sweetheart.”
I shake my head. “Well, you were willing to be shark bait in Bora Bora, so I assume if a bear or mountain lion comes at me, you’ll throw yourself in their path.”
“I’ll take down anything or anyone who comes after you.”
He says it without humor, his eyes holding mine without a trace of bravado. How am I supposed to stop myself falling for a man who acts like protecting me is his mission in life?
I can’t. Not when I’m totally, irreversibly over the moon for him. He’s nearly always awkward, generous without fail, andinfuriating to no end. But he just volunteered to fight a bear for me like it’s the simplest thing in the world.
It’s too soon, the voice in my head whispers. Jeremy isn’t like Jon, but I’m not sure I know how to do this without getting wrecked. And it would be the kind of wreckage that concealer can’t hide.
Why doesn’t that change a single thing I feel?
If I stand here looking at him for one more second, I’m going to say words I can’t take back. So I go for a full-on distraction, stepping toward the bed and gesturing at it with a sweep of my arm. “I guess we should christen this thing.”
I grab the hem of my T-shirt and start pulling it up. Sex is a territory I understand how to navigate, where the stakes are physical. If I make this about our bodies, maybe I can stop my heart’s complete freefall.
Only Jeremy catches my hand and tugs my shirt back down. “Let’s go for a walk around the lake.”
“You’re turning down sex to take a nature walk?”
“I am.”
I pretend blood isn’t pounding through my head in dizzying confusion. “Should I be concerned about your ability to perform? Because the altitude can affect?—”
“Avah.” The sound of my name in that rumbly register affects me at a soul-deep level. “I’ll remind you of that statement tonight when my mouth is on you but you have to stay silent because the walls in this cabin are about as thick as a paper towel.” He holds my gaze until shivers erupt all the way down my spine. “But right now, I just want to walk with you. Is that a problem?”
The idea that a man might choose my company over my body feels so foreign that my throat tightens.
“No.” I shake my head. “No problem at all.”
